Rittreck view quick restoration

[hvfrancesco]

I've just got a 1969 Musashino Koki Rittreck View from Japan.
It had completely destroyed bellows and so I've made one.
Quite difficult as the rittreck bellows is very thin and there is very little space available inside the camera, but I've managed to make one that barely fits. I made it light blue, does not look too bad on the camera.
Made the lens board as well in PLA using my 3d printer.
It's really a wonderful object, had it for two days and I'm already in love with it.

[Kiwi7475]

Looks fantastic! I’m jealous of the blue color, looks stunning.

What did you use to make the bellows? (Material and process)

[hvfrancesco]

actually I had to go with sub-optimal materials as I was not able to find a thin enough light-proof fabric for the exterior.
It's a 3 layers sandwich. The external layer is just spray-painted paper (two black coats and a blue one), more or less 120gr, I've made the middle layer ribs out of 185gr laser cut thin cardboard and the internal layer is black thin cotton, not completely opaque by itself, but it seems to work. Had to reduce by almost 3 cm the maximum extension of the original bellows in order to keep the closed pack thin enough.
It's probably not going to last decades, but it seems to work.
The original bellows is really light and thin, apparently just two layers. I wouldn't be able to replicate it myself.
Made the bellows design in cad, apart from the maximum extension all other dimensions replicate exactly the original bellows.
I can share the design of the ribs if someone is interested.

[Tin Can]

What is the bellows stack max thickness possible?

I agree, very little room

[Kiwi7475]

actually I had to go with sub-optimal materials as I was not able to find a thin enough light-proof fabric for the exterior.
It's a 3 layers sandwich. The external layer is just spray-painted paper (two black coats and a blue one), more or less 120gr, I've made the middle layer ribs out of 185gr laser cut thin cardboard and the internal layer is black thin cotton, not completely opaque by itself, but it seems to work. Had to reduce by almost 3 cm the maximum extension of the original bellows in order to keep the closed pack thin enough.
It's probably not going to last decades, but it seems to work.
The original bellows is really light and thin, apparently just two layers. I wouldn't be able to replicate it myself.
Made the bellows design in cad, apart from the maximum extension all other dimensions replicate exactly the original bellows.
I can share the design of the ribs if someone is interested.

That it a much higher level of craftsmanship than anything I’m capable of. Impressive.

[Michael Roberts]

actually I had to go with sub-optimal materials as I was not able to find a thin enough light-proof fabric for the exterior.
It's a 3 layers sandwich. The external layer is just spray-painted paper (two black coats and a blue one), more or less 120gr, I've made the middle layer ribs out of 185gr laser cut thin cardboard and the internal layer is black thin cotton, not completely opaque by itself, but it seems to work. Had to reduce by almost 3 cm the maximum extension of the original bellows in order to keep the closed pack thin enough.
It's probably not going to last decades, but it seems to work.
The original bellows is really light and thin, apparently just two layers. I wouldn't be able to replicate it myself.
Made the bellows design in cad, apart from the maximum extension all other dimensions replicate exactly the original bellows.
I can share the design of the ribs if someone is interested.

hv, this is interesting to me. I have made a bellows from kraft paper, painted inside flat black latex paint and outside glossy black latex. What kind of paint did you use? Also, what kind of paper? My recollection is the kraft paper I used was sturdy enough that I did not need ribs. This was 10 or more years ago. I now need to make another bellows so would appreciate knowing more about your materials/methods.

Thanks!

[hvfrancesco]

hv, this is interesting to me. I have made a bellows from kraft paper, painted inside flat black latex paint and outside glossy black latex. What kind of paint did you use? Also, what kind of paper? My recollection is the kraft paper I used was sturdy enough that I did not need ribs. This was 10 or more years ago. I now need to make another bellows so would appreciate knowing more about your materials/methods.

Thanks!

Hi Michael, I used kraft paper too, but I'm not very good at folding without ribs.

[Michael Roberts]

Thanks. Yeah, I understand that. I recall using a ruler to fold the paper.

What about the paint? I used regular latex paint on my paper bellows, but I have also used fabric paint on pinhole repairs on original bellows. I’ve only found fabric paint in very small quantities, so I haven’t tried it on an entire bellows.