Hello all,
 
My smoker started leaking last year and I used a tip from one of
Manley's books -
 
My smoker may be what Manley described in his typically disparaging
style as a 'toy for amateurs' but the bellows consists of 2 bits of
wood,  something like an old bedspring in the middle,  surrounded by
'leather-cloth',  stapled and then tacked to the wooden edges by
round headed tacks.
 
He suggested using a tyre inner tube as a replacement for the leather
cloth,  and that a motorcycle inner tube (thinner than car) would be
best.
 
I went to my local tyre replacers and asked if I could scrounge a
punctured tube (I didn't bother trying to explain what I wanted it
for and they probably thought that I was a rubber fetishist).  As
Manley suggested,  its probably better to go for a tube made from thin
rubber rather than thick,  I found a couple of car tubes that didn't
seem too thick.
 
Locate the punctures (if any) and slice across the tube at the point
of puncture.  Next,  slit around what was the inside of the donut and
lay the tube flat on a table.
 
Use the original bellows material as a template and place it along
the middle of the flattish piece of rubber,  draw around it with a
ball-point pen and cut it out.
 
I did find that using a staple gun was helpful for re-assembly.
 
Best wishes
 
Joe