Bellows material in Australia

[ruckusman]

Does anyone know of a source for suitable (opaque) bellows material in Australia, Sydney specifically.

peace out

Glenn

[SMBooth]

Spotlight sell a variety of materials, try there for a start

[Lachlan 717]

What are you up to, Glenn?

If you can outline what you're doing, we might be able to help a bit more.

Are you patching? Are you replacing? Are you folding a totally new one from scratch?

[ruckusman]

Hey Guys,

I'm making a replacement bellows for a different polaroid 110 conversion - I don't want to reveal it till I've got it done - very close now

My folds are spaced 14mm apart - pretty much the same as the original polaroid bellows, and I call a fold peak to peak like wavelength, and the sides of each fold were ~7mm.

Anyway update on what I've tried...

I got some Tafeta from spotlight - basically the most opaque black material, that was still thin enough to be used with something else.
I used this in the centre - will explain this shortly

For the outside and inside I used self adhesive nylon from a sailcloth supplier.
This is basically the stuff they use for letters and number on sails, amongst other things.

Reason I made three layers was because two layers of either material still had micro pinholes where the gaps in the weaves would line up when put together.

The resulting three layers was just too thick for the number of folds I needed.

Unlike the original polaroid bellows, I have a steep taper on one side and a very slight taper on the other so I just need to get an opaque material with a single liner and it'll be all good.

I did use a cut down film changing bag once before, but that's not really sensible to do to my last remaining one

In the meantime I might try the nylon with the tafeta inside, painted to make it opaque, though I think the paing may present long term duraility issues

sorry for the long reply - blame caffeine

peace out

Glenn

[ruckusman]

Hey Guys,

I'm making a replacement bellows for a different polaroid 110 conversion - I don't want to reveal it till I've got it done - very close now

My folds are spaced 14mm apart - pretty much the same as the original polaroid bellows, and I call a fold peak to peak like wavelength, and the sides of each fold were ~7mm.

Anyway update on what I've tried...

I got some Tafeta from spotlight - basically the most opaque black material, that was still thin enough to be used with something else.
I used this in the centre - will explain this shortly

For the outside and inside I used self adhesive nylon from a sailcloth supplier.
This is basically the stuff they use for letters and number on sails, amongst other things.

Reason I made three layers was because two layers of either material still had micro pinholes where the gaps in the weaves would line up when put together.

The resulting three layers was just too thick for the number of folds I needed.

Unlike the original polaroid bellows, I have a steep taper on one side and a very slight taper on the other so I just need to get an opaque material with a single liner and it'll be all good.

I did use a cut down film changing bag once before, but that's not really sensible to do to my last remaining one

In the meantime I might try the nylon with the tafeta inside, painted to make it opaque, though I think the paint may present long term duraility issues

sorry for the long reply - blame caffeine

peace out

Glenn

[Lachlan 717]

Have you thought about thin neoprene?

[ruckusman]

Hi Lachlan

Just did some research on neoprene, I haven't yet located anything thin enough.

I can't be the only person to try and make their own camera bellows in Australia can I?

peace out

Glenn

[Lachlan 717]

Have a search for wet suit makers. I think Sonar is one here in Melbourne.

[SMBooth]

What about block out curtain material , black cloth on one side and a rubberised coating on the other, you could stick the black nylon sailcloth on that?

[Jim C.]

Don't know how thin you're looking for, but try Player Piano or Organ supply places
they have rubberized cloth that's used for the pump bellows and leather that's very thin.

You might also try Thorlabs, in the US they sell a blackout cloth that's extremely thin.

I know you're looking for a source in Australia but this thread has some good info -
http://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?58015-Wetplate-darkbox-shroud-camera-bellows-liner-replacement-fabric-found/page2

[ruckusman]

Thanks Jim, much appreciated

I did a search for pneumatic cloth and came up trumps with a local business. I'm contacting them tomorrow to see where it leads

peace out

Glenn

[Jim C.]

Here's something to follow up on -

Australia Felix Organ Leathers (Rick Alabaster)
15 Olinda St.
Glen Waverley
Victoria 3150
Australia

[C. D. Keth]

You can maybe sandwich black dropcloth plastic in there. It's completely light tight and very thin.