DIY bellows - Anyone have a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine?

[Joe Smigiel]

I'm looking for a way to simplify cutting stiffener patterns for DIY camera bellows. I think a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine made for scrapbooking might be the ticket for cutting out the stiffener patterns, but I don't want to drop $300 on one if it isn't going to work. So, I'm wondering if anyone on the forum has access to one and might be able to run a test sheet for me if I send them the pattern file and paper to be printed upon.

I understand the machine incorporates a scanner and software that can trace out patterns from images such as photographs, so I assume a graphic pattern with sharp contrast boundaries between shapes such as a bellows pattern would be very easy for the machine to handle. It looks like a pattern on the order of ~12" wide x ~24" long might be possible to cut out using one of these machines. I have some reservations regarding the paper sticking to the substrate sheet that holds the media and the fact that the bellows stiffeners would be thin paper and perhaps tear when removing the cut pattern from the sheet. I suspect that sheets of very thin styrene might be an alternative to paper stock used for stiffeners. Although I haven't done a thorough search of available materials, it may be possible to cut the stiffeners out on self-adhesive stock and that could also be of great benefit when constructing a bellows.

Or, does anyone have a suggestion for an inexpensive commercial source capable of cutting such patterns using a laser cutter?

Here's the sort of pattern I'm talking about (scaled to 50%):



I would need the thin black stripes between the gray bars cut out by the machine. It's a PITA doing it manually.


A pic of the Silhouette Cameo 2 model I'm considering:

[IanG]

Here's a link to Steve Smith's method I mentioned in another thread.

I checked out the machine you mention it's the same price in US dollars as it is in UK pounds so 55% more expensive here. I've a friend who makes Vinyl signs so maybe it would be cheaper to just get him to do the cutting for me, I always draw up the patterns in CorelDraw. There's sign makers in every town so that would be a cheaper option.

Ian

[Joe Smigiel]

Thanks Ian. I saw Steve's post a couple years ago and that is actually where I got the idea of using one of the scrapbooking machines. I've bookmarked the thread so I won't lose track of it again and will check out a local print shop to see what they can offer.

FWIW, I'm drawing the patterns in Photoshop.

[IanG]

I don't have Photoshop installed on my laptop but have the Adobe Creative Suite on my PC which is 10 years old, CS2 I think and would/could use Illustrator in preference to Photoshop. I've used CorelDraw for so long it's second nature and I like the fact that I can adapt scalable vector images for bellows to suit slightly different camera dimensions relatively easily.

Did you see the Video's posted on Bellows making to illustrate making them from a Kit being sold here I think, around 2010. The kit was really no more than a template and the materials.

Ian

[B.S.Kumar]

A question to the expert bellows makers here:

Is there a formula that can be used to make a bellows pattern? Let's say we know the front and rear frame sizes, input the desired minimum/maximum extension and the thickness of the material being used. Can the number of folds and the width of each fold be derived?

Kumar

[Jac@stafford.net]

FWIW, I'm drawing the patterns in Photoshop.

That could be quite a challenge, and perhaps you have found solutions. One of my favorites is to create an action that scales an object n% to a new layer, and continues for 'n' iterations. Then export the layers to files via a script built-into PS.

[Joe Smigiel]

I don't have Photoshop installed on my laptop but have the Adobe Creative Suite on my PC which is 10 years old, CS2 I think and would/could use Illustrator in preference to Photoshop. I've used CorelDraw for so long it's second nature and I like the fact that I can adapt scalable vector images for bellows to suit slightly different camera dimensions relatively easily.

Did you see the Video's posted on Bellows making to illustrate making them from a Kit being sold here I think, around 2010. The kit was really no more than a template and the materials.

Ian

Ian,

Yes. I was in contact with the seller of the kits for awhile but at the time was looking for a bellows kit that exceeded the size he was capable of producing, so that discussion went nowhere and he stopped selling kits shortly afterward.

