Who are we?  Featured Cameras  Articles  Instruction Manuals  Repair Manuals  The Classic Camera Repair Forum  Books  View/Sign Guestbook

Restoring old leather covering Log in | Log Out | Topics | Search
Moderators | Register | Edit Profile

Classic Camera Repair » Archives-2006 » Restoring old leather covering « Previous Next »

Author Message
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Janek
Tinkerer
Username: Janek

Post Number: 1
Registered: 11-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 01:56 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

I am new to this forum and in fact I am not a camera collector but I am a user of an old camera. I have a wonderfull wooden 5x7 Century Grand dating back to abour 1905. The camera has new replacement bellows and is in a very good overall shape, wood and brass are excellent. It is self-casing camera and it has black leather outside covering. The leather is in fact not in ideal shape. It is pretty dry, stiff and brittle, also there is many wear marks on it. I tried Venetian Creme but it works only if I do not use the camera. After a day hiking and using the camera leather is again full of scratches. It seems that the leather itself or the finish layer needs some restoration.
Would any of you have an idea how to deal with this sort of problems?

regards,

Janek
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn

Post Number: 93
Registered: 07-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Wednesday, November 08, 2006 - 08:58 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

Your best solution is to find a company, which sells restoration products for antique leather book bindings. I use a couple of preparations, that give good results on both books and camera leathers. If you e-mail me direct, I will give you the details of my supplier here in UK. However you should note that if the leather has deteriorated badly, no restoration products will stop the scratches reappearing. I protect a couple of similar cameras with 'slip cases' made from neoprene wetsuit material.
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message

Glenn
Tinkerer
Username: Glenn

Post Number: 96
Registered: 07-2006

Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!)

Posted on Thursday, November 09, 2006 - 07:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Moderator/Admin only)

I will add that there are a number of leather restoration/refinishing kits, for leather car seats, on the market. At least two of these contain a 'lacquer' to refinish the surface layer. The use of such a 'lacquer' may harden the surface of the leather, making it less prone to scratching.

Add Your Message Here
Post:
Bold text Italics Underline Create a hyperlink Insert a clipart image

Username: Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Password:
Options: Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Action:

Topics | Last Day | Last Week | Tree View | Search | User List | Help/Instructions | Program Credits Administration