Hi Shutter bugs..

While helping the folks clean house they told me to take this old 'Mini Speed Graphics, 2 1/2 X 3 1/2. It's a full set up with Ektor 101mm lense, case and acessories! Yee Haa!

Anyway, it's old and musty... I was told to use graphite, not oil...

Q: How does one clean the leathery covering to the camera? Please only 'uninvasive methods'. Also how to clean the case, it's a black box with metal corners and green felt inside.

Q: How does one re-attch the leather cover to the front door of camera? It fell off in a complete piece and still has it's shape perfectly... Some glue?

I'm not looking to repaint or refinish, just clean well. Cheers!

Quote:

Q: How does one clean the leathery covering to the camera? Please only 'uninvasive methods'. Also how to clean the case, it's a black box with metal corners and green felt inside.

Leather, camera body and bellows: Wash the leather with Isopropyl Alcohol then coat with Pledge Natural Beauity, the funiture polish, and rub in well with cotton cloth. Lexol makes very good leather cleaner and conditioner also.
Case exterior: Leather, same as above; painted vulconid: windex or 409 then Pledge Natural beauity.

Quote:

Q: How does one re-attch the leather cover to the front door of camera? It fell off in a complete piece and still has it's shape perfectly... Some glue?

Contact cement, position the cover while the cement is still wet.

Lightweight machine oil or TriFlow on metal surfaces applying a drop then wiping off the excess so that a thin layer is just detectable. White lithium grease as well as other light grease applied sparingly can be used also.

Thank you kind Sir or Madam.

So it sounds like we'll treat it like leather.... So would it be OK to use a small amount of black shoe polish? Say like on a cotton ball slightly moist with water? This method is AKA military 'spit shine'. Perhaps not on the bellows however.

I put a few of the metal parts in the vibration tumbler and they look great. This is same machine used for polishing brass shells in reloading.

Quote:

Q: How does one clean the leathery covering to the camera?

Leather, camera body and bellows: Wash the leather with Isopropyl Alcohol then coat with Pledge Natural Beauity, the funiture polish, and rub in well with cotton cloth. Lexol makes very good leather cleaner and conditioner also.

I seem to remember some member(s) saying something about using shoe polish and/or leather dye to cover scuffs to the body covering but if it is not discolored or scuffed coloring would not be necesary. Speed body covering is leather until around 1948 when it became plastic coated cloth (graflex speak for vinyl).