[LargeFormat] Bellows Repair using Acrylic Paint

[Clive Warren]

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