Hello again, I was wondering if anyone has or knows of any simple plans for making bellows or a blower.

Streamlemming,
There is (in fact) a Blueprint about making Bellows. But it is not available right now. So until other folks can help you, I would suggest you do the following.
1. Go to the

I have plans, contact me and I can email them to you. when the Blueprints are available, you can see the finished bellows there along with step by step instructions.

BP 0141 is Woody's making a bellows...it's available.

Please forgive me!
I did not know how to use the Blueprint section properly.
I found that if I INPUT THE TOPIC it seems to work very well.
I made the mistake of inputing the BP number. That only works sometimes.
So here is another. BP0127 Billows Construction

Check out;

Guru - Bellows

Bellows

BP0127 Bellows Construction

BP0141 Building a Bellows

I recently made a box bellows, they really kick xxxx They are double acting, and they are really easy to pump, providing you make it right. Tell me if you want me to do a drawing or take a couple fotos to explain it better. Have a good one!

I built a box bellows, works good but the air stops when you do.

Here's a plan for a simple lung bellows, could use some of the new plastic dog food bags;

http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_OTHER/SMALL/04-084_blacksmiths_bellows.pdf

Good Luck!

Great link BeaverDamForge.

I'm actually going to be making mine out of an old leaf blower. I wanted one of these...

...but I ain't go the $400 that these things usually go for. A busted leaf blower, on the other hand, already has everything necessary for a bellows, self contained... link

Once you get the housing and the fan isolated, all you have to do is lengthen the axis and attach a handle for the crank. Apparently a guy named Dave Gingery did something along these lines (How to Design and Build Centrifugal Fans), but I haven't been able to find a picture.

The only problem with this plan is that the fan will only turn as fast as you can crank. However, if you fashion a gear box on the side (small gear to large, small gear to large) and THEN attach the crank---or even a foot pedal---you should get enough air moving for it to be a viable option.

Thoughts from a newb...



Copyrighted photos removed and links put in their place

The only problem with this plan is that the fan will only turn as fast as you can crank. However, if you fashion a gear box on the side (small gear to large, small gear to large) and THEN attach the crank---or even a foot pedal---you should get enough air moving for it to be a viable option.

Yeah, leaf blowers turn a lot of RPM. You wouldn't need but a couple thousand to feed a fire though... 40:1 step up might do it.

I think a blower could be fashioned out of plywood, with about 21-22" diameter impeller it wouldn't need nearly as much RPM. Prolly still need a pulley system to get enough though. One of these days...

Good Luck!

Got a hit on Craigslist concerning my "Wanted: Busted Leaf Blower" ad. Seems someone nearby has a leaf blower that has a blown up motor, but the impeller and housing are intact.

I love free stuff... :D

You can use an old 10 speed bike for the transmission. If you fill the tire with cement it makes a dandy flywheel to keep the blower turning after you let off the crank.

This is a version from Viet Nam. There are four or five forge blowers in the stack for sale. In use they hang them from a wall and plumb the air to the fire. I don't have the URL to the site this pic came from, maybe someone will recognize the pic and repost the link.

Frosty

Edited December 30, 200817 yr by Frosty

I looked into making a centrifugal blower.....no luck though. Good luck!

You can use an old 10 speed bike for the transmission. If you fill the tire with cement it makes a dandy flywheel to keep the blower turning after you let off the crank.

This is a version from Viet Nam. There are four or five forge blowers in the stack for sale. In use they hang them from a wall and plumb the air to the fire. I don't have the URL to the site this pic came from, maybe someone will recognize the pic and repost the link.

Frosty

Those look like steel motorcycle rims, might have enough mass by themselves.

Here is another PDF which shows a simple blower:
http://www.cd3wd.com/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_VE/SMALL/04-110.pdf

Good Luck!

Dave Gingery has a book on centrifugal fans, it's a really good book, I have a copy.
You can buy it from Lindsay Books, as well as lots of other great books, for anyone who has never heard of them, you really need to go over and have a look around at the books they have.
Here is a link to the Gingery book on fans,Gingery's Other Foundry Titles

welder19

I don't suppose you'd be willing to scan the relevant pages and upload them into the blueprints section...? :cool:

or you could just buy a $5 used hair dryer, that should supply all the air you need.

or you could just buy a $5 used hair dryer, that should supply all the air you need.

Of course it would. Thing is, for tribal stuff---or those of us who just love the notion of not being dependent on electricity---you need something that's operated manually. And I don't care how many gears and pulleys you put on it, there's no way to hand-crank a hairdryer up to speed :p

... And I don't care how many gears and pulleys you put on it, there's no way to hand-crank a hairdryer up to speed

It could be done, easily enough...

Good Luck!

I don't remember the URL but the Practical Blacksmithing pupblications from the 1890s have a number of readers' projects of building their own blowers. Wood and tinplate predominate.

Hi! Just found this other link. Shows a lot of indigenous Indonesian technologies and on pages 128-137 has some blacksmith's stuff... blowers, bag bellows and plans for a simple box bellows.

http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/410/02-60.pdf

Hope it helps.

Rub