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On the freezed focus element thing that happens to almost every Agfa, I tried lighter fluid for several days and nothing happened. Dryed it and soaked it in nail polish remover and it did the job in half a day. There's a huge difference between lighter fluid and nail polish remover for this use. For the bellows, theres some black silicone that is used to glue glass surfaces and stuff like that that can be painted on the bellows and produces a very flexible light proof film (don't close the bellows before it's completely dry!). It's excellent for this use, and you can see the camera becomes almost completely air tight too (so you must wind the film after opening the bellows before taking a shot!)
 
I too have successfully used the black silicone rubber approach on an Agfa bellows. It doesn't take much.

Most bellows are either leather or a synthetic glued over a fabric base. If you look inside, you will probably see the fabric. You can also glue a fabric or paper patch on the interior using a fabric glue like SOBO obtainable from a sewing supply store. SOBO is white, but it can be dyed black with carbon black from a cigarette lighter.

Then, if the hole is large, place an additional layer of black silicone rubber on the outside.

-Paul
 
Hey, thanks very much guys !! I think now I have a pretty big collection of methods to repair the bellows. Tomorrow I'll pay a visit to the hardware store to see what kind of black flexible adhesives they have.

BTW, the focus ring is starting to move more smoothly each time that I turn it, so, before trying anything on the lenses, I'll run the first roll through the Isolette using the lens hood that came with it, in order to reduce a bit the possible efects of dirt and fungus.

I'll keep you informed on my progress :) as I think the Isolette is going to be my next PAW shooter !

Best !

Oscar
 
Oftheherd, thanks and thanks and thanks again !

I really have now a lot of literature regarding the bellows repair matter. There seems to be a preferred method for everyone (if not more), but the glue mixed with black colorant and soap seems to be a very used one.

I've been looking for something like "black silicone" today but haven't found anything similar (not even black glue), but I'll keep searching :) My idea is to start from the less agressive method and then if it doesn't work, try the next one, that is, try to do nothing wrong and irreversible.
 
Taffer, have you tried any of the many "fixes" for your bellows yet? I have yet to do so for my bellows, but expect to in the near future. I expect I will use the Elmer's glue/shoe dye/soap method. Let us know if you have.
 
Hi !

well, in fact I tried a couple of them. The first one was simple acrylic black paint. It seemed to fix the problem firstly, but after a couple of days, the paint looses its flexibility and the pinholes apeear again.

Secondly, I tried the black electrician tape method from Roland and Caroline (.co.uk I think). It's an ugly method but if done carefully it seems to fix the problem better (I checked the inside of the bellows under an halogen ultra bright light).

But (and here begins the sad part of the story), I couldn't resist the temptation and started the lens clean job last Sunday. Man, I hope I didn't. The back element had serious coating damage after all, and the cleaning process was a nightmare. Even with the smoothest clean I could do using lens cleaner and q-tips all the coating came apart and the lens ended badly scratched... sigh... :_(

Before knowing the results from the back lens (yes, there's still more), I followed the instructions of a website about cleaning the central element with the shutter open at B setting. This time the lens was easily cleaned and results were good, no damage, no scratches. I supose the central element was in better shape, BUT, as it seems it was 'my lucky day', some cleaning fluid found its way to the diaphragm blades, where lots of hidden rust were expecting an oportunity to be alive again, so now the blades are dirty and sticky...

To sum up, a gathering of bad decisions and some hidden surprises inside the camera ruined my first restoration attempt :_(

Maybe if someday I find a good lens/shutter assembly from a body-dead Isolette I could build a frankenstein, but meanwhile I think the nice Agfa is going to be a shelf item, sigh...

Anyway, as now I can't lose anything, I'll try the other methods on the bellows as an experiment. As I said you, the tape method seems to work, but is ugly, and makes bellows thicker and sticky.

The black silicon method seems good, at first sight, so maybe you could give it a try. The problem is that it seems irreversible... Anyway, now that I can't expect decent pictures from the camera, I recognize I've lost some interest. I supose I can't blame myself eternally, but for sure I will do it for some more days... :(

Good luck with your bellows, or at least better luck than me ! ;)

Cheers !

Oscar (sorrowful :p)
 
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