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Making a Set of Whole Plate Bellows

The best guide for making new bellows is to take measurements from the old set. If that's not possible then you have to take careful measurements of the inner frame of the rear standard and the fit on the front standard. Note that the materials required for good bellows are expensive and you may need to make several sets before you arrive at perfection, so practice by using cheap materials. It should be worth it, though, as your handmade bellows may cost one tenth of a commercially prepared set.

This example set of bellows is for a Houghton Triple Victo Whole Plate view camera, made in the first decade of the 20th century. The old bellows, made of cloth liner, card, and lightproof leather, were in poor condition and had to be remade from scratch.

Unfortunately it's not possible to obtain identical materials at a reasonable price - the leather would be too expensive. I used a rubberised nylon darkroom cloth from Porter's Camera Store (http://www.porters.com). The advantage is that it's 100% lightproof, quite thin, and not too expensive; the disadvantages are that the texture is slightly bouncy and you cannot glue the rubber side with ordinary adhesives. The way around this was to have the rubber surface facing the inside of the camera so that only the final joining seam would need special rubber cement.

It is absolutely critical to get the measurements of the card stiffener accurate, as the stiffener provides the final form of the bellows. Any mismatch in the four panels will cause a twist in the bellows shape which can cause obstructions in the light path. It can also make the compression on closure awkward, ultimately leading to damage to the bellows.

The first step is to mark out and cut the four panels of stiffener. I used 190 GSM black card from an art supplier as this was adequately rigid and sufficiently thin. It was also the most expensive card I found, but you should not skimp on this. For convenience, I refer to the wide (rear) end as the top, and the narrow tapered end as the bottom. Note also that while there are 4 card panels, there are 5 panel sections drawn on the outside fabric.

Whatever bellows extension you want, you should probably add 30% length when you draw out the panels. The Triple Victo had 600mm of draw with 22 folds, but flattened out the bellows were 800mm long. In this case, since I was using a thicker material than the original, I cut the panels 650mm long to ensure that the bellows would fold away easily - this still gave me 550mm draw. The new bellows has 18 folds.

The four panels will be laid out flat with a 1/2" gap between them, so for the rear standard fabric your measurement will be the same as the full measure of the inside of the standard, but the width of the card at the top end will be 1/2" less on each side. In this instance, the total inner perimeter measurement of the rear standard is 240mm x4, but each card is 227mm. The front standard measurement is 100mm square, and the length is 650mm. It might seem confusing, but shifting between Metric and Imperial can be more convenient than converting. Cut out the four panels.

Following the pattern of the original, the first four flaps at the top end of the bellows (each fold is made up of two flaps) are of equal length and shorter than the rest. Draw two parallel lines perpendicular to the top end on one card as a guide for the horizontal flap marks - to avoid any cumulative errors in measuring you need a ruler that is longer than the card.

Mark off the four 1/2" points down the parallels and draw the lines across. Keep your pencil sharp. Mark off every 1.5" the rest of the way to the bottom. This measurement is the width of a fold, and that remains the same all the way down each panel.

With a conical tapered bellows, the flaps are a different width on each alternate panel. After the 1/2" flaps, the sequence is then wider, narrower, wider, narrower on panels 1 and 3, but narrower, wider, narrower, wider, and so on, on panels 2 and 4. This ensures neat folding corners.

Now mark every 2cm on each fold, starting from the top end on panels 1 and 3, and going up from the bottom on panels 2 and 4. The wider flap will therefore be 20mm and the narrower flap approx 18mm. Draw the lines across.

With this particular card I found it best to cut a single knife line between each flap, extending to about 1/4" from the side edges. This gives a clear separation between each flap (to aid folding) but still keeps the panel together as one piece for easier gluing. Use a steel rule and a sharp craft knife to cut cleanly through the card.

You will need one long strip of card, 1/2" x 650mm to use as a spacer between the panels when placing them on the fabric.

 

Place the outer fabric (outside, or shiny surface down) on a clean workspace, and place the panels in a fan shape on top. Find an approximate position for them, leaving a 1/2" gap between each one. Make sure you have enough space for five panels; four, plus an extra one on the left. Starting from the right, place a wood block on panel 1 and draw a line around it with a chinagraph pencil or French chalk. Place the spacer to the left of it, and position and secure panel 2. Draw around each panel in turn, then use panel 1 to draw a place for panel 5. Note that there are only three full panels and two half panels - 1 and 5 will create the join on the underside of the bellows.

Remove the cards and cut around the outside of the outer fabric precisely - 5 sections with 1/2" spacing between each. On panel 1, you should now mark 25mm from top left and 5mm from bottom right. Draw a line between the two points. On panel 5, mark 15mm from top left and 15mm from bottom right. Draw a line between the two points. Cut away the excess from these panels.

Paint glue onto one section of the fabric and on one piece of card and set the card in place. It's a good idea to use a large scrap of clean old card or paper underneath the edges to catch any glue spill. Do not let glue sit on the space between panels. Smooth the card down and ensure it is securely in position. Turn the piece over carefully and smooth out any air bubbles. This should be done firmly but gently as you must avoid stretching either the card or the fabric. Leave to dry for a while before you attach the subsequent cards. Note that only about 2/3 of card #4 (on the left) is glued to the outer fabric.

Once the last panel has dried, cut an extra strip of stiffener to match the final strip at the top and at the bottom. Glue these in place on the eight end flaps ... this provides extra rigidity for mating with the standards.

 

Cut the lightproof fabric to just over the size of the outer. Lay the lightproof fabric rolled to the left of the work with the nylon side ready to glue, and keep the edge in place with a steel rule or similar. Since you have to obtain a perfect fit and smooth out any air bubbles as they arise, it's a good idea to smooth on the lightproof fabric one section at a time, painting the nylon side with glue as you go.

Paint glue onto card number 4 and onto the nylon, and start to spread the fabric across the panels. Ensure that the gaps between each panel are also well glued and pressed down, however the extra 1/2" strip of lightproof must not be allowed to get stuck down on the cover material.

On the left side edge of card number 4, you can trim the lightproof fabric to the edge of the card. However, on the right side of card number 1, leave just over a 1/2" strip of the lightproof. This will be the spacer between cards 1 and 4 when the bellows are joined. You can trim the material back to the edge of the card at the top and bottom ends. Check again for air bubbles and smooth them out to the nearest edge. It will take at least 24 hours for the new bellows material to dry out, and it should be left flat the whole time.

You need a long raised form, ideally tapered to the same shape as the bellows, to join up the side seam. Since the 1/2" strip will have curled back on itself, run a strip of masking tape along the back side to make it stiffer. You can now pin this edge at each end along the edge of the form.

Paint the strip with rubber cement (bicycle repair glue is fine) and then fold the opposite side up onto the edge. Hold it firmly in place while the glue dries, taking care to ensure that you still retain the 1/2" gap between the cards. Once that is firm, paint glue onto the exposed card and the overlap panel, and smooth it down. Make sure that the glue reaches right out to the edge, and wipe away any excess. Place a weight across the length of the seam and leave to dry for 24 hours.

Fold and press the bellows into shape. This task is virtually indescribable, and I would say it's no pleasure at all, though once completed, and your bellows actually look like bellows should look ... you will feel quite relieved. Large binder clips are a help, and as long as you turn the folds correctly, you can work from either end or both ends. Once folded the wider flaps should point up towards the rear standard, and the narrower flaps should point towards the front.

Fix the bellows into the camera and open a bottle of wine.

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