On Bellows Building

[Randy H]

While working over an old camera (1920's to 1930's guess) I was dismantling an old set of bellows to use as a pattern to make a new set. I removed the outer layer first, and the stiffeners were of the ususal paper type, but the inner bellows material was actually a butyl rubber. Same type as an old inner tube, but thinner. Was this a common deal, or is this possibly perhaps just particular to this maker? It makes sense though. Light-tight. Waterproof. Flexible. I am considering leaving the stiffeners and the inner bellows and just recovering outer. Except for a few thin corners, it is in reasonably good conditon. And still flexible, not crunchy.

[Colin Graham]

A good nylon cloth from porter's camera has a rubberized lining that sounds similar. Makes great bellows. I'm not sure just far back the fabric dates, but it seems pretty modern. It's very very thin. (This probably helps you not at all, but I always try to post this info in any thread mentioning bellows construction because of the unbelievable hassle I had in finding a suitable material for making bellows. Hopefully it'll spare someone the same wild goose chase.)

[GPS]

It helps a lot, Colin. Having the right material is the logical prerequisite to bellows making. Anything approximative and you're just in useless troubles.

[Randy H]

Yep, been there done that. Someone once mentioned the micro-suede for covering. Looked good, but is way too thick. Rip-stock nylon looked good, but near impossible to seal light-tight. I have found a rubberized nylon for inside layer, like they use for shower-curtains, kinda-sorta, inaway, at a local fabric supply. Extremely light-weight and the black is totally opaque. Using black desk-file folders for stiffeners, and pig-skin 1 ounce splits for outside cover. I am just finishing the folds on a set now, and will post up here when finished. Looks pretty decent so far. Total cost about 16 USD for the 4x5 set with 15" draw. (6 for the pig split, 2 for the file folders, 2.50 for the liner, 6 for the spray adhesive) I built a set for a Seneca 4x5 recently, and used an old film changing bag for the outer cover (sleeves had lost elasticity). Folded and creased nice. Light-tight and light-weight. Good looking bellows for an old folder.

[Randy H]

Here are a couple pics of the camera and bellows. I sand-blasted the camera, ground a new glass, built a new set of bellows. While trying to decide color for camera, someone mentioned that the color looked pretty cool just the sand-blasted aluminum. Sooooo... a good cleaning, and a few coats of acrylic lacquer, and here she be. It is a 4X5 Brand Co. camera. Just recently purchased from Jim Galli.

[Jim Jones]

Wow! That's certainly the best looking Brand I've ever seen. Now the market for Brand, Baco, and New-Vue cameras will skyrocket for people who want to refurbish something half as well.

[Colin Graham]

That looks awesome Randy. Nice job!

[Frank R]

Just to show what a nice job Randy did, I went and copied over the pictures from Jim Galli's original ad for this camera. Nice Before and After shots.

[Randy H]

Thanks for all the nice compliments. It was fun. But, gotta replace those springs on the back. They work, but look kinda dumb.
The old Brand's, Baco's and New-Vue's are actually kinda cool cameras. They have full front movements with rise/fall, tilt, shift, swing and rear tilt, swing and shift. Focusing is kind of a pain in the arse, but locked down, they ain't goin nowhere. And I do believe you could knock an elephant down with one and never phase the camera. Built like tanks.

[MIke Sherck]

Can you say what spray adhesive you use for the bellows?

Mike