Chux Report post Posted January 4 Happy new year to everyone here and thank you for the interaction and lessons learned since i joined! I've been wanting to make this for a while now but never seemed to get around to buying the supplies that I needed. That being said, I decided to just wing it and attempt a prototype. I scrounged some pallet slats and glued them together, then I RE-glued them since I don't have any actual woodworking tools such as clamps, let alone a planner, joiner or bandsaw and so had to make do with what handtools I had available. Having those would have made this process much, much simpler lol. Anyway the body is the aforementioned pallet pieces, the nozzle is from a former ceiling light that I straightened. The plan was to keep it simple and basic, but nooooooo I couldn't do that!! I attempted carve it and make it pretty, not so much haha but not gonna lie I'm pretty happy with it since it works and I won't have that light-headed feeling anymore. Besides, that, I've invented a new "style"...I'm calling it "RUSTIC GOTH"!! thanks for looking! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted January 4 that is cool as heck man I love it!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 4 3 minutes ago, chuck123wapati said: that is cool as heck man I love it!! Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DieselTech Report post Posted January 4 Looks great! Nice work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 4 10 minutes ago, DieselTech said: Looks great! Nice work. Thank you! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TXBob Report post Posted January 4 Very nice work! I like the carving. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 4 26 minutes ago, TXBob said: Very nice work! I like the carving. Thank you! I wasn't able to get the carving as complete and refined as I had in mind, since I got a quarter sized blister on my palm and decided I was good enough and that's where I came up with "rustic" part of my design. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DwightT Report post Posted January 4 That's pretty awesome! Way back in the day Tandy used to have a kit for a bellows. I made one for my brother. It had a tooled leather piece on the topside (opposite side from the valve) instead of carved wood, and while it was probably easier to build than yours it didn't look anywhere near as cool. Nice job. /dwight Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 4 2 minutes ago, DwightT said: That's pretty awesome! Way back in the day Tandy used to have a kit for a bellows. I made one for my brother. It had a tooled leather piece on the topside (opposite side from the valve) instead of carved wood, and while it was probably easier to build than yours it didn't look anywhere near as cool. Nice job. /dwight Thank you! I didn't even know Tandy had a kit like that, might have to work on my goog-fu and see if I can find out more... Tooled leather...hmmm I would have never even thought about going that route. Perhaps I'll have to give it another try and go that way Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Littlef Report post Posted January 4 I dig it. That's cool! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 4 51 minutes ago, Littlef said: I dig it. That's cool! Thanks! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted January 5 Theres something very satisfying about bellows. Great job on that, and ' repurposing' materials too I enjoy restoring them . Got another on the bench atm , to be started . On my bucket list is to restore some black smith bellows, nearly did a while ago, I had my eye on them, but they were a bit too far gone. HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 5 5 hours ago, Handstitched said: Theres something very satisfying about bellows. Great job on that, and ' repurposing' materials too I enjoy restoring them . Got another on the bench atm , to be started . On my bucket list is to restore some black smith bellows, nearly did a while ago, I had my eye on them, but they were a bit too far gone. HS The most satisfying part is seeing those coal just GLOW and not getting lightheaded hahaha!! It was a fun project, not gonna lie, but would have been less aggravation with the proper tools to get it done. I've seen some blacksmith bellows when I was getting inspiration for these and some of those a just massive! Post pics of the ones that you're working on, if you don't mind. I'd love to see it!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted January 5 Will do The ones I saw quite a while ago , the wood was a mess almost completely rotten in some places. . It was case of ' head v's heart v's bank account ' Some more will come up one day no doubt. HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 5 20 minutes ago, Handstitched said: Will do The ones I saw quite a while ago , the wood was a mess almost completely rotten in some places. . It was case of ' head v's heart v's bank account ' Some more will come up one day no doubt. HS Looking forward to seeing your work on them!! Yeah I can relate with you on that point. Unfortunately bank account seems to win hands down! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted January 26 (edited) On 1/5/2024 at 9:48 PM, Chux said: Post pics of the ones that you're working on, if you don't mind. I'd love to see it!! Here ya go friend: The red looking bellows are the ones I've just finished. I think they may have been like a souvenir for the tourist market as they were not very well made and didn't work very well. . Vinyl, not leather. I had a hard time getting the brass nozzle straightened , they were almost squashed. The rough looking ones , far right will be my next project. They've been on display in my workshop for the last few years, they're in poor shape. The ones at the bottom were for a customer some years ago . They were a complete wreck . I think thats where my interest on bellows started. I did a good job on those, even if I say so myself HS Edited January 26 by Handstitched Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MarshalWill Report post Posted January 26 You did do a good on on those. The ones at the bottom are very attractive. That is an interesting undertaking. Your work is top notch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted January 27 Thank you very much I have also done a few bee smokers as well . My apologies to @Chux for hijacking his thread . HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chux Report post Posted January 27 10 hours ago, Handstitched said: Thank you very much I have also done a few bee smokers as well . My apologies to @Chux for hijacking his thread . HS No need to apologize whatsoever. Been a bit busy myself so I've neglected checking on the post, but that being said those bellows are NICE!! Bee smokers you say...hmmmm, now tou gotta show those! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Handstitched Report post Posted January 28 16 hours ago, Chux said: Bee smokers you say...hmmmm, now tou gotta show those! The only pics I have. These were like antique....-ish . It had a galvanised metal retainer, and well made apart from the vinyl material. I replaced it with a piece of roo hide. The last one I did ( no pics ) was very cheaply made, very thin metal , the vinyl melted, and had a alloy retainer, difficult to rebuild. But yet, sold online for much more than I expected. I also used a piece of roo hide. Couldn't help but think that it would have been cheaper to buy another one. HS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
