Greetings. I have a Toyo 45A field camera. The bellows has developed several pinholes at the pleat corners. I would appreciate suggestions on how to repair this. I'm sure I'll eventually get it replaced, but for now would like to patch it. The bellows is a synthetic material. Would a bit of "liquid rubber" patch (in a tube) dobbed on the spots do the job? Any other suggestions? thanks...Bill

-- William Stone (william.stone@juno.com), February 16, 2001

Answers

I've successfully repaired a darkroom blackout blind, and a large old focal plane shutter with a mixture of 'Copydex' glue and Indian ink. It should work on bellows as well, but I've been told that Copydex isn't very stable, so the repair might not hold up that long.
My blinds have been repaired for a few years with no sign of failure though. About 75% copydex to 25% ink seems about right. You might have to apply several coats.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 16, 2001.

Glue and pigment sounds good. This may be worth an inquiry:

http://www.pond.net/~equinox/large.htm

* Bellows Patch material, small bottles, suitable for numerous fixes, $5.50 plus $1.50 shipping [no charge cards on this small order unless with another item] Use ONLY this compound to patch bellows, never silicone or other adhesives.

-- David Stein (DFStein@aol.com), February 16, 2001.

I repaired the bellows of my Omega 45E using black finger nail polish. The corners were not broken through completely, just worn to the point of light leaks. There was still material for the polish to bond to. If the holes were too big I suspect the finger nail polish would have nothing to bond too. This worked for me and has survived a complete season of outdoor use from below freezing to temperatures close to 100F. It only costs a few bucks to try.

-- Dave Schneider (dschneider@arjaynet.com), February 18, 2001.