C. D. Keth
17-Sep-2008, 21:35
In the course of working on my 2D I eventually had to face the question of what do I do with the bellows. Mine were still together and reasonably solid, but ugly as sin. They had the classic cracking dried up exterior and were (I'm sure) full of pinholes.
Well, today I tried something to give them some new life and it looks like it's a considerable winner. I sprayed them with 5 coats of "Plastidip" black spray. It's a spray rubber made for adding rubberized handles to tools. I did a test on some cardboard and it dried quite tough and flexible so I went ahead and did the bellows today.
Are they "like new"? Don't make me laugh! Of course they aren't.
Do they look better? Yes.
Do they work better? Probably, they are now light tight. They're still nice and flexible and but slightly stiffer.
Do they look better? Oh my, yes.
Will it hold up? We'll see, won't we...
I don't think I would recommend this treatment for everybody but for me I think it is about right. It was this or start making a new bellows so I figured why not try it. The places where the outside of the old bellows was really lifted badly from the fabric is still somewhat like that. I see myself having to tape those places with gaffer still. Whatever.
Here's what the bellows looked like before:
http://www.christopherketh.com/images/2DOriginal5.JPG
...and after:
http://www.christopherketh.com/images/2DInProgress2.JPG
Well, today I tried something to give them some new life and it looks like it's a considerable winner. I sprayed them with 5 coats of "Plastidip" black spray. It's a spray rubber made for adding rubberized handles to tools. I did a test on some cardboard and it dried quite tough and flexible so I went ahead and did the bellows today.
Are they "like new"? Don't make me laugh! Of course they aren't.
Do they look better? Yes.
Do they work better? Probably, they are now light tight. They're still nice and flexible and but slightly stiffer.
Do they look better? Oh my, yes.
Will it hold up? We'll see, won't we...
I don't think I would recommend this treatment for everybody but for me I think it is about right. It was this or start making a new bellows so I figured why not try it. The places where the outside of the old bellows was really lifted badly from the fabric is still somewhat like that. I see myself having to tape those places with gaffer still. Whatever.
Here's what the bellows looked like before:
http://www.christopherketh.com/images/2DOriginal5.JPG
...and after:
http://www.christopherketh.com/images/2DInProgress2.JPG