[LargeFormat] Bellows Repair using Acrylic Paint

[Roger Klinkenborg]

Re: large format bellows repairs
I have had very good success with Black Gesso, the compound used to prime
or coat canvas before painting. It is UV, water resistant, and remains
flexible, even for 30" bellows on a B&J camera.
R. Klinkenborg

>Given all the rain here in the UK, I took some time out to check the
>bellows of a couple of old cameras that I want to use as soon as the
>weather cheers up a bit. Yep, you guessed it, pinholes! Shining a mag light
>through the bellows and looking carefully at different angles across the
>length of the bellows I found a few problem areas on each camera.
>
>I "borrowed" some acrylic paint from an artist friend with the idea that
>there was no way I could be bothered with Elmers glue, PVA glue, soot
>black, two drops of castor oil, eye of newt, skin of toad and any of the
>other recipes that have been discussed in the past. The exercise was a
>complete success with the bellows remaining flexible and the pinholes
>sorted. On some red bellows I started with a couple of thin coats of black,
>followed by a couple of thin coats of red. You cannot see the repairs! More
>importantly, the pinholes have gone.
>
>Encouraged by this success I then attacked a set of bellows that I had long
>ago decided were beyond redemption with light clearly visible through
>canvas threads and again - although this time with four or five coats of
>paint - complete success. Even with the multiple coats of paint the bellows
>remain flexible enough to allow max and min extensions.
>
>The bellows were painted with the standards fully extended. It remains to
>be seen how well they hold up to regular use but will let you know in a few
>months.
>
>Even if the repairs only last for 6 months, this has saved me several
>hundred UK pounds - which at the moment is good thing!
>
>Cheers,
>            Clive
>
>
>
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