Re-coating peeling bellows

tkamiya

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I seem to have an acquired an illness, collect-enlarger-itis. At home is a sick Omega D-II. Its bellows is cracked and peeling but no holes. Is it possible for me to take off some of the pealing black coating and repaint this with some suitable material? Can anyone recommend me the right procedure to refinish this to a point that will look decent and fully usable?
 

David A. Goldfarb

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Ultimately, you'll need to replace the bellows, but meanwhile, there's a bellows patch you can paint on from Bostick and Sullivan.
 
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tkamiya

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Thank you. Looks like I can save this enlarger....
 

Maris

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3M type#850 black tape; very black, very thin, very sticky, no bleed , no creep adhesive, rather expensive. The entire bellows of my Omega D2V is covered in this stuff and the result looks like and behaves like new.

This "ultimate bellows repair tape" also works well on cameras. My Tachihara 8x10 is wearing some of it now. Because the tape is so strong, thin, and flexible complete bellows should be made out of it in the first place. I wish it didn't cost me $100 a roll.
 

RalphLambrecht

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I used liquid latex and it did do the job, but as David said, you need to replace them eventually. Custom Bellows in the UK does a good job.
 
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