[pure-silver] Re: Replacement bellows for full plate camera
- From: "Richard Knoppow" <dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Feb 2009 15:27:34 -0800
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bogdan Karasek" <bkarasek@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 3:07 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: Replacement bellows for full
plate camera
Wasn't bellows making considered a craft, you were
apprenticed and such???
Bogdan
I have a lot of information on making bellows. I
collected it at a time when I considered making one for
myself. I never carried out the project. I think, if you are
serious about it, you should make a practice bellows. It
seems to me to rather on the order of making flying model
airplanes, but maybe easier. Finding the right materials may
take some searching especially the inner layer. This should
be a sort of rubber or synthetic covered cloth. The
traditional stiffeners are made from heavy Manilla but there
are longer lasting plastic materials, They need to be
flexible enough to withstand some sideways folding without
breaking. The outer cover can be the same stuff used for the
inner lining but could also be a synthetic leather like
Naugahide. The patterns can be figured out from the old
bellows. The stiffeners are spaced with rods, they must not
touch or the bellows will not fold. You do NOT need a wooden
armature as is stated in some places. You do need a large,
flat work surface. The best cement is a contact cement like
"Barge" cement or "Pliobond". Real leather covering can be
gotten from Tandy but leather is vulnerable to so many
things that a decent looking synthetic is really much
better. While IR film is no longer avaiable for sheet film
cameras its probably a good idea to choose an inner lining
that is IR proof.
While I've not actually made a bellows (I did make a
couple of mock-ups) I think its probaby a quite practical
project and would not be expensive. Large bellows should be
easier to make than small ones. I would undertake to make a
bellows (for myself, this is definitely not a solicitation)
for an 8X10 but would probably not try for a 120 folder.
--
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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