Bad News : The camera bellows build has failed after 50 hours of work, after finishing sticking down all the stiffener ribs and applying the inner fabric the bellows became too rigid and could not fold properly. This was in part due to the fabric not being wide enough and it had to be joined in sections which increased the thickness of the fabric making it near impossible to fold. We have sourced a lighter fabric that comes in a 3 metre wide roll which we could test at a later date. In the meantime we have decided to commission a set of bellows from Custom Bellows http://www.custombellows.co.uk as the camera build though an interesting project is just a means to end and we wish to start using the ultra large format camera in the new year. The bellows will be ordered today and the build time is about 6 to 8 weeks and in that time we shall look at the ground glass and the support for the camera. We will continue to do test samples of the bellows construction with different fabrics, rib layouts and adhesives to figure out the best approach to build bellows for ultra large format cameras.
Detail images of the failed bellows build
 |
| Attaching the inner fabric liner on the bellows and defining the gaps between the ribs to create the folds. The photographs illustrate the problem we had with width of fabric in making the bellows in that we had to join it in sections creating added thickness and thereby increasing rigidity that caused problems when it came to turning the bellows inside out and folding the corners |
 |
| The upper image illustrates the problem where the bellows have become to rigid and lacked flexibility when turned inside out and the outer skin of the fabric is cracking. The lower image shows the folding of the corners which would only close about 20% rendering the bellows non-functional. |
No comments:
Post a Comment