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I Forge Iron

bellows shape


Azur Jahić

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OK i make some bellows yesterday it "s blows good but its have a 4 angle shape :And i disembled it and cut to be like triangle and i loose to much on space . CAn the bellows have a shape of the board like cube or it must be trangle iS triangle shape have some reason is it bllows ari better :Because it easy to me to not cut to triangle and you can easy get same shape of two or tre board when is shape like cube is the shape have some purpose is it blowing air better

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Azur, I can't think of any reason the shape would have to be a triangle. If the 'cube' (square) is working for you and easier to make, stick with it.

I think you're getting closer every day and will soon have a good shop.

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Bellows have been shaped in MANY MANY forms over the centuries:
Agricola shows coffin shaped bellows in De Re Metallica from the 1500's.
Round bellows have been used in the UK and Spanish Colonial USA.
The commercial double lunged blacksmithing bellows once sold in the USA were "teardrop" shaped.

I would say that triangular bellows are not a common shape historically as sharp angles lead to the leathers wearing out faster.

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Bellows can be just about any shape that you want. The corners tend to be rounded to make it easier to attach the bellows cover.

The teardrop shape tends to give you the maximum air-volume versus weight-of-bellows ratio. This is because the area furthest from the hinge moves the most and therefore provides the most air movement.

Here are two U.S. Government diagrams of a rectangular bellows from the mid-1800s, top and side views:

post-2340-0-18195100-1349534177_thumb.gi

post-2340-0-74004200-1349534637_thumb.jp

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My free standing champion hand crank blower is probably about 75# (34 kg) Get a hand truck or put wheel on.
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200407917_200407917?cm_mmc=Google-pla-_-Material%20Handling-_-Hand%20%2B%20Utility%20Trucks-_-188231&ci_sku=188231&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw={keyword}

Maybe your local library has this
http://www.amazon.com/Design-Build-Centrifugal-Fans-Home/dp/0917914600

or you can take a junk cloths dryer and strip the blower out.
http://www.iforgeiron.com/page/index.html/_/blueprints/100-series/bp0128-forge-blower-r361

or talk to the local heating and cooling repair shop about a furnace blower or exhaust blower from a gas furnace or gas hot water heater, working used with noisy bearings (the reason it would be replaced) but some regular oiling can keep it running for a long time. Yes this attaches you to electricity. If you take the fan assembly, hook it up to a drive train that give you about 50:1 from a crank handle and you can make it hand crank.

Phil

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Your efforts to build a bellows is truly heroic, and I commend you for your efforts in trying to build each type of bellows. I would like to see you succeed in having a functional bellows and forge.
However, in looking at the photographs of your woodworking attempts to build various bellows (box bellows, tire inner-tube bellows and now a standard teardrop shaped bellows) , I suggest enlisting the efforts of a local woodworker if you want to have a bellows that works.

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OK i make some bellows yesterday it "s blows good but its have a 4 angle shape :And i disembled it and cut to be like triangle and i loose to much on space . CAn the bellows have a shape of the board like cube or it must be trangle iS triangle shape have some reason is it bllows ari better :Because it easy to me to not cut to triangle and you can easy get same shape of two or tre board when is shape like cube is the shape have some purpose is it blowing air better


What is your goal? Are you trying to represent iron technology in an historical period or are you trying to make things out of iron/steel?
If you are trying to represent a technology at its development in a particular time (eg. iron age, migration period, medieval) then you should research the technology of that time. Reproducing ancient objects using the methods and technology available in their historical period is possible with some research.
If you want to make useful things using simple, available, technologies then the world is yours.
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