SReynolds

I was reminded of this fellow who makes custom banjo parts. One at a time, piece by piece and I asked him if he had any, for cheap, which he would be willing to part with. I received an item from him, free of charge. Hey, I give away most all my work at the blacksmith shop, as I enjoy giving it to folks who have an interest. Hand forged items also make great gifts!

I visited a blacksmith shop this weekend there there was a Champion 400 forge blower there, lying on the floor. It has no stand/legs etc and the oiler is dented so it will not open. Outside of that is looks nearly new. I don't know why it isn't a rusty mess like most. I asked for it and I was told I could have it. So I took it home...........

I need something like that. My forge (the one I use) was designed by the state of Ohio for the state historical society. Spared no expense in the construction of this shop. IT had the worst flue imaginable. It will not pull a draft even with the installation of the fluw pipe blower. The biggest problem I see is that tjhe flue tile is 7X7 and it as two 90% bends, prior to reaching the flue tile inside the chimney. If you have a straight shot, up and out, it would draw a draft from the hot gases.

Gummy/sticky blowers filled with old/dry/dirty lube get a steam bath first while it is together, then I take it apart to the point of inspection and or repair. More cleaning and then lube and assemble. I find that blowers require very few new parts internally, though the ball bearings can be sourced if they are really rerally rusty or cleaned in a shell casing tumbler. A new wood handle is a nice touch too. I cannot make them so I have a friend turn themout on his wood lathe for me. Nothing looks worse than a nice looking blower with a cracked/broken/or missing handle. The square headed set screws can be sourced from the local hardware and look much better than a modern hexed-head cap screw.

http://www.google.com/patents?id=zYxlAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=804860&rview=1&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=0_1#v=onepage&q&f=false Inside the Champion 400. This thing is full of stuff

That is different. I have an actual fan/blower inside mine and it still will not draw but say 30% of the smoke etc. up the flue tile. Most my smoke and ash is in the air. It's what the windows and doors are for, I guess. Wouldn't you loose air available for the fire............??

Funny you'd mention this; I have located some hard coal. It is "soft" and works well in the forge, but hard to break up. It is also free. I have sourced two locations for "free" coal right on the bike trail. Ohio has loads of old RR beds turned bike trails I have found two locations where there is a big dump of coal. I gather all that I can when I ride through, but I don't make a special trip for this stuff. I lay the chunks atop my forge when I'm done with the fire and heat this coal up and it then falls apart.

Perhaps I missed this, but you did burn it and took note if it coked or not, right? I mean that is the give-a-way as to what type of coal you have. I attended a class and it was mentioned as was here, that hard coal is very polished and soft coal is not. I know first had that won't work for me as most all coal has that polished appearance. The only which doesn't shine that I have seen is Ohio coal. It is grey and dull looking and not what you'd want for a forge as it is loaded with sulfur and trash (makes good clinkers) Looks much like shale.

I have been trained by two "blacksmiths" One is a welder/fabricator who welds much of his projects with the mig and uses jigs to create scrolls etc. He works daily as a welder/fabricator and performs blacksmithing for himself and for a histsoric village. The other fellow was old school and he considered it sinful to use a jig, a mig welder and a drill bit. I think he also thought you must wear the old time clothes too. Cotton, not poly-blend either!!! As you can see, I was quite confused in my first year or two what I was doing.I wan't sure if it was metal fabrication or blacksmithing. Now I don't care what others think. I'm having fun building things.

I have used both and they each have a purpose. The hard coal burns hot enough and gives off nary little smoke, no fly ash and hardly a clinker. It will not coke and therefor you have a tough time to shape the fire. It is nearly impossible to start. I really work at that. A large wood fire is my only hope. The soft stuff is very dirty. Lots of smoke and loads of fly ash. Makes a real mess.However, i can shape the fire to my needs as it cokes very well and lights easily. You just have to deal with the mess and manage the fire as it spreads easily and take care to feed only fresh coke in or you'll have all this smoke and flame from the green coal. Somebody, already likely, mentioned this........

