Hi there,
Can someone help me with bellows question.
From what I read on internet Michael Dow bellows are considered/praised as bigest capacity & in words of many they are most efficient bellows on market. But I am sure there are also other makers out there who are making bellows, same efficient, also in Europe? So is there anyone who tried Dow bellows and after that saw even better bellows?
Which bellows you liked the most of the one you tried? Thanks, 
I’ve tried bellows from several makers and Michael Dow, hands down, makes the best ones. They are worth every penny he charges for them.
In my experience the key for a bellows to be efficient is the consistence of the leather which makes the gusset. After three bellows thrown to the bin a few years ago I`ve noticed that if the leather is thin it inflates itself without sending air to the bag so I made my first double layer leather gusset bellows, after that everithing is success.
In my experience, you just sort of quit looking after you try a Michael Dow bellows.
Hi
If you’re after a Europe-based solution, my whole piping experience improved radically when i got a bellows from Lawrence Thompson in Scotland. He used to make bellows for Dave Williams so you can see many good players using his bellows. (The ones he made for Dave were usually black) My feeling is that they’re very efficient and strurdy but also comfortable to wear.
Just another option.
A
If you’re after a Europe-based solution, my whole piping experience improved radically when i got a bellows from Lawrence Thompson in Scotland. He used to make bellows for Dave Williams so you can see many good players using his bellows. (The ones he made for Dave were usually black) My feeling is that they’re very efficient and strurdy but also comfortable to wear.
Just another option.
I’ll second your opinion…I usually found myself fighting with the bellows of other makers/other sets when I tried because the William’s (Thompson) bellows were so much easier to use.
THANKS guys for help,
So we are now on Michael Dow / Laurence Thompson competition - just kidding 
Besides Michael Dow I heard good things also for Thompson bellows so I am sure they rock…
My question was a search if someone in Europe can make same BIG capacity & very efficient bellows as Michael Dow. They are already very expensive and if you buy from Europe you must add shipping and about 25% taxes ect. so the price at end is biiiig.
Does anyone tried John Mcsherry’s bellows - are they similar to Thompson ?
Also I was wondering if you buy M. Dow bellows - how this affects on bag bellows capacity connection/harmony - what I mean is; mybe it’s not the best to have Dow bellows and very small bag. People who buy Dow bellows usualy also buy Mcharg bag which is on the bigger side. And L. Thompson also makes bags so he have them adjusted I suppose.
THANKS AGAIN 
Hi there
Its hard to say if they are similar to Thompson bellows. All bellows are similar, leather glued and nailed to funny shaped bits of wood 
I made John’s bellows for him in 2005. You would describe them as large capacity.
I have never seen a Thompson set up close ( although i had the pleasure of meeting the man recently in Dublin), but i know they are fine quality.
My bellows use a double layer of leather, this prevents the need for the bellows to seasoned. The leather skins used have a great effect on how the bellows perform, IMHO thats what makes the most “efficient” bellows.
Cheers
Paddy
Ditto above
I am also very content with the bellows of Marc van Daal
double layer large capacity (you need this for his pipes
and edited to see beautifull bellows
https://forums.chiffandfipple.com/t/bellows-with-hinge/62546/1
Thompson makes bellows for reelpipes(Morrison/McCallum)
Just for curiosity… when thinking about aircapasity of Dow bellows, what size they are(length,heigth, draw or opening) .Is there any certain dimensions compared with other makers bellows?
Just for curiosity… when thinking about aircapasity of Dow bellows, what size they are(length,heigth, draw or opening) .Is there any certain dimensions compared with other makers bellows?
Just my opinion…but a “normal” size seems big enough. The difference for me is in the thickness of the bellows leather, as mentioned above, that it has been doubled. Thinner leather - even thick “biker” leather of one wall thickness seems able to collapse when drawing in air and able to billow out when pushing it out. The doubled layer that is shaped to want to “fold in/out” throughout its motion without changing its shape due to the differences in air pressure is what does it for me. But then again, I have watched people play bellows that billow and roll around under their elbow, who seem to have no trouble at all with them - so maybe it is just a matter of getting used to it.
I haven’t tried a ton of different bellows, but my favorite are easily a set made my Mark Hillmann. Double leather, hand stitched, and pleasure to use. I can’t really speak to their efficiency, but I like them much more than the Dow bellows I tried out a while back.
Hi Tim,
Can you please tell a bit more what you liked more on Hillman’s bellows then on M. Dow set. I am curious, since most people would tell that Dow bellows are hard to beat.
Thanks
No double leather as far as I know but as airtight as it was the first day I used it. Never missed a beat, and it’s had some use. Wouldn’t want anything else.
I have a Hillmann set too and it is quite the workhorse. It is solid and built like a Russian truck, but finely crafted. The Dow bellows is likewise solid, but I think the design and materials are more towards the practical end of the spectrum. The Dow bellows pumps more air and that’s the thing that puts them over the top in my view. That and the fact that Mark is no longer producing bellows (as far as I know).
I’ve tried bellows from a number of makers and the bellows and bags from Andreas Rogge are excellent, and he can deliver them fast.
I tried bellows when visiting Bill Haneman, and those bellows were great, too.
This thread speaks of ‘most efficient’ and ‘shifts huge amounts of air’. Which are not necessarily the same thing.
Small comfortable bellows can be highly efficient and preferable over big yokes that shift tons of air. At one time I had both and the small efficient were by far the better ones. For a variety of reasons.
Possibly different capacity bellows are optimal for practice, half and full sets.
When the three regulators are played at the same time, together with the three or sometimes four drones plus the chanter in second octave. That may require a large capacity and highly efficient bellows.
Does it make sense?