rock-staffn.1
/ˈrɒkstɑːf/, /ˈrɒkstaf/, U.S. /ˈrɑkˌstæf/ Now rare.
A long lever by which the bellows of a forge are operated.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > metalworking equipment > [noun] > forging equipment > bellows > parts of
tew-iron1399
rock-staff1561
basis1669
twire-pipe1674
rocker1678
tewel1678
wind-hole1688
wind-sucker1688
rostrum1706
muzzle1726
tuyere1781
stirrup1843
hinge1852
tue1883
1561 in F. G. Emmison Elizabethan Life (1976) (modernized text) III. 84 A rockstaff in the custody of Keche of Kelvedon, with all the rest of my smith's gear in my house.
1678 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises I. i. 2 This handle is fastned across a Rock-staff which moves between two Cheeks upon two Center-pins in two Sockets.
1704 Dict. Rusticum at Forge, The Rock-staff..is set between two Cheeks upon two Center-pins in two Sockets, so that by drawing down the Handle, the upper Board of the Bellows rises.
1831 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal I. 177 The bellows occupying the inside, and being worked by a rockstaff from without.
1894 R. O. Heslop Northumberland Words Rock-staff, the lever or long handle by which a blacksmith works his bellows.
1957 R. Lister Decorative Wrought Ironwork in Great Brit. 232 Rock staff or Rocker, the operating lever of bellows.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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