Hello all,
First of all, please feel free to correct my vocabulary — I'm not entirely sure about the proper terms for some of these parts.
I need to repair the internal light-trap shutter of my wooden 24×30 cm (roughly 9½×12 inch) double plate holder.
To do so, I had to unglue and disassemble the entire shutter mechanism — unfortunately including the original light-trap tape.
The plate holder came to me in quite a desolate state: many glued joints had come loose, and one of the shutter doors was cracked badly enough to let light through. I'm now in the process of bringing it back to a usable condition — with the goal of using it again for its original purpose: taking photographs.
I've attached a photo of the other (still intact) shutter. The original tape was remarkably well-preserved after more than 100 years and still fully flexible.
It was glued to the wooden parts using what seems to be a protein-based glue, most likely fish glue.
The tape itself appears to be a three-layer composite:
- the base layer is a sturdy white linen,
- on the wood-facing side, there's a black cloth (probably cotton or linen),
- and the outer surface is coated with a black, flexible, light-tight paint or rubber-like material that has aged extremely well.
I'm looking for a suitable replacement and would ideally prefer historically correct materials and a fully reversible process — especially since the original construction has clearly stood the test of time and served its purpose extremely well.
Any recommendations or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
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