Here we go, Century 8x10 Restoration

[ic-racer]

I was getting ready to send the bellows off to England when I realized I would be in a mess if the bellows were lost in transit. Therefore, I decided to collect all the info from the bellows, as if I were going to duplicate it myself, before I send it off.

So I need to trace some of the pleat stiffeners, and document the location and spacing of them, etc.

[ic-racer]

I broke the bellows apart at each end to measure the stiffeners. Then I drew this up on the computer so that I have a plan that I could use to make the bellows myself in case I had to.

The alternating black and white just represent two different stiffener heights.

[ic-racer]

This was the heart of this project. It looks like they turned out OK. The epoxy did a great job, it really is stronger than the wood. I still need to sand and finish them.

[David Karp]

This would be even more awesome if you turned it into an article and sent it to Tuan to include on the LF Home Page.

[Ash]

You're doing amazing. The camera parts already look good as new. The completed piece will be so sweet!

[ic-racer]

Originally Posted by David Karp

This would be even more awesome if you turned it into an article and sent it to Tuan to include on the LF Home Page.

Sounds like a good idea.

[speanburgarts]

I can offer some advice on the bellows problem. Go to a civil war reenactment or google civil war reenacting sutlers. Your looking for a "gum rubber" poncho. They made ponchos and rain jackets in the 19th century from canvas dipped in gum rubber. They are black and perfect for bellows, you may also be able to send your measurements to the source for the ponchos and have them make a gum rubber canvas for your measurements.

A good place to start would be this forum:

http://www.cwreenactors.com/phorum/

Perhaps Ray Morgenweck can help you, he owns Star Camera company and specialises in wet plate photography equipment.

by the way here are some shots of my Century No.1

[speanburgarts]

Here is a rubber blanket I found for $98 USD. You can use wood strips from a hobby shop and this to make bellows. I am not sure of the total size of the blanket thus you may want to ask before purchasing it.



h**p://www.njsekela.com//OSCommerce/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=31&products_id
=49&osCsid=e3a7d77fcefe619fb18a254fedc488e3

[ic-racer]

After reading these posts on the rubberized cloth, I happen to look down at my darkroom apron and it looks like excellent bellows material. Kind of like a silk fabric on the inside and rubberized on the outside. Now I know what to look for so...

There is a McMaster Carr outlet within driving distance of me. I see on their website that they have 4 potential black rubberized fabrics. I will drive there tomorrow and check them out.

Also, I'm going to pick up some polycarbonate sheet (Lexan) for the rib stiffeners. Why the Lexan? The technique I am planning would involve leaving the ribs all attached at the ends, with the space between them removed. Then, after gluing the center of the ribs in place I would lift up the ends and just do a zig-zag cut up and down the ends to free all the ribs. Since I would need to lift up the edges of the ribs I wanted to use a material that would just spring back flat.

The other idea I had was to make the bellows much smaller. I don't even have the extension rail that would allow use of the whole original bellows. Mine measured 810mm. I'm going to re-draw the plans at about 600mm and experiment with this smaller bellows.

[ic-racer]

Originally Posted by speanburgarts

by the way here are some shots of my Century No.1

Does the 'pendulum' on the side really work? Is it worth making (mine is missing) ?