Have you ever made bellows?

[Lffbug]

And if you have, what are your experiences? Was it worth to make your own rather than buy new?

I am trying to decide on which way to go (buy it or build it) for an Ansco 5x7 project that I am working on.

What materials did you use? I am thinking of trying leather on the outside with black cloth on the inside. The existing bellows are dry and cracked. I think they're vinyl, but I don't know for sure.

The bellows are tapered. I've read that the alternating folds should be different sizes.

Any tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

[vinny]

nope. thought about it a bit though.
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?27221-Bellows-Making&highlight=making+bellows
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?39772-A-good-introduction-to-bellows-making&highlight=making+bellows
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?94776-Making-bellows-the-Continental-quot-square-quot-design&highlight=making+bellows
http://www.rolandandcaroline.co.uk/homemade4x5/bellows1.html
and by our own joe smigiel http://my.net-link.net/~jsmigiel/bellows.html

[Bill Burk]

I made a bellows for my DII enlarger. Was totally worth it, still fresh today as the day I made it. I used kid leather from Tandy. Don't know if it would hold light as well as a camera requires but it folds nicely. Just pulled out the patterns and diagrams. Can't reverse engineer how I did it. But it was totally satisfying.

[Jim Graves]

There are some very good You Tube videos on bellows making. Just search Bellows Camera.

[gambaphoto]

I was back and forth on this myself for a long time with my fist camera build that I just finally finished. I tried to fold about 6 months ago and it was a total failure. Then I came across this how to http://www.instructables.com/id/bellows-for-large-format-camera/. so I gave it a quick try with some standard white card stock I had and I went to the local sport store to get some hockey tape(3.99 for 20 ft). It worked and it worked fast. I first tried to make each fold an inch wide and it was strong but the second one I made I made them at 1/2 inch and I could support a 3lb book on top of it. Then I went out and bought some bristol board http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KPLLDQ/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and I decided to use gaffers tape instead of the hockey tape. It took about 3 days but I have a light tight 24"x24"x 50"long bellows for my 16x20 camera. Its a great first attempt and it works and I now feel confident that I could actually build a nicer one. I know this is not the most ideal way to build/fold a bellows but it works to get you started and to learn how it all wants to fold together. Hope it helps.

94622

[Tim Deming]

I've made many (8x10, 13x18, etc). Larger bellows can be easier since you have more real estate to work with and tolerances aren't quite as critical, but assembling the whole thing (from the flat precursor) can be tricky since it's floppy and gluey. From experience, I'd make a cardboard frame to assemble the bellows around (same shape as final, fully extended bellows, just undersized a bit); this helps tremendously in aligning everything before you glue it all together. There are many patterns available on the internet, and you can also use old bellows as a template. Work slowly and carefully and you should be fine. The biggest issue tends to be finding the right materials that will be opaque, will glue together well, and will be thin and able to hold the folds. I've used posterboard stiffeners, which have worked fine. I've used a number of fabrics, black-out cloth, etc, but these tend to be too thick, and sometimes dont fold well. the absolute best material I've found is a totally opaque black nylon-like material that is ultra thin, folds well, and is easily glued. It was sold as a "windshield cover" to be placed on a car windshield in winter, to prevent snow and ice sticking to the windshield. I was able to make a 13x18cm size bellows out of this that was fantastic. I got this at a discount store, and I'm actively looking for more, or a source of the raw fabric itself...

good luck

Tim

[Andrew O'Neill]

I will never, ever attempt to make a bellows again... especially 14x17 (tapered). I decided to make my own due to the cost of having someone else do it for me. I finished it. It looks ugly but does the job and I saved myself hundreds of dollars that went towards film purchasing.
I used material that's very similar to book cloth. Picked it up at a fabric store. The secret to success is to practice over and over again (which I really didn't do), making paper models. So many things can go wrong.

[Joe Smigiel]

I've made several and as Vinny pointed out, have a web article on the first one I built. They are interesting to figure out, but quite tedious to make. Cutting and gluing the stiffeners takes too long. If you like to try things to see if you can do them, I'd say to give it a shot. If you are only looking to save some money, I'd suggest otherwise. How much is your time worth? And, as mentioned previously, finding the proper lightproof materials also presents a challenge.

I'm about to order 3 bellows from Custom Bellows in the UK for some English-style field cameras I have. To me, it will be well worth the price. I ordered a custom 11x14 bellows from them many years ago and was totally impressed with the quality of their product.

Making your own bellows is a great way to distract oneself from actually taking photographs.

[Lffbug]

I've made several and as Vinny pointed out, have a web article on the first one I built. They are interesting to figure out, but quite tedious to make.

Making your own bellows is a great way to distract oneself from actually taking photographs.

And that is one of my key concerns. Restoring a camera is already a somewhat tedious effort - ultimately I would like to be able to use it. If nothing else I should at least get some quotes.

[Dan Dozer]

I have made several from 5 x 7 up to 8 x 20. Materials I have used vary.

For inside, I have used ordinary black black cloth from the fabric store (make sure you get one that is pretty light tight), to drapery liner material. The draper liner material is normally light proof. If you can only find the white liner, just paint it black. That is what I did for the 8 x 20 and it worked fine.

For outside, I have used imitation leather, however, most of what I see at the fabric stores these days is not thin enough anymore. The stuff I used was very thin but I can't seem to find it anymore. You could go the route of real leather (will be more expensive) but you will need to figure out how thin to get. For the 8 x 20 camera, I used black egypian cotton I found at Joanne's fabric. It was very tight weave and worked great.

Don't try to make the bellows without practicing first. Get some of the resources on line or in print and practice with some paper first. I recommend a book by Thomas Tomosy called "Restoring Classic and Collectible Cameras". It has a good section on bellows making. You can use an old grocery bag to start. Only do one layer and don't worry about the fiberboard stays inside, just draw out the pattern and fold it up. Doing so you will learn about what you need to do for laying out a tapered bellows and how to fold it up. One you get to the bellows, you can use manilla file folder material for the stays.

Probably the most difficult part is the final forming of the bellows where you roll it up and glue the two layers together. After that, the folding of the bellows is pretty simple.

It will take you longer than you think to make it so don't plan on it as a weekend project.

They aren't hard to make as long as you understand the principals of it all.

Hope this helps.