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Likely a leather bellows - but that high up, one would guess it was pumped by the line shaft.
keep in mind it is frenchLovely painting, that leaves me with some questions.
I think I see drill-press table elevating rack on front of column, and the end of the pinion shaft. Crank would be on other side of table support arm. But the sliding handle on the side facing us puzzles me. If it is the table clamp, what is the mechanism? It is in wrong place to squeeze togther a split sleeve. There could be a big pad on the end of a set-screw, but no obvious swelling on the casting to accommodate it.
The nuts holding the base to floor look awfully large. And I wonder what kind of floor the studs would have been anchored in, back then. And what about the fifth nut in the middle of the front of the base? Were machines anchored before concrete floors?
The whole machine looks very short...the smith, after all, is kneeling. Artist's license to fir everything in?
I think I see a belt from the largest of the cone-pullleys running forward....odd to have the jackshaft over the operator's head. But what about the crank on the end of the shaft? Maybe it has a jaw-clutch and a spring holds it out of engagement so it does not whirl around when the machine runs?
Looks like a two-jaw reamer chuck on the spindle.
What is that thing that looks like a Ridgid brand shop vac fanning the forge? It's an orange thing up on a shelf on the rear wall above and to the right of the forge hood.
Amusing, but certainly impossible, it looks like the young fellow is wearing athletic shoes...Nike's or Puma's or something that resembles them.
Stuart
When I zoomed in at 400% it looks like he is wearing a moccasin type shoe made out of some kind of heavy fabric, possibly remnants of an old carpet. There is a very good chance the shoes were made by the boy's mother, as leather shoes from a cobbler were probably quite expensive.
The drill press appears to be what is a generally referred to in French under the classification of blacksmith's drill or Perceuse de Forgeron .
It looks like there may be a logo or builders name that is not clear in an oval cast into the frame of the machine a few inches above the boy's thumb .
Perhaps someone can enlarge it enough so someone might recognize it.
I found a few examples of similar styled machines in some searches I tried.
OUTILS ANCIENS - ART POPULAIRE :: Anciennes machines de forgeron
Perceuse de forgeron
This one hand operated only
Perceuse a colonne (a main) trouve par Arbredevie sur L'Air du Bois
vielle machines outils a courroie de Forgeron
That's all I can add so far.
Maybe it will give someone else some clues to make a more accurate identification .
Jim
so from one of Jim's links comes this . vary cool thanks Jim .
View attachment 324784
The vise mount enabling a rigid 90deg rotation of the jaw orientation looks smart and useful. The vise mounted on a round post in the OP painting can swivel around a horizontal axis but somehow looks like it might slip a bit if one were to tunk on the work, the same sort of maddening slippage that afflicts so many well used conventional swivel-base bench vises.
Apologies for the OT drift.
-Marty-
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