I picked up a lovely set of Alldays and Onions bellows on ebay and have restored them, and put them to use. Maybe 125 years old I reckon. Triple chamber, works smoothly.  Leather is original, just treated with “neatsfoot” oil.  A little woodworm, now treated. The top board  is warped, but doesn’t  affect the function and adds to its charm. At first I think one of the leather flap valves was sticking, I think, and the top chamber wasn't expanding, and I was dreading having to unpin the leather bellows but as I used it, it began working and now is working just fine. I have hooked it up to my modern side blower forge by cutting a hole in the back so I can run electric, manual either or.  One of the cast iron weights was missing, but have replaced with a mild steel ball, almost as good. I read somewhere they may have been painted red, so gave em a lick and then the transfer pipe on the side that passes the air between chambers looked like it needed brightening up, so that got the same treatment. The lever is original ash, just BLO and it looks fine. 

At some stage I’ll need to flip the frame so it blows the same side as the lever - a more awkward task then I expected. I spent an hour or two on the assumption I could just unbolt the frame , rotate the bellows 180 and bolt it back together, but over the decades of use in the past the cross rods have slightly deformed and wouldn't quite fit, when I switched it, so I need to plan ahead and get a couple of sons with muscles to help. A lovely object, and great to use with my similarly aged anvil and vices. It clicks and heaves and whispers as I use it, in a very relaxing peaceful repetitive sound - harder work but quieter than the noisy electric fan

What a great find and good job on refreshing it.

125 year old leather. Wow. That must be some good leather!  What a wonderfull survivor! I wonder how it was stored all these years? It must of had an easy life. Nice functional piece of history. Enjoy!!

I think it worked for its keep for a few years but for the last 30 years it was at first a decorative feature in this guy’s hallway after he came across it in a junk store. He had done some restoration then including ouling the leather. His wife told him to move it out 20 years ago and since then he had it under a blanket in a garage. The leather soaks up any neatsfoot oil I put on it. I guess i’ll Keep reapplying .

That is gorgeous. Your description of its sound is relaxing even through a screen.

I love it more every day. It sighs and whispers to me as I work it, sometimes with a happy grunt as it clears its throat. Wooshhhhh. Click click clack whoooshhhhh click click clack. The forge gently exhales in synch.  Harrrrr. Harrrrr.  Who needs music?  Mind you, my very amateur hammering of steel on the anvil is like a kid playing a piano for the first time. That’s not musical yet...

Hi Roger,

I was intrigued to see the bellows you’ve restored. I inherited exactly the same model with the Forge I bought two years ago and want to get it set up. I note that you have two weights on the hooks either side - I found a conical weight in the forge and wondered what it was for - probably for the bellows.... but where the second one is I have no idea. Could you let me know how much the weights way?

Thanks

Tim

Tim, I’ll weigh one tomorrow and post here. Mine came with just one ball shaped weight, probably cast iron, and i bought a mild steel ball and welded on a loop to match. I don’t suppose it matters what shape it is.  I have seen these operating with just one weight on one side, and frankly I haven't worked out the physics. 

On 4/4/2021 at 4:27 PM, Honing Blacksmith said:

Could you let me know how much the weights way?

Tim.  the weights are about 14kg each. I assume you are on the kg side of the pond. One original cast iron and the second is a 12cm mild steel ball.  They seem to work.  Good luck. Hopefully you wont need to unpin the leather. 

Thanks Roger. yes, in North Norfolk in the UK. Actually - the internet is an extraordinary thing and shortly after asking you the question, I discovered two counterweights on sale and listed as “Weights for Victorian Bellows”. They reckoning the weight is 53lbs (24kg) for transport, so if that’s each then quite a lot heavier that yours, but I suspect it is for both. Anyway - I bought them, so we’ll see when they arrive. The leather is in good nick, having been replaced before I bought the forge.

Thanks for letting me know.

Well, I married a girl from North Norfolk, so....

Good luck with your restoration. Post some pics. Happy to chat any time. 

Nice to see restoration.

 

I have a question that you can perhaps help me with. I have nearly always use bellows rather than electric for the best part of 30years but am buying a triple lung set which I will need to have shipped to me, do you have any guesstimate of the total weight. 

I’d guess its about 100lb.   Hope that helps. 
 

 

Weight is one part of the shipping, distance is another.  What country are you shipping from and what country are you shipping to?  Add in building a crate, custom documents, and other items that could up the price.

Cheshire to Cornwall, probably no packaging required and available assistance at both ends 

Hello Roger

i have just inherited a similar set of bellows , i was wondering how your neats foot oil has worked on the leather long term ?

many thanks Ali Russell

Hi Ali.  The neats foot oil seems to be working Ok. Still seems reasonably flexible.  I recently patched a couple of minor holes with leather patches and some rubber cement. I was thinking about giving it another wipe down with the oil.  Is the leather on yours dry?

 

 

 thanks for coming back so speedily

yes they have been stored in a shed for at least 25 years , i have re assembled them , they seem complete ,but the leather is intact but dry and stiff so i think i need supple them up a lot before trying them out,

Ali

Last month I switched over the handle, so I was able to pump the bellows from the same side of the forge that I work on.  Needed two of us to lift the bellows out, and the wrought iron bracket needed tweaking ( heat and a pair of pliers) . I expect to be using the bellows more in the future, but still have the electric fan hooked up to the forge as an alternate. i’m building a new smithy so needed a rethink.  You can see pics in the “show me your smithy thread”.  It’ll be interesting to see if a bit of use will affect the flexibility of the leather, one way or another.  I still think I’m lucky the bellows work without me having to pick apart the studs that hold the leather.  

It's an honor to follow. Apparently, things aren't too bad.

Things are never too bad if you have a forge and a hammer… 

If you can't fix it with a bigger hammer it's an electrical problem.

Frosty The Lucky.

Hi all,

I am about to start a full restoration on a set of bellows exactly like yours. I will be replacing almost everything including the leather. Can anyone tell me what kind and weight leather is required. Also. What kind of wood was originally used? 
 

thanks Eric

Welcome aboard Eric, glad to have you. If y ou put your general location in the header you'll have much better luck meeting up with members living within visiting distance. Who knows they may even have a similar bellows.

Try PMing Rogerroger, he may not check Iforge daily but PMs automatically sent a notice on most systems.

Frosty The Lucky.