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"Back to Black" for badly faded but intact vulcanite


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The repairer in Nice has finally finished the CLA and curtain repair on my Grandfather's model II. I said to leave the vulcanite alone as it is all in one piece with no tears or physical damage and I felt from the originality POV, should be left intact. However, it has faded to a rather unpleasant military-hued bilious greenish-brown, which is not at all nice to look at. Now there is a product you can buy for restoring the plastic and vinyl materials in cars, which have faded in the sun, called: "Back to Black". It is a transparent spray that miraculously seems to restore totally faded white powdery looking plastic to its original semi-gloss black. I wondered if this product might have the same effect on the vulcanite of my model II? If it is a disaster, it's not a huge problem, as I would then just get Alan Starkie to replace the vulcanite with the embossed black kid leather he sources from someone in the USA (not Morgan). I have had him do my Model 1C standard and Model III, both of which had significantly damaged and badly repaired vulcanite and they both look very good indeed now. 

 

Wilson

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Hello Wilson,

 

Vulcanite is most likely some sort of proprietary form of vulcanized rubber (hard rubber). Similar to Ebonite which is the hard brubber compound that was the black part next to the point on old fountain pens.

 

This is different from the majority of petroleum based plastics which a lot of things inside of a car are made of.

 

Just like Bakelite is another type of different material made from phenolic resin..

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

Edited by Michael Geschlecht
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At Photographica this year somebody told me that they had an 'Irish Leica' with green vulcanite. When I got to the stand I found that it was one of those 1930s Leicas with the greenish brown vulcanite. As I already had a few of them at home I declined the offer of the vendor. Somebody who was present said that this was a sign of a real leather covering. I have not checked the ones I have, since that time, to determine the veracity of that statement. As a collector, I would never interfere with anything on a vintage Leica unless it was in really bad condition. Original condition does have a value. All that being said, and bearing in mind that I would never do this, Wilson's options are leave it alone, try the spray or have the camera re-covered. My vote would be for the first option.

 

William

Edited by willeica
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Yes, the Vulkanit in prewar cameras tend to go brownish with heavy usage. Is it a sun bleaching or is it reaction with sweat fingers I do not know. I did not observe the same effect on earlier cameras though and not on postwar, the components used for production of Vulkanit might have changed. On my II and III I took off the shell and repainted with semi glossy black acryl spray, after cleaning with alcohol. Paint holds and the Vulkanit looks like new. Just a thin layer of paint, thicker layer would be visible. It is better to spray twice, if needed than having thicker layer. And let the paint stabilize for 5-7 days before you start to use camera heavily.

Black to black mentioned by Wilson may work as well, but I do not have any experience and do not know what chemicals are used there, may react with vulcanit. Acryl paint not does not.

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You could try one of the products to blacken tyres. It appears to me that it might be more compatible with a rubber product like Vulkanit than a vinyl restorative.

 

Back to Black does tyres as well, so that may well be the answer. I am not going to leave it as not only is it this nasty colour but blotchy as well with different shades of the "khaki" on different parts. As the original enamel is in quite nice condition, I want the cover to look equally nice. On a different forum, someone else suggested black wax shoe polish did an acceptable job. I am only assuming the covering is vulcanite. It may be leather. The camera is 1935 although its Hektor 5cm/f2.5 is earlier, 1933, if I remember correctly. I will post some photos when La Poste deign to deliver it, possibly tomorrow. 

 

Wilson

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Hello Wilson,

 

Or, if the idea is simply to blacken the surface: You might try a "Rub-A-Dub" laundry marker.

 

They work reasonably well.

 

Best Regards,

 

Michael

You need to fix Rub-a-Dub by putting the article of clothing in the tumble drier, which is obviously unsuitable for a camera. I supposed leaving it in the sun would do. The other problem is that they are only available in Europe as a fine point, so it would be very difficult to get even coverage. 

 

Wilson

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Presumably by using Vulkanit, Leica were hoping to avoid the bumps that old Zeiss and Contax cameras suffer from, as the leather reacts with the underlying metal. To this extent it was/is successful as Leicas don't get the bumps. 

 

Wilson

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I see that Andrew Nemeth recommends "Back to Black" or Tyre restorer. 

 

Wilson

 

 

I've never used it on a camera and never would.   When I have used Back to Black on tyres and bumpers etc it has proven to be very short lived and everything seemed to revert to back to crap within a few days.  It's probably useful if you're hoping to convince someone that 're-cellulosing' is an asset. 

 

I sometimes wonder if some eBay sellers use Cockpit Shine or Pledge on their cameras and lenses.

