Justin Topp Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Starting to assemble a small portable kit I could haul out to the woods or different areas to do some small blacksmithing with. It’s a pretty basic kit but hopefully should do the trick. I’ve bought some of the stuff but the large majority I’ve made myself. Anything obviously wrong/missing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Vise? Does that bellows have a check valve on the exit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 A check valve is so air only goes out and isn’t sucked back in right? If so than yes. Air only comes out the exit. The intake is in the center of the bellows. And good idea on the vise. I’ll look into a small one of some kind. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 19, 2020 Share Posted February 19, 2020 Please double check the check valve, a bit of cold wood ash right in front of the nozzle will usually tell. A lot of bellows don't have one; but when we are using it heavily right in the tue pipe inhaling a bit of hot charcoal makes for a nasty internal problem. I've seen bellows yanked out of their mounting and jammed in the quench tank and inhaling water to put out an internal fire before. (Done it myself at least once...) Funny that Theophilus doesn't use checkvalves in his metal working bellows but does in the portable organ bellows. Of course the metalworking bellows were used in sets of two and so the alternation always has air going into the tue pipe and never just inhaling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 19, 2020 Author Share Posted February 19, 2020 Yea this bellows doesn’t suck anything in when I inflate it. Only from the center of the wood. I also planned on maybe a tool box with a smaller built in Japanese style box bellows. And I have a buffalo forge blower that’s 6” and pretty light so I could reasonably take it with if i could find a way to set it up and use that. It would probably be the. Best air supply. For the size. Besides electric that’s is. I’d rather keep it without electricity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Two of those single lung bellows with a “Y” would be very similar to the Iron Age set up used for hundreds of years. Now a very serviceable double acting bellows is the double quick III by intex I don’t recommend the double quick III s as the outlet is in the handle. This will get a 3/4” schedule 40 pipe tuyere up to welding heat with charcoal. Cheap, light and no building anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 I have that exact pump and one similar. Never even thought of using them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 On the otherhand, I've used a hand crank blower to inflate a queensized airmattress before, lots of duct tape to make the air connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 In one of my internal dialogue brainstorming sessions some time ago I sketched up a design for a tool box that carried my blacksmith kit and served as the bellows. I settled on a basic box bellows. One end of the tool box slides inside the rest of the box and is held in place when masquerading as a tool box by a few screws or maybe a catch. I didn't debug the fiddly bits I just sketched the basics. I also thought of making it so two halves were a telescoping pair with valves but it required more precision and wood expands and contracts with humidity so I just made a few concept sketches and tabled it. My hinged version that behaved more like the bellows pictured above was a lot more complicated so I didn't do more than a couple concept sketches, problems included and tabled it. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dax Hewitt Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 Stick a handle on the rasp please. It's far too easy for the tang to puncture your wrist without one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 A golfball makes a cheap and easy handle. Drill a hole slightly smaller than the tang and tap it on. Then the head of a garden rake bolted to the shop wall makes a nice holder for them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 20, 2020 Author Share Posted February 20, 2020 A bellows built into a took box would be sweet. Don’t worry I turned a handle for the big file On my lathe i just haven’t stuck it on there yet. Thanks for your concern though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pnut Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 My hand cranked blower will blow the charcoal right out of the firepot if I crank it too fast. About 6 rpm's for forging and just a little faster for welding. I have one of the double action mattress pumps also but it's the one with the hose in the handle. I used it with no problems except I had to put a few wraps of masking tape around the flange that the hose connects to so it would have a better friction fit. I had no problems out of it after that. Pnut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Sounds like a mattress pump might be the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 Works well for a fire about 4” wide buy 8” wide and 4” below and above the hearth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 I have no need for a fire much bigger than that so I should be set! Thanks everybody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 But if you want to get real authentic just dig a hole about knee deep, then you can sit wile you work a ground forge. If you use the dirt from the hole to make adobe you can then stand in the hole, work the forge and have a short anvil stand. See our ancestors (and smiths in Asia, India and Africa) aren’t so dumb... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 I’m not worried about 100% being historically accurate because this is more so meant to be something I can just take camping or to different areas away from my main setup but a historical shop would be sweet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 I've done a lot of forging around a camp fire and a bag make a fine bellows. Using a piece of pipe from the bag to the fire you open the mouth of the bag to inflate it and close the bag around the pipe to blast the fire. It work amazingly well and you can improve it with a stick or two to press down on the bottom of the bag. OR you can tape a stone to the middle and let it provide a slow steady blast. By bottom I mean the end farthest from the opening. A pillow case makes a fine bellows. Frosty The Lucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 If the intent is to haul all that out and set up a workshop, I'd suggest you include something to cut dead-fall for an anvil stump. You'll also likely need a shovel that's big enough to dig what you need, but small enough to tend your fire. You'll probably need a bucket for water to serve as a quench tank and as your fire extinguisher. You don't wanna start any forest fires. That's a fair bit of kit to haul into timber. You might want to consider some kind of backpack. I knew a guy who took old WW2 stretchers and put two bicycle wheels on an axle in the middle. It made a dandy game hauling cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted February 21, 2020 Author Share Posted February 21, 2020 Bag bellows are something I’m also looking at. Half the year there is snow so I can use a sled and I’m not into camping like the kind where you hike a few miles into the woods I just drive to the Middle of the forest on our land and Setup a small camp there. So I wouldn’t need to carry that far. But I will find a saw and definitely a fire extinguisher. I always have a extinguisher in the car so that’s already covered. As for a quench tank I was thinking an ammo can Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
671jungle Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Cool setup man. I am also putting together a kit to take camping. How heavy is the stump anvil? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Topp Posted March 15, 2020 Author Share Posted March 15, 2020 Thanks. It’s a little small at 3 lbs but it does the job Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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