bellows support

[mark]

The ribs give the bellows their support right? or is the material partly responsible?

Has anyone thought of using an old changing bag as the outer covering of the bellows as a repair material?

 

[Dave Parker]

depends on the camera Mark, some of the cameras with large bellows had metal rings grafted to them you could slip a dowl in to add additional support, I have used dark cloth material to repair bellows, are we talking about bellows sag?

A little more information might help answer the question a bit better.

Dave

 

[mark]

I have an old beater camera Galli tempted me into buying. At least I told my wife it was his fault that I have it. I was wanting to take the outer layer of the bellows off and replace it with something. I was wondering if I would need a thicker material than the material that is on the large changing bag I never use. Not talking about sag.

 

[Dave Parker]

Mark,

If you have the dark cloth material that you can graft to it, then it should work just fine, you will have to find the best method to glue it, but should work out just fine, just be very meticulous in making sure that every part of it is glued securly with a glue that will allow the flexibility to fold up when needed.

Dave

 

[JHannon]

Porter's camera sells a dark cloth material that others have used for bellows construction.

The other problem with the added thickness of the material and glue is getting it to fold together and close the camera.(If it is a folding model). Spray adhesives have been suggested because they are thinner.

I think there is a post or article here on bellows construction.. I will look.

Regards,
John

 

[scootermm]

I have a question in regards to those metal rings etc that help to support the bellows.
I have seen a few 8x10 cameras that have multiple little strips of leather on the top of the bellows that are varying distances from the front standard they are used to pull the bellows toward the front standard when the bellows may interfere with the image area especially when slightly wider lens are used and the bellows is more compressed. Ive experienced on many of my 7x17 negs that sometimes the bellows gets in the way of the image area when I use my 300mm lens.
Im trying to figure out how I would attach the little strips at different distances to the top of the bellows and then Im thinking of using just a small tiny nail and hooking the strips or strip to the front standard to help "pull" the bellows out of interference of the image area.

Thanks, I dont mean to hijack the thread just figured it was related.

 

[Donald Miller]

On my 12X20, I picked up the rings and some black ribbon from a fabric store and hot glued it to the bellows. Worked good...clean installation.

 

[argus]

Ribs give support to the bellows. In homemade bellows, don't use too heavy cover and liner because the heavier, the more sag you will encounter.

I use 3M permanent spray glue.

G

 

[photomc]

Matt, send a PM to lee...he did the same thing that Donald mentioned on his 8x10 and I think it worked great for him.

 

[noseoil]

You could also use contact cement and velcro. Cut strips of the "fuzzy" velcro and use contact cement (pliobond, laminate adhesive, hot melt) on the bellows, then use a small patch of the hooked velcro glued to the top of the front standard for your fastening point.

For bellows sag on the 8x10 with a long lens, I have used a couple of hunks of foam blocking to place between the camera bed and the bottom of the bellows. Depends on the extension and the shot. tim

 

[nick mulder]

I used cardboard stiffeners spray-glued between two layers of material neither of which were totally light-proof - the outer material was thick, however the inner material was a stretch variety -

works fine and doesn't sag

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

i did make a uncomplete 'part version' first to test it -