Glass Top Fuigo – Inside View of Box Bellows
A look at the inside operation of a prototype fuigo (鞴) box bellows…four wooden flap valves (called ben / は弁), two for intake and two for the manifold, control the direction and location of the airflow on each stroke of the piston to provide double action to the single output into the fire. more about…
Soulsmithing part 6
Pierre Nadeau of soulsmithing.com lights his new forge in Canada for the first time. I was honoured to be there for the inaugural firing, it felt like a graduation, a major milestone. Pierre will now resume his work and research in the area of traditional Japanese sword craft. Read more about the project, or watch…
Soulsmithing part 4
Building the fuigo floor at Pierre Nadeau’s workshop. Read more about the project, or watch the whole soulsmithing series. The three major projects during this visit were focused on getting the forge itself ready for use. In this episode, creating a steel frame and wooden floor to support the fuigo and conceal the in-floor heating…
Making Valves for Fuigo Box Bellows
Fuigo (鞴, Japanese box bellows) are among the most compact and efficient hand-powered bellows for forging work. With few complex or moving parts, they are easy to maintain and will provide years of service. Among the more technical points of construction are the four wooden flap valves, called ben (は弁), which control the direction and…
Sounds of the Workshop: Night Session
Though it is a wonderful and peaceful time to be in the workshop enjoying the cool night air as well as a good time for doing yaki-ire, I don’t often forge at night. This night I had the camera on a tripod whilst working on the beginnings of a small shear steel bushcraft knife in…
You Need A Swordsmith’s Fuigo Box Bellows
Japanese style box bellows (fukisashi/吹差鞴) reached their current and finalized form by about the sixth century. They are constructed almost entirely of wood and allow a smith to supply a highly controlled air blast to the forge by pulling and pushing the handle slowly back and forth. Using dual chambers and two sets of valves,…