Blacksmithing Project - Blacksmith Bellows 2

Part 2 of 9
This blacksmithing project takes you through every step of the process of how to make a two stage blacksmith's leather lung bellows and portable forge.
Click link bellow for pdf file
www.dropbox.com/s/6y9arbdm88i...

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

One historic fundamental often overlooked with projects attempting to suit a period is the fact that blacksmiths wouldn't waste iron or steel as readily as modern smiths do. We have iron in abundance, and use it for everything. Go back even just three or four centuries and that wasn't the case, you wouldn't waste anything. A lot of fitments were made of brass, bronze, or even copper depending on the wear involved. So using a giant iron bar through the middle and huge iron nails to try and make it look more 'authenti-bellows' is probably less authentic. It'd be like future archeologists knowing we used a lot of glass for things, so instead of building homes with walls and windows in them instead build them with glass walls because glass is readily available in huge sheets to future artisans. What we have in abundance today may have been incredibly rare depending on the period. Always remember that.

[@blakehorton8110]

Awesome , wish you could make a good sturdy bellow that's smaller for us to use , I love this one though and no complaints just looking for simple and small

[@olivermilutinovic749]

I saw how you supported the mid ribs on the pins for the upper chamber. For the bottom chamber ribs did you station the pins on the bottom board, I imagine if they were on the middle rib that the bottom rib would slide off.

[@df-intheshop330]

The pins are also on the center board for the bottom chamber. They are short enough to allow the bottom board to close fully but too long to allow the rib to fall off the pins. The leather is also helping to restrict the movement of the rib. You would have to be able to lower the rib until it is flat against the bottom board ( when it is fully open) in order to be able to slide the rib over the top of the pins.

[@olivermilutinovic749]

@@df-intheshop330 Right, thanks, I was looking for a few ideas about attaching the mid ribs towards the nozzle end, but your solution looks very straight forward, for some reason I kept thinking about a leather hinge.

[@skyrimfan1123]

how shall I figure out the size of the leather part (or canvas if i go that route)? just double up the top/bottom board dimension? by that i mean mirroring it over horizontally

[@df-intheshop330]

The easiest way is to make a paper pattern by tracing around the bellows with to top and bottom board propped open.

[@bradymcphail9690]

there's that white stuff again!

[@redrob6331]

How much air does one lung displace?

[@df-intheshop330]

Unfortunately I have no way of measuring that and I don't know how to calculate the volume of a teardrop shaped wedge. This bellows is patterned off a set in a local museum and they were from a working forge from the late 1800's.

[@redrob6331]

How high does the top lung extend? I figure the teardrop is about 2'x4'. Is that about right?

[@df-intheshop330]

it's actually 30X48 and 14" at the back

[@mustamuri]

Pyh....vähän kontaktiliimaa , kolme vanerinpalaa ja hups ..palkeet on valmiit 😊

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

Derka derka, derka derka derka derka. Derka derk? Derka!

[@koningbolo4700]

Sir, does the bellow need to be this big ? Can I get away with shrinking it down to about 65% of this size and still be able to have a workable forge ?

[@joshuarachita9265]

I wouldn't go any smaller

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

Not if you want to heat treat anything. Depends on what you're doing. Most 'knifesmiths' just need fire to anneal and harden their work and 'make' their blades by material removal (i.e. they aren't making a knife, they're making a knife shaped object by grinding a shape out of bar stock). So if that's all you're doing sure. But if you want to hit critical temps or weld heats you're going to need more air. You could probably get away with shrinking it to 50% the size and using two if that's easier?

[@bradymcphail9690]

I can't download the PDF file.

[@dr.lexwinter8604]

Considering it's been three years and no one has answered you; for other boomers out there failing at technology (I feel your pain, the older I get the less I'm willing or able to endure fiddly technology - I need to have kids fast so they can fill the role I held as VCR clock adjuster for grandparents):
1. Click the drop box link.
2. Let the PDF load.
3. Top right corner where it says sign up / login (unless you have an account and are logged in, then idk what it says) you'll see a downward arrow with a line beneath it. That is the universal symbol for download. Click it.
4. Choose where to save.
5. Make bellows. Use less iron, iron was scarce and not wasted on things where brass or bronze was readily usable. And please don't color it in ridiculously modern color schemes as this finished product is, it's horrible.