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The Newbies Arena Are you new to knife making? Here is all the help you will need.

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  #1  
Old 03-07-2013, 11:18 AM
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Naboyle Naboyle is offline
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Question Whatcha blowing with?

Long time stalker, newer member, first post. I have been reading, and researching a lot on blowers for a propane forge. Currently I am using a shop vac which I know is wrong but it works, just very loud! I can and have got it to welding heat and made several successful welds with it. I got a squirrel cage blower for free from a guy at work. The exhaust on it is about 6"x10" square. I necked it down to a 2" hose and ran it into my 1 1/4" burner. It works but its not getting nearly as hot as before. There's a lot of air being pushed back thru the intake side of the cage. Should I A. Go back to the shop vac. B. try to figure out how to relieve the back pressure. C. Bite the bullet and buy a real blower? And if its "C" what do you guys prefer?
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Old 03-07-2013, 11:30 AM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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I got a use bounce house blower from a seller on Ebay that ran me $60 plus shipping. From what I understand, squirrel cage blowers don't work well when there's back pressure in the system. You need some sort of centrifugal blower.

Doug


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Old 03-07-2013, 12:05 PM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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I use a blower manufactured for that purpose, cost me $125 at the time I bought it. Squirrel cage blowers can work but most of them don't because they usually don't have enough power behind them. For a blower to perform well in this application it should move 100 - 150 cfm of air (many blowers can do this or more) at 32 - 40 ozs of static pressure (most squirrel cages can't get near this figure).

Relieving the back pressure on your current blower probably won't help. The reason you have back pressure is because the blower can't push the air out and into the forge - this is a collection of design issues for the blower that end up meaning it isn't providing that 32 ozs of static pressure that we want. Relieving the back pressure won't result in more air flowing into the forge. The forge isn't running as hot as with the ShopVac because it isn't getting the same fuel flow.

Since you already have a squirrel cage you might want to look at
http://www.rayrogers.com/blower.htm That page shows an experiment I did to see if I could build a functional blower on the cheap. I did, it worked pretty well and made less noise than my commercial blower. I also build a 2" gate valve out of wood for the same experiment, much cheaper than buying one and it also worked well...


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Old 03-07-2013, 01:52 PM
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Thanks for the reply guys. Ray I saw your website before about the homemade blower. Actually when I got this I thought about tearing it apart and using the parts to make one like you designed but figured I'd try it out first.
Doug, maybe I'll have to keep an eye out for a blower like you use. Guess a guy can never have to many blowers! I better get to building another forge while I'm at it!
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Old 03-07-2013, 03:36 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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Everyone can use three or four forges .

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Old 03-07-2013, 07:02 PM
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Could you please tell my wife that??? She just doesn't get it!!
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Old 03-07-2013, 10:06 PM
Doug Lester Doug Lester is offline
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None of my ex-wives believed me either.

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Old 03-08-2013, 07:20 AM
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Learn to camoflage your equipment better. My wife thinks I only have 3 anvils......keep 'em moving and learn how to make them look like something else. Works so far.


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Old 03-08-2013, 08:23 AM
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Soooo how does someone camouflage a $2000 debit on the bank statement with the name Beaumont Metal Works???
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Old 03-08-2013, 09:13 AM
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Ray Rogers Ray Rogers is offline
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Put your cap on backwards, lower your pants to half mast, and twist some silver wire back and forth across your teeth - tell her you had to shell out for a new grille. You should probably stop short of telling her she's now your ho', don't push your luck. Give it a few weeks of rap music and drinking 40's and then apologize for acting a fool and go back to being you. She'll be so grateful she'll probably forget all about where the money went ...


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Old 03-08-2013, 09:43 AM
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Sounds like you have experience doing this Ray!!!
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Old 03-08-2013, 10:58 AM
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Hey, I'm old - I have experience at almost everything .....


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Old 03-09-2013, 03:31 AM
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That kind of worked when I was younger, but now she'll just let me get arrested on an indescentcy charge and quit cooking for two.

Work out an installment plan, and talk 'em into changing the title of the invoice to say Beaumont Metal Works.....ACME 4002 The Ultimate Cookstove. Probably won't work, but she'll be puzzled for just a little while....enough time to grab your bugout bag and get the doghouse clean enough to sleep in.


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Old 03-09-2013, 09:50 AM
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Might be better it it said Louis Vuitton!
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