Oh, c'mon... join us in the Pessimists Cllub... err, I mean, the Realist Club.
Oh, c'mon... join us in the Pessimists Cllub... err, I mean, the Realist Club.
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile.
OPTIMISM, n. The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. It is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity, and is most acceptably expounded with the grin that apes a smile. Being a blind faith, it is inaccessible to the light of disproof — an intellectual disorder, yielding to no treatment but death. It is hereditary, but fortunately not contagious.
One man's Mede is another man's Persian.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White
Be conscious that to get new bellows made, it would behoove you to have the old bellows reasonably intact so it can be measured.
Try Ballistol Multi-Purpose Lube (www.ballistol.com). It's a spray lube designed by the Germans to have a ph balance which will mix with water instead of repelling it so it holds moisture and will not make glues fail. It was made for leather as well as most other materials.
I spray the stiff bellows down well & then wipe off excess. Try expanding bellows after a few applications and letting it soak in a while. If they are not completely back to life do another application or two.
I have truly brought back a few stiff bellows this way. It works. Oh yea! Spray the entire camera down as it's wonderful on conditioning the wood as well.
It'd seem worthwhile to attempt, no? Versus the cost of a custom-made 12x15" bellows, as the OP mentioned being given the camera-- a size for which film may not be commonly available and the bellows alone could be half a kilobuck or more to outsource and wait months for delivery.
Ballistol is great stuff, IIRC you can even use it as a topical antibiotic. I'm dubious about it's utility for leather, and I would never use it on any fine wood.... A baltic beech stock on a kar. 98, yes. The mahogany parts of a camera, probably not.
One man's Mede is another man's Persian.
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