Originally Posted by
Fr. Mark
I've used tacky glue for installation of home-made bellows. A lot of glues soften and start to release with a little heat. It helps with un-plumbing fixtures too. Emphasis on "a little," and go easy at it. Some glues are water/steam un-do-able, too. I'm not sure how you'd safely test that. I've also once put a leather "nourishing" treatment on an antique leather-based bellows and restored considerable flexibility to it. I don't know that that is "best practice." the grey B-J bellows I've seen in antique stores were always quite brittle, but this is a small sample 2-3 cameras so far and I've resisted buying them so far, one was a 4x5 the other a 5x7 and I don't need any more miniature cameras. I might be tempted more strongly for 11x14's or banquet cameras! Esp. if they came with fixable film holders. If the bellows really must be removed but get damaged near where they are affixed to the standards, black gaffer's tape makes decent semi-permanent repairs. The whitish rubberized cloth sold in fabric stores for making curtains light tight could also be used for adding an extension to reattach it and you could paint it to match the prior material. I've used it twice to make entire bellows for 8x10 cameras, tedious jobs I hope to never undertake again. It is on the thick side for anything smaller than LF cameras. I've heard of people cutting up film changing bags and using other more exotic materials to make new bellows.
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