the BELLOWS problem

[Dan Dozer]

Hi Walter,

I've made several myself and some were more successful than others. The drapery black out fabric is what I'm using now, but I just paint it black with some ordinary black latex paint. You may want to thin it down as it comes from the can/bottle because it may be a little thick. For the other layer, most recently i used black eqyptian cotton I got at the fabric store on sale for only a few $/yd.

The PVC coated material that you have seen at the fabric stores most likely won't work. I used to be able to get a pretty good thin material that worked perfectly at Hancock Fabrics (yes some of it is stretchy), but I haven't seen anything suitable for three or four years. Most of what they have now is too thick. Also, make sure if you do find some that appears thin enough, try to verify that it is actually light tight. One that I tried wasn't.

For the bellows stays, I use ordinary poster board that I got at Office Depot. It's about the thickness of manila file folders and you can probably use those also.

From what I've read, smaller bellows for old folder type cameras are the most difficult because it has to fold up right to fit inside the camera. All of the ones that I have made are for larger view cameras so it wasn't as much of an issue.

Regarding leather, I once bought some leather from a place on line called The Leather Supply House. I was intending on using it for lens caps but it was much too thin for that. It would probably work fine for bellows, but as I recall, it wasn't very cheap.

I also agree with resummerfield that an old film changing back should work pretty well if your bellows is small enough.

Good luck,

Dan

[Eric Mac]

I have also gone the Porters route using their premium blackout cloth and used file folders for the stiffeners. I then used a China silk product as the inside liner. I tried using car headliner spray glue to attach the liner to the blackout cloth and found the glue too thick. It almost came out like silly string. The bellows is for a 4x10 camera I am building, about 14" extended, but since I made the bellows about 3/4" too tall, I have to rebuild the rear standard. I also made an expensive mistake by cutting the bellows without a glue flap rendering the material too small. I hope I have enough for the 7x17 camera I hope to build next year.

I spent most of my time doing the layout on Autocad (big relearning curve) and probably cutting the stiffeners. Don't be intimidated by the folding, if you have the layout and stiffeners done properly, it almost folds itself.

Good luck
Eric

[Steve Smith]

Originally Posted by Eric Mac

Don't be intimidated by the folding, if you have the layout and stiffeners done properly, it almost folds itself.

Eventually!

Remember that if you use the material from a changing bag you will probably need two layers. Most of these woven materials can be 99.9% lightproof so if you have a double layer it practically guarantees 100%.

I stayed up most of one night many years ago teaching myself how to fold bellows after looking at my Agfa Isolette. At that time I managed to produce a square bellows.

A few years ago I had to re-think it to produce a tapered bellows. Luckilly, at work, I have CAD, a CNC XY knife cutter, a CNC drill router and a laser cutter so I can make parts quite accurately and quickly.


Steve.

[Greg_E]

Try a search for camera bellows here, there are a few really good threads on it. Inparticular you will find information on getting a book from Barry Young that I suggest, as well as a free download from another place that I suggest. There is also a good indepth discussion about making tapered bellows with some design suggestions that you should read.

[Sandeha Lynch]

I used the stuff from Porter's. Not ideal as it's still a little on the thick side, but very good for a large bellows set. I have left some instructions at the bottom of this page ... http://www.sandehalynch.com/restoration.htm

[Wyno]

Hi Darinwc,
I was looking on the f295 website and one of the members there has posted photos and description of how to make your own bellows. It almost looks easy enough for me to try, when my broken arm mends.
Mike

[walter23]

With all due respect to Barry, I bought his pamphlet and I saw some problems with his method, especially for the tapered bellows. It might work for a large bellows where a bit of slop wouldn't matter, but it wasn't very precise and I think you'd definitely have problems in a case where your dimensions were critical (e.g. on a smaller camera).

Originally Posted by Greg_E

Try a search for camera bellows here, there are a few really good threads on it. Inparticular you will find information on getting a book from Barry Young that I suggest, as well as a free download from another place that I suggest. There is also a good indepth discussion about making tapered bellows with some design suggestions that you should read.

[Greg_E]

There was another free file that did a nice job on tapered bellows. There was also a good thread on building a tapered bellows and I think there was a spreadsheet to help get the correct sizes of the stiffeners. For me this is all library stuff, I read it all and adapt everything I've read to the application at hand. So I still say Barry's book is a good reference to have on hand.

[CRhymer]

Hello Greg and Walter,

I agree with both of you. I bought Barry's book, and I have to say there wasn't much in it that I didn't already have for free. Except (this is important), I have spent a lot of time over two years collecting layout information (available in many places for free) and sources of supply (a little more difficult). If one is starting from scratch and wants to save time, Barry's book will get you going quickly. The tricky bit, which is not dealt with fully by any source that I have seen, is converting layout from large to small formats. That is, bellows do not scale exactly. The thickness of materials and the amount one has to allow for the folds is very different for a 20"x24" - 60" draw set and for a small folder. Many people would be able to make large or ultra large format bellows with a little planning, skill and practice. Making bellows for small folders is another issue. Although I am mainly working with LF and ULF at present, I have a box full of very usable folders with bad bellows. Commercial replacements are too expensive and DIY is very difficult. I would be very interested if anyone has a solution.

Cheers,
Clarence

[Nathan Smith]

Originally Posted by CRhymer

... I bought Barry's book, and I have to say there wasn't much in it that I didn't already have for free. Except (this is important), I have spent a lot of time over two years collecting layout information (available in many places for free) and sources of supply (a little more difficult). If one is starting from scratch and wants to save time, Barry's book will get you going quickly. ...

I bought Barry's book as well and I agree with you on all points. It is a good book, especially for pulling all of the information together. The real value of the book would come into play if you plan to make more than one copy of the same bellows, as he spends the vast majority of the time on using a CAD program to do the layout, and then having the resulting layout printed professionally. At present I don't have a CAD program and anything I do will be a one-off, so I'm not using that. Still, it's a good book and I'm glad I bought it.

Nathan