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getting bellows back in shape

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Rob Skeoch

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Apr 25, 2005
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Location
Grand Valley, Ontario
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35mm RF
The bellows on my 8x10 seem to be out of wack.... is there a way to return it to original form. One of the pleats seems to be sticking out in stead of in.
I also seem to get a lot of sag interference.
-Rob Skeoch
 
Extend the bellows and let the sun warm them, Close in the proper position and let cool. It wont be like new but it might help. I keep a piece of pick-n-pull foam to put between the bellows and the rail when I use my long bellows as a support.
 
The advice above is very good...in fact, there's not much more you can do for the bellows in this state short of major surgery that's as likely to cause problems as it is to solve them unless you're an expert at such things.

One other addition I'd make, though: When you've got the bellows folded properly, get them as compressed as you can while they cool. If they're fixed to the camera, get the standards as close together as you can. If they're easily removed, remove them and place them onto a flat surface with some weight on top of them (a few books, perhaps). By compressing them as much as possible, you'll be forcing the folds into shape as much as possible.

If the bellows are old and seem dry to you, be very careful when you're handing them while you re-shape them. You definately don't want to create more problems than you already have by splitting them. In fact, if they're dry I'd pass on putting weight on them...just leave them on the camera with the standards closed up.

(My experience is limited to re-forming the bellows on a Calumet C-1 using the warm in the sun/cool in the house method; I had to use the standards on the camera to compress the bellows as the C-1 bellows are fixed to the camera. It worked very well for me and didn't cause any other problems...your mileage may vary.)

Best of luck to you Rob.
Dave
 
Bellows aren't always leather...a lot of them are synthetic material. How you should treat them will depend on what they're made out of...and there are a lot of opinions on the best way to treat leather bellows.

A search of lfphoto.info will turn up a bunch of threads on how to treat bellows. Proceed with caution...replacement bellows tend to be expensive.
 
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