How Make a Fireplace Bellows

Materials

• You can make fireplace bellows from scrap materials. You'll need some thin pieces of wood large enough to trace the pattern for your bellows, as well as leather or a leather-like material for the gusset. Brass upholstery tacks help hold the leather gusset in place and provide extra decoration. You can use a piece of copper or brass tubing for the "nose" or your bellows. You'll also need a strong contact cement to help hold everything together.

Design

• A typical bellows is shaped like a mandolin, with a narrow neck that serves as the handle, a fat body tapering to a narrow end. You can copy the design or an existing bellows, or draw one, inspired by pictures you find in catalogs. Stain or paint the wood of the bellows. You can also stencil a design onto it, or carve the wood into a design. The bellows can be as plain or fancy as you like.

Construction

• The body of the bellows consists of two identical pieces of wood, joined by the leather gusset. One of the pieces of wood is cut into two pieces about 2 inches from the nose of the bellows, and joined together again with a hinge. This hinge allows you to work the bellows by bringing the pieces of wood together and apart. The gusset tapers from about 2 inches wide at the nose of the bellows to 6 to 8 inches wide at the handle end of the bellows and back to 2 inches at the nose again. You'll also want to make a hole in the unhinged side of the bellows to allow air to enter the bellows. Cover this hole with a flap of leather to act as a vent to control the air flow. The vent allows air to flow into the bellows, but blocks the air from leaving by the route.

Assembly

• Assembling the bellows in stages makes the work go easier. Finish each piece of the wooden body, attaching hinges and completing the vent hole, and finishing the wood. Then glue the leather to one half of the wooden body. Let the glue dry and attach the brass tacks before attaching the leather to the other half of the bellows. Attach the nose piece and the rest of the leather wrapping, allowing the glue to dry completely before moving on.