Help: choosing FED 1S vulcaite replacement

[lmd91343]

I need to replace the vulcanite on my FED 1S. It is chipping off in pieces almost as big as potato chips!

I am in the process of replacing the shutter, cleaning the gear train, and replacing and setting the lens mount. So to replace the vulcanite at this time would be easy.

What would look good?

I have have five choices at hand:
1) black self adhesive leatherette from microtools (big grain)
2) thin very soft black leather (small grain)
3) thin maroon leather (smooth big grain)
4) imitation ostrich dark (cow leather) see picture
5) imitation ostrich light (cow leather) see picture

 

[Valkir1987]

I've seen a Leica III with "thin very soft black leather (small grain)" standard finish. It looks and feels great when you hold the camera.

 

[ZorkiKat]

Got three soviet barnacks queued for vulcanite replacement now. The early FED were covered in pigskin. I was able to get some a few years ago (sent by another Zorki afficionado) which I used on a Leica IIIc and two Zorki.

Funky colours and textures (like an orange imitation ostrich skin) would make your camera cool...but do you really want that? 🙂

Alternative 'skins' would be vinyl or leatherette from old diaries or datebooks.

BTW, I'm veg-tanning a few hides (pig and goat) for the three cameras now. I will see in a couple of weeks if they turn out right for covering cameras.

Jay

 

[Kim Coxon]

I would choose leather every time. Much better feel than the plastic stuff and I would be tempted with a colour unless you are trying to be in stealth mode.

Kim

 

[ZorkiKat]

And another thing. Its best to reskin your camera now that its dismantled.

You can remove the vulcanite two ways. One way is to heat the body shell until the old vulcanite oozes and scrape off the goo. Another way is to dab the old vulcanite with paint stripper. Then scrape off. I don't know if the stripper is strong enough for the vulcanite. In one attempt, the vulcanite never
reacted enough to allow it to be scraped off.

Some FED need thinner skins. The prewar examples I've seen have flat bodies - cowhides and vinyl from diaires should work. Some postwar models I've seen have the areas covered by the vulcanite slightly raised. These would need thinner skins like goat or pig skin.

Jay

 

[w3rk5]

Hey Kim, nice to see you're still around. I've heard you went missing in a boating trip. 😛

There's another way to remove the vulcanite. I did this on a FED 2. I just used a knife to scrape it off. I try to put the blade between the vulcanite and the metal body and scrap/chisel it off. Becareful though......you could cut yourself pretty bad if you slip.

As for the camera cover I'm in the works with Akihiro Asahi on a carbon fiber type covering. I think it'll look very kewl especially on an old camera. Maybe it's just me. 🙂