Bellows, Blowers

Here's something unusual, a watercooled bellows nozzle made of cast iron. It's currently for sale on Ebay (Queensland Australia), item number 130377251493. The only other one that I've seen or heard of is in my backyard. I found it at the dump and grabbed it because of its conical shape (at the time I had cone anvils on the brain). I was driving home thinking about it when the lightbulb came on and I realised what it actually was. I stopped right there and went to the back of the car to look at it. Mine is useable, but not as good as the one for sale on Ebay, which looks pretty much unused.

Hi, I've been reading about double chamber bellows and have find two opposing views in regard to the proportion of the upper and lower chambers. Some say that it is better to make the lower chamber twice the volume (or size) as the upper chamber. (Hrisoulas) I've also read in various threads (iforgeiron) that it is better to make the upper chamber twice the volume as the lower. I think the last one is better because that way you could still have air blowing into the fire after the last pumps; maybe keep coke from dying out. But not having made nor used a double chambered bellows I can't be sure. What does the more experienced users of bellows think of this? Than…

I just bought a Canedy Otto blower and the front cover says to fill with oil to the air cock. I am assuming they mean until oil comes out of the drain cock that is lined up with where the air exhausts from but am not certain of this. Also I have found some people saying on the web to use non detergent oil in the blower...is this correct? Any suggestions on type or brand of oil? Any help that can be given will be greatly appreciated. Don

Any suggestions on how to remove the jam nut holding on the fan ? Is there a way to hold the shaft still while loosing the nut?

How big should a bellows be in terms of volume of the chamber(s)? I am specifically wondering if a 5 gallon bucket is large enough to make a Japanese style bellows out of. Thanks, Rob

Was given this Champion today. Looks good but doesn't turn at all.

I'm in the process of looking for a hand crank forge blower. In the past I've used electric ones and have had good luck. The problem is the new site for my "shop" will be away from a good source of electric. Any ideas of what I should look for, how much I should expect to pay, and where I should be looking? I saw some blowers on ebay but have heard people post cautions about buying blacksmithing tools from Ebay. I'm not looking for antiques either, just something that is cheap and functional, kinda like me ;-). -Dan

hey guys show me your home made manual blowers....I know sombody here has made one....And could somone diret me to some plans? thanks guys

I am building a portble forge along the lines of this one (see attached picture) or view the whole web site at http://www.blksmth.com/forge_my_portable.htm . That forge is built with a 115 volt PB-50vs Blower, Variable Speed from Centaur Forge. No doubt this is an excellent blower, but the price is way beyond my budget. I probably will use an air gate in stead of a variable speed blower. I will be using coal or possibly coke. The firepot is 8 inches by 10 inches and about 5 inches deep with a 3 inch air inlet. I looked in the Grainger catalog and they have a very large selection of blowers. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who could help me pick a su…

A friend of mine gave me a blower similar to the one shown in this picture. Took it home and realized that my forge table is too thick for the mounting angle. Any suggestions or drawings for how to mount this on its own stand? I was thinking of a 4x4 post with a cutout, so the blower outlet would sit in the groove and I could wrap/screw some angle iron bands around it... but that's not very elegant. :unsure:

Got the Champion 400 cleaned out, lubed up, and painted. She turns very nicely. With the air exhaust covered, the handle makes 3 rotations after you stop cranking. Sadly, it seems that the handle shaft was peened into place. Anyone have any suggestions for how to re-handle it? Mark

Has anyone rebuilt a BuffCo crank blower? Can the spacers be re-used? Any source for replacement gears? Thanks!

I came across this picture of a Champion Blower mostly disassembled. From reading I have noted several folks wondered what they looked like on the inside. I hope this helps those who are interested. Mark

Ok guys my brain has been working overtime on this one i have not made this yet but i thought it would work i attatched a sketch on a blower mechanizem that uses the recoil starter,flywheel and or not the cranksfaft of a normal small engine or lawn mower engine its basic and i think could be modified for any forge:) i hope this helps and i hope you can see it

Hi everyone, as you can see from the pictures I have part of an old belt operated forge blower. All that has been done so far is opening it to see what was left inside and a very mild cleaning. I

I got my variable speed blower for my coal forge done It's a sewing machine motor attached to a small cooling fan. It works great! The only complaint I have is that the pedal slides around alot. I'll have to fix that.

