Blacksmiths forge
bellows for developing countries.
Water bellows
A simple and effective forge blower for blacksmiths.
Appropriate technology, blacksmithing tools, intermediate technology, forging
tools, blacksmiths fire, forging, low technology blacksmiths tools, blacksmiths
in Africa
Blacksmiths Water Bellows
The forge bellows shown
below were developed in partnership between Paul Margetts working for VSO and
Glen Forest Training Centre in Zimbabwe. The bellows were invented in 1986 to
assist rural blacksmiths set up small workshops in remote areas and help in the
development of their communities.
pmargetts@tiscali.co.uk
Water bellows in use. The fire can be seen in the horizontal barrel on the left.
The air is then delivered to the forge fire through pipe-work. The pipe can be protected from being burnt by the fire with a layer of clay or cement.
If metal is unavailable for the frame-work, it is possible to use wood.
Water bellows and forge in
back-ground, small anvil in fore-ground with hoes
made using the water bellows.
The fire can be held within another old oil drum or a forge can be built from bricks.
Another set of water bellows set up in rural Zimbabwe with a brick forge.
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A variation on the single action water bellows is the double action water bellows shown below. The double action is much more efficient but is more complicated and expensive to make.
A low cost anvil made from old railway line.
Apologies for the poor quality of the photos, they are scans of prints taken 20 years ago.