Custom Bellows UK contact/website difficulties?

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format
I was just about to send a bellows from my Century Universal 8x10 to Custom Bellows at the beginning of the week but I had a quick question that I thought I could answer by looking on their site. The site was down and I thought it might just be down for overnight maintenance but it has been down for the entire week. I sent an email to let them know about the site service interruption but never received a reply. I've also called twice at the end of the week (verifying that I was calling during their operating hours) but both times I went to a generic voicemail that didn't even mention the name of the company.

I'm hoping that someone from the UK might be able to shed a little light on this situation. I definitely don't want to ship my bellows until I can verify that this is all just a glitch and that they are still in business.

MIchael
 
OP
OP

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format


Thanks AgX, it does still seem to be a bit of a mystery. I found the threads you linked to but since they were a few years out of date I thought I would start a new one. I had email correspondence with them 3 weeks ago but now that they have gone dark for a week I supposed I am left with only questions until/unless I can get in touch with them.
 
OP
OP

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format
Ian Grant said:
They made some bellows quite recently for one of my friends, I'd try giving Keith a call,

Ian
Click to expand...
Thanks Ian, I'm assuming that Keith is the owner. Do you know if he would have a different number than the one listed in their general Google info? I tried that number twice but I was only able to reach a generic voicemail.
 

Ian Grant

Subscriber
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
23,265
Location
West Midland
Format
Multi Format
Keith Lowe is the owner of Custom Bellows, the registration of the website lapsed on the 19th November. These days it's a small business not like when his family made over 1 million sets of bellows for Kodak, let alone their other large customers.

Ian
 
OP
OP

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format

Thanks Ian,

That does help clear up some of the mystery. I know they're a small family operation these days. I really wish I could throw more business their way when Keith decides to leave the business the options for professionally made bellows will be drastically reduced. I took a tragic turn at a small bellows myself awhile back and 'tragic' is the best adjective I have for my attempt.

Michael
 

darkroommike

Subscriber
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
1,726
Location
Iowa
Format
Multi Format
Unable to contact a small family business over the holidays? I don't know if that is a cause for concern. I do wish you good luck and keep us posted.
 

AgX

Member
Joined
Apr 5, 2007
Messages
29,973
Location
Germany
Format
Multi Format
darkroommike said:
Unable to contact a small family business over the holidays?
Click to expand...
Concerning holidays you seem better informed than me or the OP.

If you refer to Thanksgiving in late November, that is a US thing.
Not celebrated in the UK, not even heard of in Germany...

Though I admit that lacking reply from a seemingly small business within a week, as such should not be reason to be bothered. I made quite some reasoned inquiries at major manufacturers I never ever got response to.
 
Last edited:

darkroommike

Subscriber
Joined
Mar 22, 2007
Messages
1,726
Location
Iowa
Format
Multi Format

I did not specify a holiday, but I counted a half dozen on the UK calendar I consulted. The season or holidays (lower case) are a time for family get togethers, etc. A small delay in a reply might be expected.
 
OP
OP

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format
darkroommike said:
Unable to contact a small family business over the holidays? I don't know if that is a cause for concern. I do wish you good luck and keep us posted.
Click to expand...

This is a VERY delayed followup but I did get hold of Keith at Custom Bellows and he was suffering from a domain expiration so the website and email went down for a couple of days. I sent off and received the replacement unit and I can say unequivocally that all of the hype is true. It's a true beauty of a bellows and fits like a glove.
 

choiliefan

Member
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
1,311
Format
Medium Format
Good to know.
May they eventually fold, what will be the alternative?
Extremely worried for the future...
 

mshchem

Subscriber
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
14,663
Location
Iowa City, Iowa USA
Format
Medium Format
How much did it cost? I am trying to work up the courage to replace the bellows on a 8x10 Deardorff V8 . The original bellows still function. I'm a bit afraid of waiting to a point that bellows won't be available. You just sent bellows with frames??
 
OP
OP

MNaPh

Member
Joined
May 21, 2017
Messages
25
Location
Dallas
Format
Multi Format
mshchem said:
How much did it cost? I am trying to work up the courage to replace the bellows on a 8x10 Deardorff V8 . The original bellows still function. I'm a bit afraid of waiting to a point that bellows won't be available. You just sent bellows with frames??
Click to expand...


Hey mshchem, I sent the bellows still attached to both the front and rear frames, which is what they prefer, and Keith fits the new bellows to the frame as part of the service. The entire cost from Custom Bellows was £225 and I paid about $25 to ship it over. My Century still had its original bellows which were only 'technically' intact so it was well worth the expense to replace and I'd say these new ones would easily last a lifetime of regular use. The only caveats I can give you are that USPS to Royal Mail in the UK took the package through Frankfurt and the Germans held onto it for almost 3 weeks before releasing it to the UK. Once Keith had the bellows he turned it around in about a week and half and had it back to me about a week after that. The Century bellows has about a 36 inch draw so it's pretty massive for an 8x10 but I don't know if that affected the cost at all.

I hope this helps.
 

mshchem

Subscriber
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
14,663
Location
Iowa City, Iowa USA
Format
Medium Format
That's good info. Sounds like a good deal. I love my camera, I have heard nothing but praise for these folks.
 

minh0204

Member
Joined
Nov 21, 2017
Messages
41
Location
Kent, UK
Format
4x5 Format
choiliefan said:
Good to know.
May they eventually fold, what will be the alternative?
Extremely worried for the future...
Click to expand...
Large format is very healthy and alive in Asia. There is a seller on eBay by the name of ecbuyonline2008 who makes custom bellows - I bought 2 from them, very supple and of course light tight. Can't yet comment on longevity but so far so good.

We'll see the inevitable end of slide films before bellows. At any rate bellows making is 10th century tech.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn more…