Kodak Brownie Paper is Peeling

[PhotoShu]

Hi there, I am new to this forum and I am hoping someone may be able to provide an answer to this little dilemma. I have a modest collection of some cameras which includes five Kodak Brownies. The paper covering on two of them is peeling off and I would like to try to glue them back on again. What would be the best way to do this and what type of adhesive should I use? Some type of contact cement? Thank you for any assistance you all can provide.

 

[gone]

It depends. Do you think you might be recovering the camera(s) in the future and want to get it the covering back off? Rubber cement should be easy to take off again, it won't hold very strongly if you need that. Contact cement would work for sure, but it is gonna really hold on there. Lots of scraping and cleaning if you want to do a complete recover later. There's many glues that will work if you plan on just gluing what is coming off and leaving it at that.

Elmer's is probably too weak. I imagine the paper is pretty brittle on the cameras too. Before gluing it back down, you might want to set the camera in a bathroom and run the shower on H for a while and hope the paper becomes more bendable so it doesn't break off where it's bent.

 

[Auer]

FWIW, lacquer thinner will remove contact cement effortlessly.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

The covering was probably originally glued on using shellac.

 

[Don_ih]

Pliobond is the preferred stuff - that's what most camera restorers use.
I have used a fabric glue to reattach peeling leatherette - it worked well.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

Pliobond will decidedly stick the covering back on. If the covering never has to come off again then it isn't that bad a bad choice. Pliobond was originally used for shoe repair - pliable + bonded. Camera coverings don't need to be pliable and as to bonding, well it's a mixed blessing.

If the covering may have to come off again - say the covering on a 35mm SLR - then Pliobond is not such a good pick.

If you are going to use Pliobond then it is best to apply it to one surface and then clamp the whole together while it is still wet. The Pliobond will stick more than well enough for gluing back a camera covering.

Rubber cement can be used as a moderate strength adhesive by treating it like Pliobond: apply to both surfaces, wait until just not tacky and then clamp.

 

[Don_ih]

If the covering may have to come off again - say the covering on a 35mm SLR - then Pliobond is not such a good pick.

It's used by so many people because it will come off when heat is applied.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Spray-on rubber cement. It is easy to apply and if it needs to be removed, that can be done without damaging the paper.