Hi all,
I am the resident blacksmith at the Waterloo Farm Museum In Waterloo township in Michigan. I have learned allot in the last year since my start and was kind of thrown into this position of running this place but am very glad I was given the chance to prove i can do it. I have become a member of MABA and have loved every bit of it. My question is I would like to rebuild the bellows for the forge, NOT just rebuild it but take down what they have and burn it LOL and do it right. We are currently redoing the forge and why not have everything right. This farm is set in the late 1800's. I do have pictures of the forge we currently have under my name. I am wondering if anybody has any advice or plans for this project. I would appreciate any help!!!!! Thanks and I am looking forward to hearing what input you have.

Where are the pictures? Is there a link or do I just past in the name of the farm and do a search?

i like your attitude. you can find a little information (on bellows) and probably get a few ideas from the books "The art of blacksmithing" bealer, and "the new edge of the anvil" andrews.

Were bellows still in common use in the late 1800's? By then the hand crank blower may have been more common.:confused:

Bellows have been documented as the source of air in blacksmithing during the American War Between the States, 1860s. I have been researching the subject in The Official Records (http://www.civilwar.com/) and other sources, and do not believe that hand-cranked blowers were available till after the Civil War.

Personally, I enjoy using bellows and find them relaxing.

Here is some useful information on bellows:

BP0141 Building a Bellows | Blueprints 100-200
BP0127 Bellows Construction | Blueprints 100-200
Bellows
Guru - Bellows
Tandy Leather Factory - Choose Your Country

Were bellows still in common use in the late 1800's? By then the hand crank blower may have been more common.:confused:

Edited April 18, 200917 yr by UnicornForge

bellows were the more common till about 1900 or so .. the champion 400 blower was probably the most popular hand crank blower and its pattent dates are 1901 and 1902 .. by 1911 they had sold 1/2 million world wide . i figure that is when bellows were on theyre way out but like everything else you probably had smiths that refused to use those " new fangled" blowers .from looking at the book practical blacksmithing its pretty obvious even at the turn of the century bellows were still in common use ...I enjoy my bellows that i have for my portable forge .. plenty of air and much quieter than a hand crank . have fun!

The Matthew Edel blacksmith shop in Haverhill Iowa was run up until he died in the 1920's or 30's. It still used the overhead mounted bellows. And then it was closed up by the family, and then donated to the County/State in the early 1970's - with EVERYTHING still in it and in place when he died! What a wonderful place to explore! Overhead lineshafts, single cylinder engine in the back to run things, home-made helve hammer, and ALL THOSE LITTLE specialty tools made over the years for projects! It even still has the pairs of horseshoes hanging in the rafters with the farmer's names tagged - for swapping out winter/summer horseshoes. A typical small town blacksmith shop.

The local chapter of UMBA (Upper Midwest Blacksmith Association) meets there all the time, and demonstrates there during "tourist season" - May through October.

But he was still using that bellows for his forge up into the 1900's. Yes, hand-cranked blowers were available, and he even had one there next to the brick forge. But the bellows was still there and connected for use.

And his NORMAL everyday hammer was a 5 POUNDER! One tough older man!

Mikey - that grumpy ol' German blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

p.s. The big problem with rebuilding a bellows or building a new one is the cost of the leather. The rest is just a little careful wood work. Bealer, Andrews, Watson, Weygers all have good info on a bellows.

As was mentione "Practical Blacksmithing" Richardson is a collect of articles from a blacksmithing journal from the years 1889, 1890 and 1891 (IIRC) and so pretty much *THE* book to go by for that time period.

Also there are reprints of Sears & Roebucks catalogs from near turn of the century.

Also there are several collections of old blacksmithing tool catalogs on DVD available out there.

Betwixt all these things you should be able to get a good idea of what would be appropriate.

(and don't forget checking out inventories associated with wills at the local historical society or courthouse!)