[pure-silver] Re: Light Leaks with Large Format
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:40:58 -0800
----- Original Message -----
From: "DarkroomMagic" <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "PureSilverNew" <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 8:30 AM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Light Leaks with Large Format
Richard
I never knew to have leaks in these bellows either, until
I stuck a light
bulb into the camera, sealed it and investigated the
assembly in the
darkroom. My two other cameras are fine (Cambo and Toyo).
I'm not sure about the actual age of this Linhof. I bought
it used from
Howard Bond 10 years ago; my guess is about 20 years, but
I will check with
Linhof.
The bellows are not made of leather. It is a synthetic
material on the
outside and a cloth on the inside. The pinholes are at the
bottom of the
folds. The synthetic has worn and the pinholes are from
the cloth mesh.
I will attempt to repair them using the liquid latex, Ole
suggested:
On 2005-11-29 02:08, "Richard Knoppow"
<dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Fluessig-Latex-Wahlfarben-hoher-Latexanteil-250-ml_W0QQit
emZ8321186879QQcategoryZ45946QQcmdZViewItem
I called the above company today, and they told me that
this material has
used for camera repairs before. It comes in a variety of
colors, black
included. They will add black talcum to the shipment. It
apparently is a low
viscosity latex and should soak right into the cloth. It's
worth a try.
Camera Bellows wants $280 for a replacement and Linhof is
asking $480, both
after VAT and shipping. The latex is $15 for 250 ml.
Regards
Ralph W. Lambrecht
Good luck with the patching material. I never tried the
Elastoseal but Dick Sullivan claims he had success with it.
I tried several other ideas but none were satisfactory for
very long.
The traditional way to make bellows is to use three
layers of material. The inner layer is cloth coated on one
side with rubber or a synthetic, the cloth surface faces the
inside of the camera. The next layer is the stiffeners. In
traditional bellows this is usually a very stiff card stock
similar to heavy manilla. Modern bellows use a plastic
material. The outer layer in traditional bellows is thin
leather. Various types have been used but most of it appears
to be what is called "skiver", also used for bookbinding. A
modern material like Naugahide can be used here or another
layer of coated cloth with the cloth side facing outward.
Various adhesives have been used. If one is attempting to
build a bellows a contact cement like Barge cement or
Pliobond is suitable.
One problem with leather is that once it begins to dry
out little can be done to restore it. Substances like Neet's
foot oil can restore some flexibility but will not stop
disintegration once it has started. Too much of a
penetrating leather dressing can also soak through the thin
leather and attack the adhesive or even the stiffeners.
Wiping down bellows with a damp cloth seems to be about the
best one can do.
Russia leather. So called Russia or Russian leather was
supposed to have been tanned using an oil (I've now
forgotten which) which gave it some resistance to rot and
insects. The original material gave the leather a brick red
color. It was advertised as a deluxe feature on some
cameras. As a result red leather bellows became a sign of a
deluxe quality camera even though most of the leather was
just dyed that color.
One can find a good deal about leather preservation at:
http://aic.stanford.edu/jaic/ and at the Conservation On
Line site which is linked to it (click on CooL).
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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