Scruntched Bellows

[Casey]

Greetings,
I purchased a Toyo 45AII, and the part of the bellows close to the front standard is 'scruntched' in an awkward way, as though the camera was closed inappropriately, leading to the pattern of folds in the bellows being distorted.

Is there a way that I can re-correct the folds in the bellows? Can I remove the bellows and, say, iron it back to its original folds?

Thanks!

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Hi there,

Be careful with an iron, you may melt the outer skin before you get any results.

You can 'mist' the bellows with water, make card stock spacers to fit in between the fold on the outside of 2 opposite sides and weight the the bellows closed to press those side straight. A few large books work well, it may take a week to dry out.

You could check ebay for a replacement bellows, these are listed regularly for Toyo.

Good luck with it.

[Jay DeFehr]

Casey,
one advantage to wetting, compressing, and leaving your bellows, is that it won't take up much space in the garbage when you discover the mold. Don't do it. Fold the bellows properly, tape stiffeners to the outside and/or inside of the bellows and compress. Compression is hard on old, brittle bellows, so use caution. A misfold is better than a leak.

Jay

[darter]

Since the bellows an an AII are already compressed when the camera is folded, I doubt that any additional pressure will make any difference. Since it doesn't effect camera performance, other than on super wide angle work, I suggest that, "if it works don't fix it."

[Casey]

Hi guys,
Thanks for your responses. I have a larger problem now, that being the bellows containing about 15 pinholes. Quite frankly, I think I would like to just replace the bellows and not worry about the awkward folds or the pinholes. So, I'm going to call Mamiya America Corp tomorrow to see if they have any in-stock. However, I'd like to know if the bellows on the camera are glued on, and with what type of glue? I'll be replacing them myself, so any info regarding taking the old bellows off and putting the new bellows on will be much appreciated. Thanks!