I am tempted to acquire an Auto Graflex with a f:4.5 / 165mm Carl Zeiss Jena lens, but there are some things I question ahead of time.

1.) The Viewing Hood on top has a major rip, about five inches across the front a goes about one inch into each side. Would repairs be possible? Also, if i just jury rigged it (Duct Tape is your friend), would anything be majorly affected?

2.) The knobs. All of the knobs are tarnished heavily, but everything works fine. Do you think just a little brass cleaner could solve this problem?

3.) Tears. In somespots, there are tears in the leather and wood is visible underneath. Is there any way I may repair these?

Pretty much everything that's happened to this camera is cosmetic. The shutter fires smoothly and is only minorly off on some of the slower speeds.

Thanks,
Richard

1). I think Bret Saunders has new replacement ones he makes from a simular leather; Gaffers tape will be a far better friend than duct tape for patchin' the view hood or bellows.
2). I've found Mothers Mag Polish to work extremely well in cleaning metal; <I>However</I>, the older Graflex cameras put a <I>THIN</I> layer of silver on top of brass and any polish will remove it!
3). I like latex/neoprene based contact cement for glueing the leather covering on any camera, the bellows fabric and just about anything that needs to be glues in these old cameras except wood to wood where I use wood glue. Some use ruber cement but I sometimes think thats because they like the naptha fumes. Elmer's E-753 and Weldwood Nonflamable Contact Cement are two that I'm familuar with.

Charles

If the silver layer is still present, would one of the silver tarnish removers that work by dunking (not polishing) the part clean it? If it's not still present, the problem doesn't arise.

It's a good deal easier to make a replacement focusing hood than to make a bellows. Both are constructed in the same way, with an exterior layer of very thin leather, a sort of skeleton made of stiff paper or thin card stock (which supports the panels but does not extend into the folds), and an inner lining of very thin opaque fabric. The only difficulty is finding the materials, and that is not insuperable.

There are lots of good leather dyes, polishes and cleansers, made for shoes and so readily available. If the covering isn't really badly gouged, a little work with a soft rag, and water as appropriate, can produce surprisingly good results.

indeed, with a little black shoe polish and a soft rag, my Voigtländer Avus leather exterior changed from slightly worn to looking really quite nice. i was pleased. just a little cosmetic elbow grease can make your camera look much nicer.

I think it's Les who is the knowlegable one about the silver plate on the old cameras, I've only read it on this site in the past.

_________________
While a picture may be worth a thousand words, a quality photograph is worth a million.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: 45PSS on 2004-04-12 21:28 ]</font>

Dvonk...no shoe polish please...>>leather dye<< for worn spots, and >Neatsfoot Oil< for cleaning and preserving! Readily avail at shoe repair also!
Duct tape on a camera...only if you hate the camera!!!!
T.R. email me for help on hood at
bsaunders1@bak.rr.com

well, i learn something every day. leather dye & neatsfoot oil it shall be from now on. thanks.

Thanks for all the advice guys, it should help in my restoration project.