Removing Yashica-Mat leatherette?

[Scott --]

Hi, all -

I'm in the final stages of rehabbing my early Yashica-Mat TLR. Everything's been cleaned, adjusted, tweaked, lubed, and tested. All's left is the new covering, and I'm hitting that today. My cameraleather.com Rollei Black leather skins arrived today, and I want this to be finished.

To the point: I've removed about half the leatherette. The front and wind side were removed to allow access for repairs. However, the techniques I used to remove the leatherette then (essentially a square-ended X-Acto) t'ain't working on the back. At all. I've tried various knives and blunt instruments, and while the leatherette is slowly chipping off, I'm gouging the bejeebers outta the metal, something that didn't happen once on the front or side.

Anyone have any golden tips for removing the Yashica skin? I know that this stuff is stuck like concrete and won't sheet off. Just need to get rid of it.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[Scott --]

Well, FWIW, a fine screwdriver and about 45 minutes was what it took.

Have a little clean-up to do and I can start recovering.

 

[Uwe_Nds]

Have you tried applying lighter fluid to the edges of the leather?
Helped a lot on an old Isolette of mine.

Cheers,
Uwe

 

[Scott --]

Yeah, Uwe, but solvents don't work on Yashica-Mat leatherette. The plastic's impervious, and they used a super-agressive adhesive. Couldn't find anything to dissolve it, even after removing the leatherette.

Have almost all the new leather installed, but hit a snag: The back piece has two holes cut in it for the pressure plate screws, which show through on this model. Yep - the holes are in the wrong places... :bang:

 

[hanskerensky]

Hi Scott,

Would acetone (nail polish remover) help ? I know that it dissolves some plastics, maybe this glue too. Quit aggresive so handle with care.

Could it be that the glue is a kind of shellac ? In that case heat may help.

 

[Scott --]

Nah, no good. Tried xylene, which is much more aggressive than acetone IME, and that did nothing either. Not a shellac - alcohol did nothing to it.

Anyway, if I don't hear from Morgan soon, I'm going to dig out the leather punch and start in to making some reparations to the miscut back piece. Here's what it looks like right now:

 

[Lukino]

I removed the leatherette from my mat 124g easily using a petroleum-based label remover found at hardware store... but I think it was shellac

 

[Scott --]

FWIW, Morgan got back with me and offered to replace the piece with one without the screw holes cut. He's a stand-up guy, and I'm glad I purchased from him.

 

[matthewm]

FWIW, Morgan got back with me and offered to replace the piece with one without the screw holes cut. He's a stand-up guy, and I'm glad I purchased from him.

Hi Scott
I just ordered a Yashica-Mat from another RFF user and I am planning on putting a new covering on the camera. How'd you fare with your covering from CameraLeather and did the damage to the metal from scraping off the leather hinder or affect the application of the new leather in any way?

I know this thread is pretty old, but thought I'd ask nonetheless.

Thanks,
Matthew