Making Bellows Part One

I thought I would start with a tools and materials list. Tools: Jigsaw/Coping saw, Plane/Rasp/Sandpaper, Handsaw, C Clamps, Drill/14mm wood bit, Stanley, Pin hammer. Materials: Wood, Leather, Copper pipe, Upholstery tacks.

I first drew a pattern for how I wanted my bellows to look. I used a piece of newspaper, my design was about 35cm long, by about 16cm at the widest point. I then cut this out and traced it on to my wood, I had found an old piece of oak, it was about 2cm thick, I think I could have done with it being a bit thinner, but not to much, the oak is a bit heavy.
Once I had traced my design on to one piece of oak, I clamped it onto a second piece of oak so I could cut out both halves of the bellows at once using a jigsaw. I had to move the clamps every now ant then to get the jigsaw all the way round but it was easy to keep the two boards aligned. As you may be able to see in the picture but skills with a jigsaw an not great, the bellows are not symmetrical, and it is a bit rough round the edges. Luckily I had tools to help me even out the shape, I used a small plane and some sandpaper to get the general shape looking a bit better. At this point the boards were still clamped together to help keep them the same shape. I then released them from the clamps and sanded all the edges and surfaces to make the bellows comfortable to handle.

Next I cut about 4cm off the end of on of the boards and glued it to the other. I also used 2 small screws for extra strength. The screws have to be place clear of the middle as next I bored down through this lengthwise with a drill, to make the opening for the air to come out when the bellows are in use. While I had the drill out, I put a hole in the middle of this board for the air to come in when the bellows expand. In the picture on the right you can see I have also used a length of copper pipe for the nozzle, I held it in place with a couple of upholstery tacks. I had thought about using various brass fitting an, but in the end a bit of pipe was the easiest option.

I shall continue tomorrow with the 'valve', hinge and the leather 'shoe' of the bellows.