Neal L

Tearcoat Forge for the Tearcoat branch that runs near my house.

i have also wondered that as well.

Here is a link to some suppliers Coal & Coal for Sale

If the motor doesn't have a start winding then you should be able to use a rheostat to control the speed. They a fairly inexpensive at Lowe's or Home Depot. You could restrict the intake or you can use a blast gate between the blower and forge which is what i have on my forge. McMaster-Carr has them

Pete that does make sense. Plus the blower is outside is mounted even higher. Thanks

My ash dump is the same this shows my setup.... it blew the pipe off where it goes through th wall.

If you were down here in the south i would say you had a couple of cilvil war anvils. The story goes that as Sherman marched through his troops broke the horns off of anvils so the Conferderates couldn't make horse shoes. In your case i don't know why the horns would be missing

Yea it was a loud enough I was wondering what blew up. I had just added more green coal to the forge also. That might have help with the build up of gas.

:o I had a suprise today as i was working. I got a very big bang the blew the air pipe off where it is joined. I haven't been using this blower very long but this is the first time this has happened. I put my blower outside to reduce the noise in the shop. I ran metal pipe from the forge and then went through the wall with PVC pipe. It's a good thing i didn't glue all the joints and gave it a place to come apart other wize i might have had a busted pipe. I'm guessing some hot gasses went back up the pip and when fresh air hit the hot gas...BANG:o. After that happened i close the blast gate each time i turned off the air. Anyone ever had this experience or know how to keep it from happening. I have some pictures i will see if i can get them linked from the gallery

The meeting information is now posted on the website. Philip Simmons Artist-Blacksmith Guild of South Carolina

The PSABG April meeting is going to be held at Jimmy Suggs forge in Ravenel SC. I was told at the February meeeting that Jerry Darnell would be the demonstrator. I will post more info on a date and directions when recieve it.

trying-it if you want some interest in the southeast Maddison GA would be a good conference to go to in 2009 Southern Blacksmith Association

I use this design for my side draft hood. Steel s-draft drawing I didn't build the stand, mine is mounted to the forge and braced from the back wall of my shop. This thing really draws the smoke out and isn't complicated to build. I have a 12 inch galvanized chimney Ipicked up at a heating and air supply house.

http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/west-african-blacksmith-2873/ These guys forge while sitting

Bluffton is a couple hours away from me. Sumter is in the center of the state about 45 min, east of Columbia.

Updated the profile Glenn

I didn't take pictures as I went. The side of the blower with the pulley was worn really bad so I removed the old material from that side first. I replaced the shaft with a piece of 5/8 round stock, put the two halves of the blower back together and centered the shaft with a plastic 5/8 bushing and some tape around it to get it up to the sizes of the hole. I used a flat washer with some high temp copper RTV silicon gasket maker to hold it in place and keep the molten babbitt in place. I heated the housing to about 400 degrees the the acy torch. I heated the Babbitt in the ladle on a propane burner to around 650-700 degrees and poured it in until it was full. Oh, I used an infrared gun to measure temperature. I went away until the thing cooled. I had to drive the 5/8 rod out with a brass punch then i used the dremel tool to sand the inside diameter until the shaft fit freely. The I repeated the same process on the other side of the housing. I need to get better at remembering to take pictures i guess. I hope this helps

ApprenticeMan, Once i shot a little grease in her she turns with hardly any drag at all and i cant feel any play in the bearings. so i'm pleased with the outcome.

I have poured my babbitt bearings in the blower I found. Thanks for the help!!! It turns real easy and I think it will last a long time. My next question is what speed should I try to make the blower turn to get enough air for my forge? I plan to put in a slide gate to control the flow and let the blower run at one speed. The blower shaft has a 1 3/4 flat belt drive. I have a motor from a squirrel cage blower that came out of an old heater. It turns 1725 rpm's. I appreciate any suggestions.

Colleen. I really like that design. I think my own variation of that may be my next project.