I purchased a well loved land camera that just sat idle for decades. The leatherette and rubber was in awful condition. It needed to be replaced. The camera itself is fully functional, but a little seized.
The glue & rubber had bonded and degraded over the years, forming a sticky goo. The leather surface flaked off into powder as I removed it. Always careful to keep the debris falling away from the camera body and not inside it.
I spent 10+ hours removing & cleaning the surfaces.
My hands were sore for a couple days from rolling off the old leatherette.
Note some of my tools are from a pottery kit. Others include razor blades, alcohol, q-tips, etc.
Next I cleaned the inside (no pictures, sorry). The rollers and front plate had some chemistry caked on.
I swabbed, then used a soft stream of filtered compressed air to clean the viewfinder lens & mirror.
Last step was putting on the new finish.
The walnut covers are accurately cut and treated by a studio in Texas. I could hardly wait a week for them to arrive.
Perfect exposures and even spread of chemistry. Focus and exposure control working properly.
Quite handsome
