Bellows -- save your breath

[Vickie]

I have a 40" dome. I was having a hard time getting some of my fires to catch with just newspapers and matches, so I made a bellows.
Now I have an easy way of getting the dome white... The heat soak still takes an hour+ but much less stinky smoke.
And no risk of breathing in instead of blowing out!

Here is where I found the plans.
http://www.ibiblio.org/twa/plans/pla...acebellows.pdf

Best luck,
Vickie

[Rastys]

Hi Vickie,
there is a much easier way than to make some bellows and then have to stand there and work them you know!
Why not get one of your old hair driers and put a piece of flexible duct/pipe/tube on the outlet, aim it at the fire base and turn it on.
I even saw how members have use a leaf blower at a distance to turn their struggling fire into a fierce one within a minute.

Rastys

[Frances]

Wow Vickie, post a pic, please!

I just went out and bought some bellows, but making your own is so much cooler.

I'm sure a hairdryer would work very well, but somehow I think its nice to use the oven without any electrical gadgets.

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

nice plans vickie,, i'll be building mine soon.....

thanks

[jcg31]

Great plans, I went the bellows route (bought at lowes) for a while but found that one of Harbor freight tools $8.99 Garden sprayers works a bit better; nice and small, light, much more focused powerful stream of air and the nozzle hasn't melted yet in more than a year of use. Also good for blowing out or cleaning floor. With its bright orange tank it disrupts the rustic ambiance of the oven while in use, but stores nicely out of site in the wood storage area.

Jim

[texassourdough]

Hi Vickie!

The plans look good. While other means of air transfer to the fire may be "easier" this is pretty classy. Thanks for sharing!
Jay

[Vickie]

Hi Frances... I'll look around for a photo. I think I have one, we're having a lot of rain in NJ right now but I can take one if I can't find one.
The bellows I made are very basic, I used some scraps that were lying about so they aren't beautiful, but they do work really well. And I haven't trimmed them out, so you can still see the staples-- I'm a function over form type of girl.
Here is a webshots album of my oven -- many thanks to dmun for the geodesic dome patterns. wood-fired pizza oven pictures from friends & fun photos on webshots
Not quite up to the masonry work some others have displayed, but it works quite well.
Regards,
Vickie

[Vickie]

Originally Posted by texassourdough

Hi Vickie!

The plans look good. While other means of air transfer to the fire may be "easier" this is pretty classy. Thanks for sharing!
Jay

You are very welcome, Jay... I was thinking about some others that said they use a copper pipe and blow air in by mouth. The bellows are much safer!
You can jazz them up if you wish to, or leave them "workman-style".

[Vickie]

Originally Posted by ThisOldGarageNJ

nice plans vickie,, i'll be building mine soon.....

thanks

Mark -- as quickly as your oven came together, I'm sure you'll be "blowing smoke" by the weekend!!! Nice work!

[Vickie]

Originally Posted by Rastys

Hi Vickie,
there is a much easier way than to make some bellows and then have to stand there and work them you know!
Why not get one of your old hair driers and put a piece of flexible duct/pipe/tube on the outlet, aim it at the fire base and turn it on.
I even saw how members have use a leaf blower at a distance to turn their struggling fire into a fierce one within a minute.

Rastys

Thanks Rastys. I don't have too many outlets, I save them for the radio and some lighting. But thanks for the idea.