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Chiccolini
Tinkerer
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 91
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 15, 2010 - 05:22 pm: | 
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I need to replace a bellows that fell apart (really, it came apart in my hands).
I don't want to try building a regular bellows with multiple pleats/folds and was considering making a bellows with a single fold in the middle like was used on the Ernemann Lilliput and other old folding cameras. Either that or will try a bag bellows.
Has anyone here ever tried this concept? Any hints/advice? |
Marty
Tinkerer
Username: Marty
Post Number: 69
Registered: 11-2008
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, April 16, 2010 - 01:57 pm: |
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I've never built bellows from scratch, and I have to admit that it looks pretty daunting to me...
If the inside liner on your old bellows is at all intact, it might be worth trying to "reskin" them. I DID once manage to rebuild a set of bellows that had become separated and looked about like a red plastic bag. All the little stiffeners were loose and piled up in the bottom of the bellows, and some had been lost through a small tear. Turned out pretty good, and it took more patience than skill. |
Finnegan
Tinkerer
Username: Finnegan
Post Number: 35
Registered: 09-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 18, 2010 - 05:26 pm: |
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I'm in the process of trying this and will report my success/failure and tips when done. |
Chiccolini
Tinkerer
Username: Chiccolini
Post Number: 94
Registered: 06-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, April 26, 2010 - 05:16 pm: |
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I am going to see if a bellows from a Kodak Vest Pocket model will fit first before going the actual construction route. Will report success/failure. |
Stereopost
Tinkerer
Username: Stereopost
Post Number: 8
Registered: 07-2011
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, July 18, 2011 - 09:06 pm: |
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I'm an old guy (near 60). In the past, I got some bellows cloth from a camera supply and a copy of Ed Romney's manual on making or repairing bellows cameras. I was succesful in rebuilding the bellows on an old Century Graphic full-plate (6-1/2x8-12) view camera for a friend. Later we did some trading and now I have the camera. Romney's book is out of print, but I can offer some help on this. I used the same info to rebuild an old Kodak red bellows (116, I think) and dyed the lambskin with Tandy red leather dye. It worked fine. |
Cooltouch
Tinkerer
Username: Cooltouch
Post Number: 142
Registered: 01-2009
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, August 08, 2011 - 05:05 pm: |
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If I might freshen up this thread somewhat -- I have a Nikon PB-4 bellows with the PS-4 slide duplicating attachment. Fortunately, the main bellows appear to be in good shape, but the small bellows set for the PS-4 slide copier have begun to disintegrate. I would like to at least attempt to replace these bellows myself. Haven't started looking for any how-to sites on the Internet yet, but I reckon there are some. If any of you have any specific recommendations, I'd be happy to know about it/them. TIA. |
Brcamera
Tinkerer
Username: Brcamera
Post Number: 107
Registered: 08-2010
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, August 09, 2011 - 10:35 pm: |
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Many years ago when I was but a child (it seems), I graduated from National Camera Repair School and one of the lessons in the course was titled "The Bellows". It was a short 17 page book but it took you through the whole process of making a bellows from scratch. I had to make a bellows to satisfy the course requirements and as I remember, it was not all that much fun as it was the last bellows that I made.I have attached a photo of two of the pages from the book below so you can get an idea of the detail that it covers. For someone looking to make a bellows, obtaining a copy of this book might be a good start. |
