01-26-2008, 03:04 PM
Well, what you're describing, if I understand it, is a like a double bellows, as Hibernicus says above probably wasn't invented yet. There are simpler plans than those using steel pistons, as most ancient bellows just use a simple leather flap diaphragm for air exchange. They would not likely have used up precious iron in an air blower.
It's a question of whether you want the result or the method. All of us as reenactors struggle with this balance on practically everything we do or build, or fabricate. There is no absolute answer. If you're working in a group, get clearance from the group and its leader as to what will be the right way to approach this and other problems.
And there's the home shop and the travelling demonstration shop. They might not have the same tools. At home, I use whatever I own, electric tools, oxyacetylene, coal, etc. If I were putting on a demo in public, though, I'd try to get as visibly close as I could to what I thought was the correct equipment. But that's just me, not many suscribe to my particular way of thinking. I've considered just making two single bellows (very simple object) and positioning them over a rod and pivot, so when one is opening, the other is closing. That setup, with a proper counterweight, would require only one handle pulled, and the return weight to give a continuous flow of air. (I don't have any slaves.)
An Ancient Roman blacksmith would likely have had two or three slaves to tend the fire, pump however many single bellows he needed, carry things, hold things against the anvil or shaping beak, etc. He might even have been a trained slave or freedman himself, under the employ of the man who owned the shop.
Try this setup and see if you can get any ideas:
http://www.emainc.com/radnor/bellows.htm
The old book, De Res Metallica might give you some further insight into Roman metalworking.
It's a question of whether you want the result or the method. All of us as reenactors struggle with this balance on practically everything we do or build, or fabricate. There is no absolute answer. If you're working in a group, get clearance from the group and its leader as to what will be the right way to approach this and other problems.
And there's the home shop and the travelling demonstration shop. They might not have the same tools. At home, I use whatever I own, electric tools, oxyacetylene, coal, etc. If I were putting on a demo in public, though, I'd try to get as visibly close as I could to what I thought was the correct equipment. But that's just me, not many suscribe to my particular way of thinking. I've considered just making two single bellows (very simple object) and positioning them over a rod and pivot, so when one is opening, the other is closing. That setup, with a proper counterweight, would require only one handle pulled, and the return weight to give a continuous flow of air. (I don't have any slaves.)
An Ancient Roman blacksmith would likely have had two or three slaves to tend the fire, pump however many single bellows he needed, carry things, hold things against the anvil or shaping beak, etc. He might even have been a trained slave or freedman himself, under the employ of the man who owned the shop.
Try this setup and see if you can get any ideas:
http://www.emainc.com/radnor/bellows.htm
The old book, De Res Metallica might give you some further insight into Roman metalworking.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
