[TheForge] bellows

[Allen Ortery]

Remember that what you do today you may live long enough to have to
redo latter. there was no glue used on the bellows at New Salem, thank
god. We cut new nail strips for some of the ribs, but we did not have
to soak or steam them to get the to bend around the curve, it is just
not that sharp of a turn. We also used small nails with a small head
on them, the bellows set where it does not matter if they look 1830's.
Anything you glue on will be a major pain to fix at a latter date. So
if you want to be nice to the next fellow that has to redo the bellows
don't do it.  Also the canvas we put on was all one piece no seam, a
little harder to handle but no real problem.

--
Allen Ortery
bluestoneforge at gmail.com
309-368-7967