Any tricks on removing the lens w/o scratching the bellows

[chippy]

Thanks for all the help. I looked over the bellows and I think it should be replaced anyways too brittle.
I can't figure out which rivits to drill out to get to the bellows and where to buy new ones to replace them.
I did send 2 emails Aki Ashai but he never responded. I really want to try the shutter curtain material. At micro tools ithey have the shutter curtin but it is .2 mm thick, isn't this too thick.
I placed an order at Columbia leather organ and they were a great help, should be getting the leather soon. I am going to give making bellows a try. Ordered red and black leather. I have about 5 folders that need new bellows. So we will see what happens.

That was my understanding too, but apparently "it" refers to the ring

Yes the ring was scratching the bellows.

the ring just sits there doing nothing until to you turn it! so it cant scratch the bellows, if it scatching while you are turning it then OPEN up the bellows, it seems unusual how a ring can scratch bellows at any rate

looking at the picture of the closed bellows and lens on the other thread you posted you would be hard pressed to turn the ring at all without the wrench touching the bellows. OPEN them up to AVOID DAMAGE

 

[FallisPhoto]

I can't figure out which rivits to drill out to get to the bellows and where to buy new ones to replace them.

Peel back the leather on both sides of the lens door. You should see two rivets on either side, that were hidden by the leatherette. Those are the rivets to drill out.

I did send 2 emails Aki Ashai but he never responded. I really want to try the shutter curtain material. At micro tools ithey have the shutter curtin but it is .2 mm thick, isn't this too thick.

Yeah, in fact that's so thick that I think that either you must have misunderstood him or he must have mistyped it, because I have leather that is thinner than that.

I placed an order at Columbia leather organ and they were a great help, should be getting the leather soon. I am going to give making bellows a try. Ordered red and black leather. I have about 5 folders that need new bellows. So we will see what happens.

Good luck! Let us know how it came out.

 

[FallisPhoto]

the ring just sits there doing nothing until to you turn it! so it cant scratch the bellows, if it scatching while you are turning it then OPEN up the bellows, it seems unusual how a ring can scratch bellows at any rate

Maybe he has one of those rings with four slots and all the slots are burred from some guy removing them with a poorly-fitting homemade wrench?

 

[chippy]

Maybe he has one of those rings with four slots and all the slots are burred from some guy removing them with a poorly-fitting homemade wrench?

well if nothing else this thread should bare out using quality tools, homemade or storebought and correct proceedures (opening bellows to undo retaining ring) . whilst you, or some others (dare i say me) with some experiance might get away with carefull loosening of the ring with bellows folded, it is not the correct procedure (paticular to advise others) and if there is a chance that the bellows will get damaged then its odds are esculated by many times doing it this way.

its not like i havnt made mistakes or done things the incorrect way in times past, heck you would be agast at some things i have done in the past (some i got away with others not) but that is one way of learnng if nothing else (i have had to after recieving poor fixes by some apparently good technicians)...but i make it a point never to make the same mistake twice though

forums i assume are for sharing information and since i have found this one and the general internet for information not so long ago i have found it helpfull and always try and acknowledge that to people...as a result if i can possibly pass on my own experiances to help others then i reckon thats not such a bad thing, as i am finding out though many people ask a question and barely give any feedback how it went,some ask multiple questions on many cameras without so much as a thankyou after

at any rate, if the ring has 4 slots and if they are burred from some bodgy service before (apart from the occasional person most rings that i have found hacked to pieces, came from a well known serviceman we all know!) it simply highlights another reason to undo the ring with the bellows open. in the picture i saw though there was no evidence of danaged ring or how many slots

as i said at the start though, correct tools and proceedures are helpful, IF the bellows are so weak that a touch damages them then they would likely have pinholes in them elsewhere. before any of this type work is carried out the bellows should have been tested for leaks......its the FIRST thing to do with a folding camera eh!

 

[literiter]

Beljan Mfg. (Ebay) makes a very nice wrench for the for removing the lens shutter assy from Kodak Retina Cameras. The design is likely pretty good to apply to making our own wrenches for other cameras.
I have a small lathe (Taig) which I've used to make pieces for cameras and a little tool to remove the pc connector on a Rolleiflex T. I manufacture tools from brass which will not mangle the steel rings, and is less likely to scratch a lens and other incidental horrors. Brass is really nice to work with as well. The tools should be polished and carefully made.

If one is lucky he/she could find the proper tools for working on cameras I'm sure. I do not use my commercial lens wrenches from (like from Micro Tools) very often. They bend when applying force, they cannot extend far enough, they are often too large etc. I will take the time to make my own stuff and have had few problems since. (read; "few" not "none")

Beljan's very nice little wrench.

 

[FallisPhoto]

its the FIRST thing to do with a folding camera eh!

I'll agree with most of that, but the FIRST thing to check on a folding camera is whether the rear lens element is there. Over the years, I've bought four cameras on ebay that were missing their rear elements. Two of them were Super Baldinas. There's just not much point in fixing one of those up if the lens is missing. Pretty much the only place you can get one is on another Super Baldina -- and then you fix THAT one up.