4th proper bellows made out of the leather from a relatively unsuccessful 3rd (it worked completely, but was just plain ugly)...
370mm outer dimension with 21.5mm wide strips = just under 13" inside dimension that means it is large for 8x10" and too small for 11x14" ... But made in mind to test new techniques but it will end up on a Wetplate tailboard with a universal plate holder system that can take any size plate up to around 12" square.
Extends completely to 850mm (33") if need be - easily 2/3rds that with no refolding required upon contraction - compress to 85mm (3.35")
Should keep me happy until I get a much larger lens - although I suspect I may have reached the limit of size envy with my ~19" f5(ish) Voightlander anyway - my Dallmeyer 4A at least will be able to reach 1:1, the Voight maybe also ok at 1:1 due to the fact the iris is forward of the lens board anyway and the extra dimension of the holder and the rest of the camera body gumph
Strips were laser cut in registration already out of 0.5mm clear PET plastic which was kept with strips of tape as you can see in the pictures for gluing, something I'll do every time from now on - compared to the amount of work involved and crap output of cutting it myself its goer from now on - I'm even considering buying a laser cutter myself, at least something CNC. I use clear strips as they become black enough anyway, and you can see where the adhesive isn't covering fully on the first side. I also had the bellows vacuum pressed with a bit of heat as an experiment - the heat did nothing as the adhesive wasn't a heat activated variety (nor a
deactivated variety thankfully!). The press worked for half an hour and I did note some more compression on pulling it out - not sure if I'll continue doing it however. As the previous bellows had thicker strips, the older bend/creases could be seen phasing in and out of alignment in these newer ones, a bit of steam treatment over the winter soup making sorted that out (they smelled like vege stock), then compression for a week or so and some boot polish while I was otherwise occupied with work and there is now no trace of either carrots or the older creasing.
You can see the seams of the inner and outer leather in photo 6 or 7 I think - leather on top for the pic but the seam will live on the bottom for the camera... Too hard to explain how I do it this way without pics, which I'll try to do for the next one (a larger tapered one, which will need a full hide to do, so far I've been working with half beasts :rolleyes
- anyways, the way I do it means there is no overlap in the leather, much better for the eventual compressed dimension... It's a completely light proof butt joint of sorts. The linen interior joint does overlap, but the double size increase fits in the area that the extra dimension the corner folds introduce (leather wont do the same) - all joints angled so they don't get a chance to bunch in one spot, effectively meaning only about 3 strips worth bunch in any one area... The leather butt joint does have a slightly thicker dimension (glue) but as it is so small the smallest of gradients will offset it strip to strip...
A lot of the info will make more sense to someone who has made a bellows or two previously - a lot of gotchas involved that can only be fully appreciated hands on
(agree ?)
They're a bit dusty at the mo' - will clean up once the mess making is over ...