Hi
I am interested in making a bellows. I hear that some makers make them with a double skin of leather. Anyone know if these 2 skins are glues together before assembly or are they two separate skins?
Thanks in advance
I use double layers of leather for my bellows.
I cut the 2 pieces of leather to shape but a bit over sized. Glue together and let the glue set. Then I glue and tack the leather to the wood and trim off the excess leather.
Tommy
I use two layers on my bellows as well. You won’t regret it. I use the original red label Barge cement to glue the two layers. I sew my bellows to the clappers so I cut the inner to size and stich the ends together, then glue on the oversized outer. Trim the edge a bit oversized then fold and glue the outer edge. this forms a bit more of a welt for stitching to the boards. Quinn posted an extensive article on bellows making a few years back that I would recommend you look into.
I employed this very system for the last dozen bellows I made, and can attest to the quality of construction. I used to get about 10 years hard use from a single leather bellows, and am now 13 years into a double leather re-stictch. It appears that the current gusset will outlive me, although I don’t play as hard or as often as I once did. None of the other double leather bellows that I know of have developed any leaks.
I made the outer skin a good bit larger than the inner, and folded the inner leather into the shape it would take, with the folds at the rear, sides and hinge. I glued the outer skin onto the shaped inner one, so that the two top grains did not stretch or fight each other inordinately. Then I trimmed and glued the welt. Sewing of the bellows proper should commence immediately, as the glue will toughen over time, and inhibit the saddle stictching. For this reason, I did not glue the welt for the second clapper until the first clapper was completely sewn. This method works very well indeed, both in form and function.