Leather lens cap in progress

[John Kasaian]

My new old pretzel lens needs a lens cap as there is no shutter on it (being a projection lens salvaged from a busted up turn of the century McIntosh Stereopticon) After going though my stash of lens caps there were none that fit! I reckoned the cap needs to be 70mm and it just so happens Equinox Photographic has a old leather one listed, but they're on the road so I figure I'd make my own using these directions
http://www.lungov.com/wagner/DIYLensCap.html
Now cutting a perfectly round puck for a mould proved to be more of a challenge than I planned not having the correct tools, so I found a package of 3" wooden disks at Michaels craft store which are slightly largerwhich according to the instructions, is still do-able, and glued them together to make my puck. They also had heavy cardstock so I bought a sheet of that and used roughly half of it to build up the form of the lens cap holding it together with contact cement.
I also went to Tandy and picked up a scrap of thin black leather trim and soaked it for an hour. While the leather was soaking in water (in an empty coffee can) I sanded the cardstock form and spread some glue on it. I wrung the water out of the scrap leather and with the puck on top of a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup I stretched the wet leather over the best I could, smoothing out the wrinkles and gathers and then flipped the puck over with the leather still tight and shot a few staples through the leather and into the wooden puck to hold it until dry.
So far, so good! Now I need to find a bit of velvet to glue inside and turn the leather over the rim,but that will have to wait until its good and dry---perhaps tomorrow night.

[c.d.ewen]

John:

Sounds good, so far. Turning a puck on a lathe gets the exact size you need :-)

Check out a local sewing/fabric store for two items: a pair of small, rounded blade scissors - very handy for surgically trimming edges; and adhesive-backed felt. Felt will last longer than velvet, and won't throw tiny bits of fluff around as it wears. Comes in flashy colors, if that's your style (see the lenscap in my post in this thread.

Charley

[sumo]

Finding the correct diameter of the puck for a snug fit on the lens after leather and felt/velvet have been wrapped seems like it could be a frustrating trial and error process...?
I'm going to have to give this a go.
Previous to reading this, I had the idea of just bending wooden strips like in the cardboard above and lining that with felt. Or just turn a wooden puck and line with felt. I think a wooden cap would look great!

[alex from holland]

Mayby this can help?
http://collodion-art.blogspot.nl/201...isnt-that.html

[RichardSperry]

Isn't leather considered a culprit in the formation of fungus on lenses?

[sumo]

I don't think leather itself is bad but rather the moisture it is prone to hold onto and release in your bag/case which then provides a nice environment for fungus.

[alex from holland]

Isn't leather considered a culprit in the formation of fungus on lenses?

Many old lens caps were made with leather. Just make sure you never store them in a unventilated, closed bag.

[Jim Fitzgerald]

Mayby this can help?
http://collodion-art.blogspot.nl/201...isnt-that.html

Alex, I am following your instructions right now to make some caps for my Voigtlander Portrait Euryscope and big Darlot. Thanks.

Jim

[Bill, 70's military B&W]

Good luck with it John,
Post a picture

[ghostcount]

Here's a couple of mine using Alex's method.

I used velvet for the inside lining on one but it frayed quite a bit. Felt is cheaper and easier to work with.