Bellows material?

In looking for materials to make a new bellows I have looked at a number of backpacking cloths. Some sure look nice, but the laminated Ultrex & GoreTex I have looked at are not light tight.

Anyone know of a good material that will take the folding and use one puts a bellows through and will stay light tight & supple?

Hi Dan, I've made a couple of bellows for 8*10, and I've yet to find

the secrete to what the pros use. I used a PVC backed ripstop nylon.

Two layers of this, the inside and outside seem to be light tight

enough for my 8*10, but I don't think it is totally light proof, at

least in direct sun light. An old B&J I have has some kind of rubber

for the inter layer. I wish I could find some of that if anyone on

this Q&A knows where that stuff can be had. The C1 seems to have

somekind of rubber impregnated stuff too. I doubt if any material is

going to last forever.

 

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If you can't find the person who knows the answer to what the pros

use? It seems two layers of PVC backed nylon will work. This is very

thin stuff. You might use three layers to be conservative. Leave an

1/8th inch between the ribs to get a good fold. Next set I will make

bellows for my 4*5, I think I will use something I recently found a

fabric store called black-out material. It's found in the curtain

section. The draw back is, it is white, but it seems to be pretty

light tight from the incomplete testing I did so far. And it seems to

have some kind of rubber kind of coating which means the ribs and

colored cloth will easily glue to it. Warning about walking into a

fabric store and saying give me something light tight, that didn't

work for me. If you follow any of this advice do so knowing I'm not a

pro, it just worked for me. And if you find out what that

rubberized thin black material B&J used for the lining is please pass

it along to me. Best of luck, David

A few years back some camera maker sold a bag bellows made of neoprene. I never saw it, but I presume the neoprene was thinner than the usual wetsuit material; that might be something to consider.

Dan

 

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This seems to be the most frequently asked question for DIY bellows

construction. Unfortunately, I've never seen anyone post a specific

type of fabric available from a specific dealer. Traditionally, the

answer was simple: leather. The problem with leather, of course, is

the cost. I've seen Morrocan leather advertised in the Shutterbug

classifieds, but I've never inquired about cost, size, etc. I believe

you can also get leather from the art supply dealer, Dickblick.com.

(Personally, I would not use leather unless I was a professional

bellows maker or had constructed enough bellows to really know my

stuff!)

 

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Beyond leather, I believe that the most common synthetic fabric is

black vinyl impregnated with neoprene. There may be some variations on

this, but the basic idea is a synthetic substrate coated or

impregnanted with some type of rubber. The substrate may be nylon,

polyester, vinyl, etc. and the specific type of coating material may

vary. I beleive that Neoprene is a trade name for a specific type of

rubber, but you could probably find better information from a website

on platics/rubber etc.

 

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Whatever material you come up with, it needs to be thin and lightfast.

The material thickness is important because the outer shell is

typically lined with black fabric (cotton, polyester, silk, etc.). If

the outer shell is too thick, the bellows will not fold properly. I

wish I could give you a specific thickness dimension!

 

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The last bellows I made was constructed with a synthetic fabric

purchased at a boat supply store. I live in Florida so finding this

material was not a big problem. You might try a fabric store, but I

don't think that the standard Jo Anne fabrics will cary anything

useful. Finally, you might try Mcmaster-Carr at mcmaster.com. They

sell rubber coated/impregnated fabrics, but I have never ordered any.

I have ordered all kinds of parts/materials from McMaster and, if you

do any other DIY stuff, they are a great supplier of just about

anything! Hope this helps.

 

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i am currently looking for material for a bag bellows. This material

does not need to fold the way a conventional pleated bellows. I

bought a few yards of the black out material that is usually used for

drapery lining. I think this is the white material the poster above

referred to. It is not light tight. It looked good at first but in

the dark room after my eyes adjusted I could see plenty of light. The

rubber backing material is porous which is the problem. For the bag

bellows I may use a cordura fabric I found at an upholstery shop. It

would be too heavy for a pleated bellows but for the bag this may

work just fine.

 

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Someone please call me if they find that elusive perfect bellows

material.

Fargo enterprises sells bellows making materials. http://www.fargo-

ent.com/

The previous post mentions the material that I use. It is available

from Micro Tools as product #SMC-2 (shutter material cloth). This is

the material used in shutter curtains such as 35mm cameras use.

