kodak 2D – Bellows

If you suffer from low blood pressure, consider becoming a “bellows installer” – you’ll be cured! Put another way, if I never see another set of bellows it will be too soon! However rewinding a bit, I mentioned before that I have a spare set of bellows here sat doing nothing, but they only cover 5×4 not 5×7, so in the end I decided that as everything else had gone pretty well with my “restoration” I’d invest in a set of 5×7 bellows. £120 later, they were in my hands. From China via Nik and Trick in Folkestone. They came with frames, but that was also the problem! The front frame was a perfect match for the camera but not so much the bellows. I solved this by chopping the corners off the frame, sanded it and re-painted it black. Inserted into the bellows, stuck them to the frame and screwed the frame to the front standard. Fiddly but done!

I started with the same procedure at the back, but even with the corners chopped off of the frame, it was a real struggle to get the frame into the bellows. Eventually I did it, without making a hole in them or splitting them! Glued them to the frame. The frame is too small for the camera however, so my plan was to screw this frame to the other that came out of the camera. I’d pre-drilled the new frame and inserted the screws as you can see in the photo below, however trying to screw the two together, from inside the bellows, through the 4 inch hole in the front, proved virtually impossible for me at least. I moved to plan B. I made the holes in the original frame slightly bigger, used the screws more as locating pins. Stuck the two together with Evostick, and from the other side (outside) filled the screw holes with wood filler to grip them in place.

It is customary to put the join of the bellows at the bottom, in other words underneath so it can’t be seen. Managed that! I put it all together clamped it, and when it was set, attached it back into the camera.

The back of the bellows was for me an almost impossible job, and more than once I almost gave up and threw it all in the bin. I’m pleased with myself that I managed to keep a cool head, pause, think about it, and finally, somehow got to the end! Having done so, I sat down and whilst thinking about it, it came to me, that I could have just attached the fames to the outside instead! The back wouldn’t be seen anyway, and frankly neither would the front unless someone were looking! If I ever have to replace these, or change them for some reason, then that’s what I’d do. I’d also get a red set I think, but hopefully this will see me out, and I’ll never need to “do bellows again”!!!

Next time: There’s a 4 inch square hole in the front!