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I Forge Iron

Historical African bellows


JHCC

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These are from the Special Collections of the Oberlin College archives, a pair of antique African bellows from Angola. 

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As you can see from the drawing, they would have been fitted with skin flaps lashed to the concave sides. 

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Note that the drawing shows ten people working many small bellows to fire a bloomery furnace, rather than (as in Christopher Roy's video "Smelting Iron in Africa") one person working a very large pair of bellows. 

Here is a view of the nozzle. Note the absence of burn marks, indicating some kind of separation or insulation from the heat of the bloomery, probably a clay tube made at the same time as the bloomery itself. (NB: Such a tube would also provide some distance between the bellows-workers and the bloomery, lessening the risk of getting showered with sparks!)

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And here is the interior, showing the openings to the twin tuyeres. Note the concave sides, which would have facilitated tying on the skin covers.

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Top view:

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Thanks to Special Collections Librarian Ed Vermue, and apologies for the poor lighting. 

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