[Lachlan 717]

Have you considered using one of the larger mat board cutters? Thee would make cutting the long side quicker (and possibly more accurately and SAFER) than the ruler/knife method. That you can set them to cut continuously parallel would save a lot of time, particularly with bigger bellows.

[Joe Smigiel]

Jac,

Basically what I do in Photoshop is set the grid to some multiple of the pleat, restrict the rectangular marquee selection tool to the width of the first stiffener and select the entire height of the rectangular file snapping it to the grid, and then fill that selection. I repeat that process for the width of the second stiffener (using a slightly different fill color) and paste it offset from the first stiffener by the width of the gap between them (usually 1/8" or 2mm, etc.). I merge those two layers and select both stiffeners using the magic wand tool. At that point I copy/paste the pair and position them by snapping to the grid for the entire length of the file. The multiple stiffener layers are then collapsed onto one layer. Then I use the polygonal lasso and guides to draw the perimeter of the bellows on a new layer based on bellows frame dimensions, and I save that selection. I stroke that selection and add other cutting and alignment lines (e.g., center of the pattern) using guides and other saved selections if desired. I might also add a layer of numbers for the stiffeners using the text tool if desired. Filling the background layer with black and recalling the perimeter selection saved earlier allows me to eliminate the black from the exterior (to save ink) and results in black lines showing through the gaps between stiffeners. I'm hoping those black lines will provide an easy method of selecting a single tone to be selected in the die-cutting machine software and form the basis for cutting out the pattern to be transferred.

If I need pointed stiffeners, after the stiffener layer has been created I will create a large square using the rectangular marquee on a new layer. I'll rotate that square 45-degrees and use the polygonal lasso to cut it in half and form a right triangle. Then I'll rotate that triangle so the hypotenuse aligns along the angle of the bellows perimeter and nudge it into place so the point of the 90-degree angle intersects the midpoint line of the grid between the stiffener pairs. The sides of that triangle should intersect the edges of the stiffeners at the same time to give the desired angle for the points. Once it is sized, trimmed, and in place, I'll copy/paste that triangle down the length of the bellows pattern using the move tool to nudge them into position, collapse them all onto a single layer, duplicate them and flip the copy vertically for the opposite side of the pattern and then collapse all the triangles onto a single layer.

I like to keep each form on a separate layer so there will be a background, stiffener layer, triangle layer, number layer, cutting lines layer and a perimeter line layer. That way, if I need a peattern with the same width stiffeners, I can easily duplicate part of the file and adjust things like the perimeter based on the other camera bellows frame dimensions. The triangles will probably need to be redrawn since any deviation in the frame dimensions produces a different critical angle along the perimeter. But, at least some of the work is already saved and can be reused.

Never caught on to the vector programs and the Photoshop path seems to work OK for me so that's what I use at the moment. I've started playing around with Google SketchUp so my practice may change in the future.

Here's the one I'm currently working on (not to scale):

[Joe Smigiel]

A question to the expert bellows makers here:

Is there a formula that can be used to make a bellows pattern? Let's say we know the front and rear frame sizes, input the desired minimum/maximum extension and the thickness of the material being used. Can the number of folds and the width of each fold be derived?

Kumar

Kumar,

The geometry is explained in the first couple pages of this online pdf file by Doug Bardell:

http://web.mit.edu/biyeun/Public/How...%20Bellows.pdf

You are correct in assuming the minimum and maximum extensions will be critical measurements and determine the other dimensions including the stiffener thickness. You might also have to allow for clearance with the rear box or front standard depending on the camera. Otherwise, the bellows may rub against the frame and wear prematurely. One solution to this problem is to reduce the width of the stiffeners at the very rear of the pattern for a few inches/cm to clear the box.

There are other instructions online, including Hasluck's Photographic Notes from 1910, perhaps a Deardorff file, and several sets of instructions by DIY cameramakers including a tome by J.B. Harlin that can be accessed through a link on this page: http://www.jbhphoto.com/articles/bellows-building/