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Thread: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

  1. #21

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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    I've replaced 3 Technika bellows and a Fuji 645 bellows over the last few years. I used contact cement with no issues. Contact cements sets quickly, but it usually can also be removed without causing damage. I had to remove a new bellows I had just installed in one camera to put in another camera that I needed to use. This all went smoothly without problems, since the contact cement allows removal. This is why contact cement is always used for camera leather coverings. It holds well, but can be removed later without causing damage.

  2. #22
    Sean Mac's Avatar
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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    I have been hesitant to use glue so far, as my Technika is still in the test phase.

    Click image for larger version. 

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  3. #23

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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    Jim, I am interested in your V8 bellows replacement project. I have the same camera, and am interested in new bellows. You say you sent Keith the frames. What does this mean? Did you physically detach the front+rear standards and send in the whole kit w/bellows still intact? I admire his work, but I am not equipped to attach new bellows to an 8x10 Deardorff.

  4. #24

    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    Good by me. I have been using a set of 5x7 Norma bellows they made in November 2012 hard and often, and have not seen any changes.

  5. #25

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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    I just got a new bellows from them for my Seneca Improved View 8x10, and the quality seems excellent. Considerably thinner construction than the original; I was able to add a couple inches to the working extension and it still folds up tightly no problem. I'm actually now wishing I had not been so conservative and added even more length, because I'm certain it would have fit. Bravo to Keith and crew.

  6. #26
    jim_jm's Avatar
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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    The bellows frames are just attached to the inside of the rear standard with screws (12) which are obvious around the outside of the standard, and to the front standard with screws (8) which are accessible from inside the bellows. Very easy to remove with an appropriately-sized screwdriver and the frames will come right out with the bellows attached. No need to send in the front or rear standards. The bellows material is stapled and glued to the wood frames, and Keith did an excellent job of attaching the new bellows.
    I marked the rear frame to indicate top/bottom and the installation back into the standards went perfectly. All the screw holes lined up exactly.
    Here's a shot of the camera after I sent the old bellows in, just before starting the restoration:

    Click image for larger version. 

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  7. #27
    Photographer LocalHero1953's Avatar
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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    I have ordered replacement bellows for my Gandolfi. I sent the measurements as specified on the website. I suspect my current bellows are not original - they look a poor match and not precisely aligned on the standards - Keith says Camera Bellows made the original Gandolfi bellows, so the new ones should fit. Given a choice of colour I've gone for green.

    I asked about glue - he said they use Evostik - so just a contact adhesive.
    _________________________________________________________
    Paul Ashley Photography

  8. #28

    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    Let us know how the bellows come out. I had Keith replace my Ebony bellows a few years ago and they are excellent. He also told me that they did the Gandolfi bellows for my 5x7 (1995) so I may change the bellows out sometime soon.
    Last edited by Conrad . Marvin; 11-Jun-2021 at 18:54.

  9. #29
    Photographer LocalHero1953's Avatar
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    Re: How are Camera Bellows UK bellows holding up over time???

    Who's a pretty boy then?
    New bellows, arrived and glued yesterday, first stretch today.
    No problems with quality, colour and fit.
    No disasters with the fitting: there's a good wide surface to glue to. The front end of the bellows has a fair amount of surplus material which, with hindsight, I might have folded in and glued to the inner surface of the frame for added strength, but I just cut it off with a scalpel. No such surplus at the rear.
    There's a risk of spreading the glue to wide on the bellows; it's difficult to see or mark just how far to go. In the end the only excess was on the front at the bottom, where it is out of sight. Because of the nature of converging bellows while clamped, there's a risk that surplus glue will attach itself to the next larger folds on the outside at the front, or the next smaller folds on the inside at the back. With careful use of a blunt knife I periodically released the bellows from the clamp and separated the. Again, with hindsight, I could have cut some strips of (e.g.) polythene (or glassine?) to insert between the vulnerable pleats. But it was all fine in the end.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    _________________________________________________________
    Paul Ashley Photography

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