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Original Pacemaker color?

 
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Baker



Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 85
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2002 12:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was the leather outer covering on the Pacemaker Graphics (1950-made Speed, in particular) brown or black? I'm cleaning mine, and it's a nice reddish-brown on the corners, but all the flat surfaces are black.
Is it dyed black, or just really dirty?
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Les



Joined: 09 May 2001
Posts: 2682
Location: Detroit, MI

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2002 1:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

every near mint, still in the box, never used Pacemaker I've seen has black leather. The other colors are from (I'm guessing) the dye process, the fading of the dye process, and overall age.
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2002 2:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought Graflex followed Henry Ford's moto:
You can have any color you want as long as its Black (military excluded).

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Baker



Joined: 08 Apr 2002
Posts: 85
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2002 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Odd. The thing that got me started cleaning it is, the black is flaking off, like paint. I'd set down the camera and have little flecks of paint on my left fingertips. I thought it was the paint from the inside of the camera, but today I handled it without opening it, and still got the paint flecks. A bit of scraping with the back of a knife blade confimed that it's coming off the leather. Any ideas what's going on here?
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45PSS



Joined: 28 Sep 2001
Posts: 4081
Location: Mid Peninsula, Ca.

PostPosted: Wed Jun 19, 2002 5:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Joking aside, I have seen the dye used on leather flake and/or peel off like paint, in thin layers. I do not know how to cure other than checking with a leather expert.

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Scoop



Joined: 01 Oct 2001
Posts: 11

PostPosted: Mon Jun 24, 2002 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You can easily redye the leather on a Speed Graphic with black liquid shoe polish.

Go over the camera once with a bit of soap on a sponge to remove any muck that may have acumulated on the leather. Then paint the liquid shoe polish onto the leather and let it soak in a bit before wiping off the excess with a paper towel. Corners and scuffed areas usually need at least two coatings.

After the leather has dried, go over the camera with black paste shoe polish to bring up some gloss.

Wear rubber gloves when using the liquid polish or you'll match the Speed Graphic.
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