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Thread: Bellows Material

  1. #11
    Serious Amateur Photographer pepeguitarra's Avatar
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    Re: Bellows Material

    Quote Originally Posted by Pfsor View Post
    Have you used that kind of plastic in bellows?
    Not yet. I am ready to start making one bellows for an 8x10 using that plastic. The maximum thickness I am willing to use is 0.005". I am going to replace a leather bellows that is way too thick.
    Last edited by pepeguitarra; 20-Feb-2019 at 21:42.
    "I have never in my life made music for money or fame. God walks out of the room when you are thinking about money." -- Quincy Jones

  2. #12

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    Re: Bellows Material

    I suppose you will cut the polyester sheet, not just stretch it uncut between the outer layers, otherwise you could encounter curling problems, typical for polyester film base. Also the choice of a correct glue can be important. And as you know from your own experience the "way too thick bellows" is another typical problem with home made bellows. In fact, there isn't any leather easily obtainable that would have the thickness suitable for bellows making. If specialised firms have it then they don't like to sell it to amateurs.
    The only bellows that can use material easily available and perfectly suitable are bag bellows. They are pure pleasure to make.

    Anyway, fortunately for the rest we have Custom Bellows. The bellows they make can be incredibly thin. Once I ordered bellows I thought they would not be able to make (long and I had not enough space on my camera for it). They came with bellows that exceeded even my original requirements. UV light safe, easy to clean and stronger than I imagined on the top of it!

  3. #13

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    Talking Re: Bellows Material

    Quote Originally Posted by rdeloe View Post
    Terrific instructions for making a bag bellows here thanks to the miracle of the Internet Time Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20171219...rkshop/?p=4353


    And then there's this: http://www.picto.info/RS_texts/bellows_RS.pdf
    That was the exact instructions I used to design the bellows, but as others have pointed out its not the design that Im struggling with but rather the finding of suitable material. But thanks though.

  4. #14

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    Re: Bellows Material

    Thanks for all the suggestion, I think my first stop will be a local bookbinding store.

  5. #15

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    Re: Bellows Material

    Quote Originally Posted by starkec View Post
    Thanks for all the suggestion, I think my first stop will be a local bookbinding store.
    You will surely find good looking, synthetic, thin leatherettes of all colours there. I know, as I let a professional bookbinding firm cover books that I often use with this material. But there is b moll - even the best bookbinding leatherette starts to develop cracks after some time of use. So do bellows, the question is what wants to crack easier.
    Also check on the light proof characteristics of the material - they are not all light proof. Good luck!

  6. #16

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    Re: Bellows Material


  7. #17

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    Re: Bellows Material

    Quote Originally Posted by Erik Larsen View Post
    I've used the BK5 material on several bellows that I've made. Two layers with stiffening ribs sandwiched in between works great, light proof and very flexible. The downsides are, that it's difficult to bond to almost anything (I used 3M transfer tape) and that bellows past a 8x10 size, tend to sag too much under their own weight.

  8. #18

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    Re: Bellows Material

    That looks very promising. @radii did you use two layers for ease of construction or was it necessary to be completely light tight?

  9. #19

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    Re: Bellows Material

    Quote Originally Posted by starkec View Post
    That looks very promising. @radii did you use two layers for ease of construction or was it necessary to be completely light tight?
    Both really. I tested it with a flash, and minute amount of stray light was coming through a single layer. Maybe neglect able, but having the ribs in between the two layers, just made sense to me.

  10. #20

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    Re: Bellows Material

    Generally speaking, the ribs give the bellows its firmness, the bellows material layers covering it give the bellows its flexibility.
    Notice that the ribs are cut so as not to impede the flexibility of the bellows while still making it firm.

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