Exposure Window Cover Repair

I have a Wirgin 6cm x 6cm folding camera with a Wollensak Anistigmat f/3.5 lens that I purchased from eBay five years ago. It has worked like a charm since I purchased it. The first images I took were of the President's Day storm that year, the one that blanketed Delaware in up to two feet of snow in thirty-six hours.

Well, the little red disc window insert that was made in Germany in 1946 bit the dust in September and I have not used it since. Until today. On my lunch hour at Manlove Auto Parts where I work, I finally remembered to try something I had thought of before Christmas.

I purchased the standard roll of red reflective tape, the tape that covers cracks or small holes on a red automotive/trailer lens. I cut a strip about seven to eight centimeters long and narrow enough to fit between the rivets that affix the film holding plate to the back lid. First I tried this with a second piece of tape adhered against the first piece to prevent the glue being exposed to the outside of the camera through the exposure count window. When I discovered that this made the exposure number too difficult to read, I tried a second piece with some clear plastic used in substitution for the second piece of tape et voila. I have blocked the light and repaired my camera. Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

The red plastic tabs that fit on Pendaflex hanging file folders also work.

Red lithographer's tape makes a quick repair. It has many other uses in a darkroom.

Rubylith was my thought

Much like the graphic arts tape, only this stuff is a sheet, with a peel off red layer that seems to cling by electrostatic attracton. I have a roll 40" wide by many yards long that I use whaen I play with lithographic film ( not lith printing -a little bit of a different animal).

PM me if you need a bit to create wierd sized not too large safelight, etc. I will cut you a piece and send it for the cost of postage into my paypal account.