I've got a couple of the small Champion blowers... the ones that came afixed to their rivet forges. Both are nearly identical except for the mounting configuration. These are the ones that have a "figure 8" shaped gear box that is flat against the fan housing. I want to take these things completely apart, probably swapping parts to make one real good one from the two (though I might end up with two good ones). Anyway, I need to get the fan off the shaft. There is a keeper screw through the collar and it is out, but the fan still doesn't want to budge. Do I need to get a gear-type puller of some sort, or are there any other tricks to getting these things off? Than…

I've done some searching but I can't seem to find if anyone has used a bathroom fan as their blower? Can get a brand new one for $10 that moves 70 CFM. Is this enough volume? Better yet... is there a better 110-115v fan that I can control the speed of that's readily available?

Hard up for a blower here. I've seen a lot of people on youtube supporting the use of hand-crank snail blowers, and I know better than to trust the supposed hair-dryer technique. Only problem is I can't get a hold of an old hand-crank. I was looking at a $55 Stanley utility blower fan that had 3 speeds, rotating head, etc., but then I had a flash of brilliance, or possibly stupidity. Has anyone ever used a shop-vac as a blower? Most models can convert to blowing vs. sucking by taking the hose out and putting it in the exhaust, and I do have a shop-vac, but I would like to know my options before I try something I might regret. Anyone else have any great blower options? I w…

Here's a question from a complete beginner. I built a brake drum forge (11 inch diameter pot, 4 inches deep) over the weekend, had the pot for about a year, just got the black iron 2 inch pipe sections. Wife gave me an old hairblower to use as an air source. I diligently took the thing apart and cut off the heating element...guess what, not working, go figure. How does one modify a hair blower to use in a brake drum forge? Do you remove the heating element or just leave as is until it melts? Your thoughts, your thoughts and suggestions! Possibly looking at other sources for air (vacuum cleaners, other blower sources), this one just seemed so convenient with mini…

i have a fan but i dont know how to make it. i have acces to engines and a journey man electrician thats good with electric engines. how do you make it and how do you figure out the size of the pullies and stuff.thanks guys its greatly appreciated! still smithin, irontwister(willie)

I was in one of my local stores the other day and noticed a large football helmet inflated by an electric blower. Driving through the neighborhood I saw a lot of inflated haloween figures on lawns. It occured to me that those blowers would probably work for a forge and be intermediate in volumn and force between a hair dryer and a vacumn cleaner. Prices for the whole out fit seem to be running less than $50 buck. Has anyone tried one of these blowers??

Hello, I would like to know the following information about a hand crank blower: The gear ratio: number of teeth of the four gears and the diameter of the fan- example: first gear (mounted on shaft of handle) 120 teeth second gear 30 teeth 3rd gear (angled teeth) 120 teeth 4th gear (angled teeth and mounted of fan shaft) 30 teeth or 1 complete turn of the handle will turn the fan blade 16 times plus the diameter of the fan. I do not mind for several replies in different formats. The second option may be the easiest option. I am trying to figure out the second option and the size of the fan. I am tired of searching and waiting to try to get hold of a …

If there is a better place to post this let me know... A few years ago, well more like 10, I built a box bellows, and after some life changes my shop got allot smaller , so I would like to offer it up to whomever could use it, I live in the pacific northwest (pdx) the box measures 16X23X38, although its footprint is a few inches wider with the valve assembly. its made from wood with a cloth piston gasket. and painted black. all the best Samuel

I have a large hand crank buffalo blower that is filled with oil. What is the oil used for? (Cooling I expect?),What type of oil is used, how do you tell if there is enough oil, how often or is it even neccesary to change the oil? I also have a smaller hand crank blower, but it has no oil. Any help would be greatly appreciated.