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FED 1d replacing vulcanite "leather"

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Printed on: 5/7/2026 2:43:23 PM


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Topic author: Mosasaurus

Posted on: 20180316112220

Hello,
Last weekend I bought on a fair here in the Netherlands a FED 1d (NKVD, Nr. 164150). Unfortunately I didn’t notice that some pieces of the “leather” were lost. So I planned renewing the leather…..
On the internet I saw some difficult instructions removing the vulcanite with a special agressive gel, that is supposed to remove/dissolve paint. On RFF someone else suggested to yo use a chisel and perhaps some lighter fluid.

My question is if someone of you has experience removing the vulcanite/ leather of the FED 1d and replacing it by new leather(ette)? What kind of leatherette would you recommend? Dividing/partition line of the leatherette under the lens?
Thanks for answering in advance.
Regards,
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Replies

Reply author: Vlad

Replied on: 20180316161810

I've heard of people melting black plastic bags and restore patches that way, but I've never actually seen it done... [:)]..

Cheers,
Vlad

Reply author: SteveA

Replied on: 20180317153533

Hello, try these people: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/Leica/vulcanite.html

Reply author: Jacques M.

Replied on: 20180319115103


Thanks for the link, Steve.
Anyway, it's not an easy operation... Vulcanite means vulcanization, so enough heat... To try and scrape the original vulcanite, and put a "plastic" leatherette is much easier.

Jacques.

Reply author: Mosasaurus

Replied on: 20180319141445

Hello,
On RFF I started a discussion too. One of their advices was: use acryl-paint.....
My neighbour is an (amateur)painter. So he has a lot of acryl-paint.... Being a good neighbour, he is so friendly to try to do the job! I'm very interested how it will looks like.....
Thanks to everybody who tried to help me/tried to answer my question!
Regards,
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