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Probably lots of options, but I do think it is important to first get the vulcanite clean.  As noted in earlier posts, with up to 90 years of handling the camera with hands that can have oil and other contamanints, storage dust and moisture all contribute to a very dirty covering.  A careful cleaning with a very small amount of mild soap and water, applied with a small brush only to the covering may help.

 I have used the spray foaming cleaner(shown), again only applied to a soft tooth brush and then to the covering only small areas at a time and avoiding all metal and optical parts. Immediately then use a cloth to remove the resulting film and dirt.

Then apply a good vynal or leather preservative, I use Lexol.   Make sure to wipe it down completely dry, an oily covering will probably just attract more dust and dirt.

I am not saying this is the best way, it just seems to work for me.  A professional repair person should have a viable procedure.

Most of the tire/tyre foams will probably work, if completely wiped down with no remaining sticky residue.

 

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Sadly the Model II will not be here today. On its way from Nice (Dept 06) to the neighbouring Var (Dept 83), La Poste in their wisdom, have decided it needs to go on a sightseeing trip to Avignon. If only they had asked me, I could have told them it had been there before, with my Grandfather in 1938. 

 

Wilson

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Grandpapa's Model II has finally arrived after its holidays in Nice and a brief stay in Avignon en route back to me. I have given the Vulkanit a thorough clean, using automobile leather and vinyl cleaner. This removed most of the green tinge and then a sparing application of black shoe polish has produced the result below. Whilst looking suitably aged, it is no longer offensive to my eyes, so I don't need to replace the original covering. All speeds and B working properly now and curtains not sticking in the middle.

 

Its original Nickel Elmar was not improved by my father, from being used as an enlargement lens, for over 20 years in a 200W incandescent bulb enlarger. I briefly used the Elmar on my new M4 body in 1967, while I was earning enough to buy a second hand Summilux and I recall the results not being very good. I suspect the Elmar disappeared when my parents moved house in 1971 and the contents of the darkroom were dispersed. It is a slight pity that my 1932 Hektor mounted on the Model II now, is chrome rather than matching the warmer looking nickel fittings.

 

Wilson

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Grandpapa's Model II has finally arrived after its holidays in Nice and a brief stay in Avignon en route back to me. I have given the Vulkanit a thorough clean, using automobile leather and vinyl cleaner. This removed most of the green tinge and then a sparing application of black shoe polish has produced the result below. Whilst looking suitably aged, it is no longer offensive to my eyes, so I don't need to replace the original covering. All speeds and B working properly now and curtains not sticking in the middle.

 

Its original Nickel Elmar was not improved by my father, from being used as an enlargement lens, for over 20 years in a 200W incandescent bulb enlarger. I briefly used the Elmar on my new M4 body in 1967, while I was earning enough to buy a second hand Summilux and I recall the results not being very good. I suspect the Elmar disappeared when my parents moved house in 1971 and the contents of the darkroom were dispersed. It is a slight pity that my 1932 Hektor mounted on the Model II now, is chrome rather than matching the warmer looking nickel fittings.

 

Wilson

 

 

What a gorgeous camera...you've done a great job with the the valcunite restoration..love the brassing.

 

I think my Barnack is one of my favourite cameras too.

 

...

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I am very lucky to have both that and my great uncle's model III. My uncle rescued them out of the dustbin, when my mother was moving house in 1971. To her, they were just old rubbish. 

 

Wilson

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wilson your camera is in nice shape.

On the subject of damaged vulcanite I have a couple of Leica 1a's with damaged vulcanite. One has a faint split on the wind knob side front, one loose with a verical split (break) thru the focus port and lastly a 1930 missing half of the vulcanite. The one with the slight tear in front I reglued. Looks ok if not perfect.

 

For the other 2 I was leaning towards a replacement cover. The think I can repair the close focus like I did the other. But the one with half missing it's either replacement, as is or (gasp) electrical tape as one of my non Leica friends suggested

 

Have an opinion? These are not mint cameras tho the one low 5 digit is quite nice. They were all cla'd and work properly.

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Aki-Asahi sells an embossed black leather for some Leica cameras plus all the usual snake, lizard and croc. Cameraleather.com also do this but I have had to stop using them. Morgan sent the wrong (much cheaper) material to me in error, after I had paid. He promised to send the correct material replacement but never did and stopped responding to my emails - this is just plain dishonest. My most recent re-cover buys have been from Hugo Studio. I don't know how easily they go on, as it was part of a CLA on both cameras, where the Vulkanit was beyond repair and in one case had been painted with black enamel. This is the embossed Hugo leather on my Model III. Like Webster's Dictionary, it is "Morocco Bound" 

 

Wilson

 

PS what is it about digital that makes a reasonably clean appearing camera to the naked eye, look horribly dusty

 

 

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