Recovering a M5 and IIIc

[thomasw_]

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Greetings,

 

I am looking for advice and the experiences of others who have recovered their own cameras. The vulcanite on both of my Leicas is begging to be replaced with black calf skin. I have decided to indulge my Leicas in this process of beautification.

 

What I know: the instructions on the cameraleather.com site. I have read through them a few times.

 

What I don't know: A lot. I have not recovered a camera before.

 

I feel confident enough in my fine motor skills to do it, but I'd like to hear of any experiences/success/failures/setbacks etc. that others have had doing this.

 

If anyone is curious, here is an example of the covering I have chosen, as I am going to use the same black calf leather on both my IIIc and M5:>

 

Cameraleather - Colors and materials

 

Good cheer,

 

Thomas

[stumac]

Hi Thomas,

 

My only suggestion is to have several practice runs at cutting a templet and cheap covering before putting knife to the real stuff.

 

Regards, Stuart

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[imported_peter_m]

Hi Thomas,

 

I never recovered a camera but been working with leather a lot. If you start from scratch buy some good quality leather of even thickness with minimal stretch. I am not sure what kind of glue they use but that shouldn't be hard to find out.

 

Peter

[dkCambridgeshire]

I have not tried to recovering myself but have just checked ThomasTomosy's 'Leica Camera Repair Handbook' where on page 15 there is a section on recovering a Leica Standard utilising a paper template.

 

Dunk

[jhild]

Hi,

 

I have recovered both a M3 and a IIIc using the leatherette from Aki-Asahi.com from Japan.

the leatherette is not as thick as the original one so I have put thin paper under it to get

the same thickness as the Leica vulcanite.

My procedure was/is always the same:top cover off,pull the camera out of the shell, remove the old vulcanite and clean the shell.It has to be absolutely smooth and clean!

 

Then put it all together.It´s better to apply the new leather with the top cover on.

Next glue the paper onto the body, use contact cement and let it dry completely. As

Aki-Asahi´s ready cut and very well fitting leatherette is self adhesive covered with wax-

paper it will stick to the paper very well.

 

With the IIIc you have to start were the strap-lugs are, make sure you don´t stretch it and remove only as much wax paper as required.I don´t know the M5 as i don´t have one but

I´m sure you´ll find the best way to do it by yourself.

 

When it´s finished try how exact the bottom plate fits.Take bottom plate off again.

Now you still see the white paper under the new leatherette,very carefully apply superglue

all along here, that will harden the paper and fill that very little slit a bit.After the glue is

dry paint it black with camera paint, try the bottom plate again, if it fits well you´ve

done the job!

 

Cheers Joachim

[lmr]

Thomas:

 

You may want to check with Don Goldberg. He re'covered' my M3 about 5 years ago and it looks great. Taking off, cleaning, and prep work to take the new leather would be the most time consuming. Any residue will show up as bumps.

[Never Satisfied]

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Hi Thomas, I have used re-covering kits from Aki Asahi for several cameras from my M3 / M2 and a Kiev. His Kits are brilliant and the fit is faultless; IMHO you could not cut skin by hand to match the fit of these coverings. Another company offering recovering kits is camera leather in the USA, his kits are a bit dearer, but use more exotic leather, I have not seen his kits but I believe that they are at least the equal of Aki Asahi.

 

When you remove the original vulcanite you will find areas of oxide and the original bonding material will create a lot of dust. I borrowed a small Dremmel tool with a small wire brush in it, which did a fabulous job.

 

My M3 has had an Aki white leather cover on it for several years now and it shows no signs of wear or lifting.

 

Good luck with it, cheers Andrew.