Any Idea where to get a small forge blower

[Fsawyer]

I need a small forge blower for my washtub forge I built.. it looks great and should work easily.. but I can't find a blower.

I don't want to use a hair dryer.. I don't think they'll put much air out.. and they will burn out.. I want something more permanent.

I found a small forge blower at Yucaipa forge supplies of Banning Cal.. and paid for it.. but now.. it seems to be lost in the mail.. and I'm not sure if he'll replace it.. so I'm probably out the money.

I saw Champion forge blowers on Ebay.. but I'm lousy at those auctions and someone always beats me in the end.

Is there a PLACE on the web.. or something.. where I can just BUY a blower outright.

The Champion blowers.. go for big bucks.. because I think people use them as collectables.. and antiques.. knick knack stuff.. so they are expensive.... because they are so old... I don't want a collectable.. I want something that I can use..

[KandS_KNIVES]

http://www.surpluscenter.com/electric.asp
Hey Frank, need to add this site to your favorites. Check it out for blowers. Also, if you cannot find what you need, I think I have a couple of xtras in the storeroom.

Ken Beatty

[Fsawyer]

Originally posted by KandS_KNIVES
http://www.surpluscenter.com/electric.asp
Hey Frank, need to add this site to your favorites. Check it out for blowers. Also, if you cannot find what you need, I think I have a couple of xtras in the storeroom.

Ken Beatty

Hey got any Ideal how many CFM I'd need for a small forge????

[G?rard Heutte]

Hi,

On my own forge (charcoal), I use a junk blower. I take it from a vacuum cleaner. As it must blow instead of suck, the simplest way is to remove it from the vacuum cleaner. To channel the air flow, I use the top of a 5 liters water bottle as a funnel ! A pipe to the forge is connected instead of the cap.
It works well, even if the aspect is a bit strange !

I have no idea of the actual air output.
I use it with a speed variator (for a drill), and I usually tune it at 2 on a 0 to 6 scale !

[Raymond Richard]

I've made a couple blowers out of bathroom exhaust fans. Got one at Home Depot for $12. and there pretty easy to convert into a blower. Just need some light weight metal to cover the intake, make a baffel in it and use duct tape to close it up. I've used one for both coal and propane and it moves more than enough air.

[GANNMADE]

I,VE USED A HAIR DRYER FOR A WHILE .TRY TO GET ONE WITH A COOL AIR SETTING .MINE HAS DONE EVERTHING I WANT IT TO DO.

[hammerdownnow]

When I was a child I would take trips with my Pap Paw to the dump to scrounge and shoot rats. I started my three tined fork collection back then,and learned that everything you need in life can be found at the dump. A lot of my knives in my collection came from checking under the ####### seats of cars when at the junkyard. The dump is closed to the public now, but I now get stuff by driving around and checking the curbs on garbage night. Old vacums make great blowers. Granted, they are a little loud but they put out a lot of air. I made a damper out of a tee fitting to adjust air flow as needed. Most people have a shop vac. Just reverse the hose stuff it on your pipe of your forge and go to town. I found a Regina Electric Broom in the garbage. When i tore it down and set it up it looks like a jet engine. Nobody can guess what it is or was. Now i have a squrille cage blower i bought from a guy who was gonna make a attic fan outta it, but didn't get around to it. It is whisper quiet and blows like the dickins.

One thing tho, If you go garbage picking. Don't take the ol' lady. It is embarassing to watch her ducking and hunkering down in the seat. It puts a damper on your joy as you stand atop of what we pickers call "The Mother Load" (AKA, a pile so big it takes hours to sift thru) Any other Garbage pickers out there?

[Raymond Richard]

Hey Roc, My wife stops at all thrift stores, if she's been going threw someone's trash she hasn't told me yet. Have you hit the dump boxes on remodel construction sites? I've tossed so much good stuff away at times I almost started balling. I've got brand new steel doors that were miss ordered that couldn't be sent back for some reason. Infact they were so big when I got them home I backed my truck up next to the shop to unload them, thats been 4 or 5 years ago now, I dought now if I could even budge them.

[Darrin O]

Along the lines of a home remodel being a valuable place to scrounge parts, the ventillation blower motor for a Jen Air type stove, where it is a downdraft vent, would work well with a forge. A mini squirrel cage set up that should move sufficient air. Made of metal so no major heat / plastic issues and the motor should stand up to longer run times than a hair dryer. Check appliance repair shops to see if they have a used one that they have salvaged, or look for home remodels where it is just being thrown away.

Just a thought.

[Nathan Taylor]

Before I went to a gas forge I bought a nice blower from Grainger for about $35. Moves good air and is similiar to what the A/C air handler uses but only 4 to 5 inches long.

[PS_Bond]

I've been using a small (6" square) Torin blower on my forge, which has caused me no end of problems. Finally worked out today exactly what is causing the aggro - the blower is too powerful.

So, I need to cobble together a flow restricter or a speed controller. Using a gloved finger to slow the fan down isn't the best idea - but it did work!

Still, it cost me about $4 equiv from a surplus supplies place.

Peter

[yendor]

I have an old hand crank blower in very good condition it has been siting in my shed for about 6 years now are those any good.

[SteveA]

How many CFM? Seems like the guys around here said 150-250 CFM when I asked. They found blowers from someplace up in Chattanooga when we had our forge-building workshop a few weeks ago. I asked out of curiosity, because I'd been reading the Surplus Center catalog and knew if I ever had to buy one, that number is how they're rated. Seems like the wide-open blast from mine is a bit more than the output from my house vacuum cleaner, but less than the shop vacs. Of course, I can't remember ever running one of these forges with the blast wide open; it's always choked down with an air gate. Usually choked quite a bit.

Steve

[Fsawyer]

Originally posted by SteveA
How many CFM? Seems like the guys around here said 150-250 CFM when I asked. They found blowers from someplace up in Chattanooga when we had our forge-building workshop a few weeks ago. I asked out of curiosity, because I'd been reading the Surplus Center catalog and knew if I ever had to buy one, that number is how they're rated. Seems like the wide-open blast from mine is a bit more than the output from my house vacuum cleaner, but less than the shop vacs. Of course, I can't remember ever running one of these forges with the blast wide open; it's always choked down with an air gate. Usually choked quite a bit.

Steve

HMMM.. I heard from one person.. that for a small forge.. all I need is a hair blower... and another said.. 50 CFM... for a SMALL forge.. my little forge is the washtub forge.. design I got from the Tim Lively video.. it's made out ofa 5 gal tub.. with clay and sand refactory.. and a 2in galv. steel pipe... to blow air..
I have ordered a variable speed blower from the Surplus Center.. and it only maxes out at 63 CFM.. I hope that will be enough.

[Geno]

That will be plenty.
You may need to devert some even still.
I have a large ball valve that lets the extra air out before it goes through the forge, plus my wind gate.
Plenty of control.
Your new blower will work fine.

Just don't tell Tim there is a blower on his forge design