Removing the bellows on a Super Ikonta 532/16

[Josh Zierten]

Hi All,
I picked up a decent user Super Ikonta 532/16 for a good price because the bellows had a hole. Well it looked like a hole at first, but in fact it's a tear in the outer leatherette and a hole in the underlying fabric. The tear is on three of the four sides on a fold. I am thinking of patching it with some vinyl I picked up to make bellows. But I would really like to remove the bellows and replace them.

I have found zero help with this online. As far as I can tell, there may be some rivets under the body leatherette on the bottom or else where, holding the back of the bellows and folding lens assembly in the cameras body.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/4022153166/in/photostream/
This guy has this picture, but no steps along the way really. I don't need to tear it down quite that far, just get the bellows out.

I once talked to some one who said that the bellows were glued in, and to just tear them out. This seems a bit extreme. What do people normally do? I mean for the DIY crowd who don't send their cameras off to get new bellows.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Although I can't help regarding bellows removal on that camera, this article on bellows replacement may help or may be of some use later:

https://web.archive.org/web/20160515095024/http://pheugo.com:80/cameras/index.php?page=folders

 

[Josh Zierten]

Thanks for that. I have all the materials for making a new bellows, or a few if I have to. Once I can get the old one off and taken apart carefully I can use it as a pattern for a new one.

 

[G1DRP]

I did it about 20 years ago and it’s not easy without making a bit of a mess of the camera. You need to remove the film gate, which involves bending some tabs back.
I honestly can’t remember the full process but I would start by removing the shutter assembly.

 

[Josh Zierten]

Ok, so after some more digging, and specifically looking at pictures, I found some info. Pictures in flickr stream I put in the OP have some evidence.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/4020211726/in/photostream/

In the above picture you see a brass screw between and in front of the two gear posts.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/4019855018/in/photostream/
In this shot you see another nearly identical screw on the right side of the viewfinder element, on the left of the body.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/4022153166/in/photostream/
In the picture I posted originally, you see two countersunk holes in the top of the body corresponding to the two screws in the previous pictures.
In the same shot, on the now removed front folding assembly the author of the picture has one of two threaded holes labeled in German as, thread of an upper mounting nut. Refer to the link.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/4081493702/in/album-72157622748867910/
Now after searching I found a second stream of pictures for another 532/16 of the same person.
http://www.bleckedermoor.de/fotomuseum/, that is his website.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35960028@N03/sets/72157622748867910/ This is the other flickr stream

But here you see the bottom of the front folding assembly after removal, and there in the corner of the assembly is a threaded hole, which means, under the leatherette on the bottom of the camera, are two screws. Once I remove those two and the two on the top under the top plate and winding mechanism gears, the front assembly, standard, and back bellows plate should just come right out.

I need to get in and clean those gears a bit and regrease them so I was going to have to do that any way. The leatherette on the bottom shouldn't be an issue with some gentle heat and a flat utensil, it is just a strip.

 

[G1DRP]

I did it about 20 years ago and it’s not easy without making a bit of a mess of the camera. You need to remove the film gate, which involves bending some tabs back.
I honestly can’t remember the full process but I would start by removing the shutter assembly.

Mine was a pre WW2 6X9 Super Ikonta, so it was a completely different camera.

 

[Josh Zierten]

Mine was a pre WW2 6X9 Super Ikonta, so it was a completely different camera.

I'm sure its a combination of model differences and evolution.

I took my camera apart last night. The above pictures were helpful. The two slotted screws under the top pate were rather stiff to turn at first, but eventually came out. I Also took out much of the gearing to be cleaned and relubed.

The Screws on the bottom were harder to access. Instead of the leatherette being attached directly to the base of the camera, as it is to the sides, there is a bottom plate, much like the top one, but it is held on with 9 screws under the leatherette. I used my fingernail to peel the leatherette away in little steps, that worked well. After finding and removing all 9 screws, the bottom plate comes off and revels the 2 screws holding the bottom of the folding assembly.

Before you can actually pull the assembly out you need to remove the shutter levers. There is chrome plated lever and cam that screw in with two screws on the bottom left of the camera body. Next you need to remove the lens and fold the bellows back into the body. The lever and cam now has room to lift vertical and can be turned out if the slot it sits in. Once that has been removed you can continue on to remove the assembly. The assembly was stuck in with time, and the top part sits behind the rangefinder optics. Wiggling and pulling from the bottom, the bottom slides out and the top comes out from behind the box in the body. The whole thing should come out at this point. The assembly won't stay closed until you unhook the two springs in the back.

The bellows is held in by the folding assembly and just falls out. Make sure to note the orientation that it came out, so you can put it back in, although I think it is symmetric and can be flipped 180 degrees with out issue. Mine had a few light seals in the back and seemed to be missing a few as well.

The bellows fabric is a laminate of leatherette, ribs and black fabric. The leatherette on the out side appears to be the light proof portion. The bellows is glued to two metal plates at either end.