You have to call in your order for sheets of it, as the catalogue

lists it only in 1 sq. ft. pieces. It is ultra-thin ( .010") and

light-weight.

Rather than using it on the outside of the bellows, where it can be

damaged - use it as the liner. This then allows the use of almost any

appropriately thin material on the outside. I use a very thin,

lightweight canvas, as it is extremely difficult to find vinyl or

neoprene material thin enough. But you could use anything that floats

'yer boat.

The most important thing, other than light tightness is whatever you

use must be thin enough to fold into the rear standard without putting

pressure on the front standard.

Hi Dan, I called Fargo Enterprises ( 800 359 2878) and they have the

above mentioned material. He says it is light proof. Normally sold in

10" squares, it's called shutter material cloth. Best, David

There has been a recent thread on the Cameramakers mailing list on

bellows materials. The archives for this group are at:

http://rmp.opusis.com/pipermail/cameramakers/

There are many different ideas for materials. You will have to read

through and decide what sounds best for your application.

Mole Richardson sells a ruberized black fabric which I plan to

use to make a bellows in the next couple of weeks. The whole

roll is long,but sometimes they have shorter pieces or a partial

roll that can be cut. I intend to double it and use either rubber

cement or spray mount to glue my matt board panels.

 

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I've got a piece of this that I've had for years, it's water proof and

tough and light tight.

 

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http://www.studiodepot.com/store/index.cgi?cmd=view_item&par

ent=&id=7136

 

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I think this is the product (below) but I might be wrong.

Best to contact them first. "Rubberized black fabric" is a

description they'll understand.

 

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Roll Tuf-Flock/Velour 52"x 24' Black

Ultra flat black material.

Your Price: $47.63

 

Item #: PP191

Weight: 5.0000 lbs.

Porter's Camera Store, 1-800-553-2001, as of Spring 2007, still sells what is refered to as darkroom cloth. It is 60" wide and comes in 3,5,and 10 yard lengths. They sell two types of material, one is Polyester with pvc coating on both sides and a lighter material that is nylon with a rubber backing on just one side, that is still supposed to be light tight, and is more supple, and easier to sew, if need be. This might be of some help Bruce Curtis

<p>What do you think about this material: <a href="http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/curtains/shutter-curtain.php">http://aki-asahi.com/store/html/curtains/shutter-curtain.php</a> ?<br>

It is shutter curtain material and consists of silk, rubber and silk layers. Thickness is 0.2mm. Seller says that it is available up to 1000x3000mm. Looks pretty good for bellows.</p>

<p>Hi I just bought some blackout material from Thorlabs to make a backup set of camera bellows for a Rittreck. It's black rubberized material that seems like shutter curtain cloth to me, but I'm no expert. The matte part maybe a little shiny and in need of dulling, the other side is a kind of shiny nylon type material. I'll use black cotton as the liner or use two layers of this and use a dulling spray on the inside. I thought it expensive at first, but at $44.20 (US$ but not including shipping) it works out to about a $1 a square foot. It's on their site, but for those in need of instant gratification the piece is 60 inches wide by 3 yards long (152cm x 274cm) I haven't verified the dimensions with the piece I received, but I now have plenty, so if someone need smaller bits, let me know and maybe we can work something out. I can also post detailed pix if anyone's interested. If the direct links below don't work for some reason, it's listed in "PRODUCTS" > "LIGHT" > "LIGHT ACCESSORIES". They also sell black flocked self-adhesive paper which can be useful for some lens barrel lining, but it looks like their price on the flocking is higher than Edmunds: http://www.edmundoptics.com/onlinecatalog/displayproduct.cfm?productID=1502<br>

They also have black foil, but I haven't compared prices on the foil to grip houses like http://www.barbizon.com/home/ or even bhphoto.com<br>

They're on the same page as the blackout fabric, but I didn't order any so I have no info on either. cheers.<br>

http://www.thorlabs.com/<br>

blackout webpage: http://www.thorlabs.com/NewGroupPage9.cfm?ObjectGroup_ID=190<br>

catalog page: http://www.thorlabs.com/catalogPages/v20/1236.pdf</p>