bellows ribs

[BetterSense]

I'm considering trying to make a bellows for a 6x9-size camera, and reading up on articles about the topic.

About stiffening ribs:

Do they have to be pointy? Most instructions say to make trapezoids, so the pointy bit goes all the way out to the fold. But is that really needed? Can you just make rectangular ribs, and leave the very corner without stiffener?

[ic-racer]

Rectangular ribs would probably be fine for a 6x9 bellows. See an example here: http://pheugo.com/cameras/index.php?page=folders

When I made my bellows I used Lexan instead of cardstock.

[BetterSense]

If you used Lexan, it must have been very thin lexan?

[aclark]

I have sucessfully made bellows with rectangular stiffeners, for a home-made 5x4 camera. They worked out fine and have been in use for several years. But the bellows cloth was not ultra thin. With very thin material the unsupported corners could be a bit squidgy, especially on large bellows with wide folds, I would imagine.

Alan

[ic-racer]

If you used Lexan, it must have been very thin lexan?

Yes McMaster Carr has Polycarbonate (Lexan) as thin as 0.127mm. I don't recall the thickness I used but it was similar to the thickness of cardstock.

[Dan Dozer]

The smaller the bellows, the smaller the margin for error/deviation in your bellows construction. A very large bellows more easily hides minor discrepencies in things. I have made many bellows before, but none smaller than for a 5 x 7 camera. I would think that it would have a better chance for success if you made the ends angled instead of square.