It is not in the 1930 catalog

Get that set of fan shaft bearings out and clean everything. Any rust/dirt in the ball bearings will caue a tight spot. I find that these are wonderful machines, unless they have been neglected in any way. The other blowers, with out all them ball bearings are quite a bit more forgiving and seem to hold up much better and operate just as well in my real world/hands-on experience. I have a cross sectional view of the 400. If I could figure out how to copy that from the manual to the computer,I'd post it up. WoW. What a contraption. You really must wonder who thought all that up and why it was needed. Simply amazing. You have seen that picture if you have a copy of that Champion Forge and Blower catalog.

Well.....I don't really know either. The hole isn't round. It pinches the shank. It's round when you drill it, but pulling the card stock out and clamping in the vise, the hole is not round. The metal distorts and is pushed down into the hole. THat is my nut-shell version. Thus, the top of that black must be dressed/cleaned up with each use. I have made enough of these to know it isn't the operation. That is, I'm making thin rivet heads and they are so hot, the metal begins to burn, so I don't think they are cold when I hammer on the top of the pin.

Can you buy from a source like e-bay? There are blowers on there all the time like what I described. Many times, just a blower and not the complete forge. I do see that folks have problems with the small Buffalo blowers. They seem not quite as well built from what I have read. I don't have one persoanally, but have turned one and it sounded like it it was full of metal chunks.

That is exactly what I had done. I also had a piece of card stock between the to halves when I clamped/welded/drilled.THis will not slip. You canhammer down on the stock and forge the head. The problem I found, is that the top of the block is deformed after forging just one rivet/pin head. It's in bad shape. Really takes a beating. I'd have to dress that each time to make/froge a quality pin. If I didn't carte how it looked, I could probably forge many pin heads, but the underside will be beveled as the block has folded down and into that hole. Nobody ever said it would do that................ I'm sorta suprised it does that! The other method by way of a header takes way long as it has to be upset first, then hammered into the header. The pin/rivet will be bent.

Here is my attempt top make a pin header......didn't work out so well. The problem is welding the handle onto spring steel. That hasn't been working. This time I preheated it and lost the temper (per heat-treating methods) as it turns blue. So I tried to heat treat it and temper, but it split apart. It would be much easier to buy one......... I will now atempt tp make one more less weling a handle on. I'l have to use the holdfast to secure the header to the top of the anvil. Thus it will take longer to mess w/driving the pin from the header, if I have to, but I won't have to worry about all this preheating/postheating etc.etc. Easier to buy them for sure, but I have folk asking me how you'd make a hinge pin and/or rivet, so...............

Pictures of the pin block. One is 5/16 and another is 3/8 the head size will be slightly larger than the stock. I can make the thicker head or a thinner head. These serve no purpose other than to demonstrate how to make them. I may use some as a hinge pin when I begin to make hinges. Scott

I be more than happy to take a picture. I have made a number of pins and have to dress it each time.less the underside of the next pin head is distorted. Not the way a pin would be. You really need a flat underside to the head. Without that the pin is gorped i/e. no good in my opinion. This tool just won't do it unless I dress the top each time. I'll photo the pins I made too and post them up here as well. I really like the way in which it makes a pin head. Real fast!! And the pin shank is straight too! The header method, which I'm building now, is going to require upsetting and a lot more steps to make the same pin....................... I have 5/16 and 3/8 pin block made. These should be popular sizes for pins. The header will be of same size, made from spring steel. Thanks! Scott

I made the split gripping tool in which to hold round stock while forging the round head. Just like in the video. It is a one time use tool, however. I'm real unhappy w/ that. I made from mild steel. I had read that for this tool , that would be adequate. But, in operation, the top portion is destroyed when the pin head is forged. This took quite a bit of time to manufacture and was hoping for better results. The pin is nice, but each time I forge a pin, I'll have to grind-off the damaged portion,otherwise the next pin has a bulge under the head, as the holding die meterial at that spot is smashed down and into the hole. I made two different sized holes too.

I was offered the oportunity to operate/run a blacksmith shop.........just for the asking. Seriously. It is owned by the Ohio Historical Society. I stepped up. Others didn't. This is my playground. It never hurts to ask. You just never know what you'll receive!

My personal experience would dictate that a small hand crank blower is all that is needed. They are so convenient to use and take up little space. The more complex units like the Canedy-Otto and Champion 400 I would steer clear of, unless you have to have a complex unit. These have very complex internal workings such as brass/bronze bushings and ball bearings/cones. They tend to require much more "fixing" as they are filled with worn bushings/ball bearings etc.etc.. most of which reqire you to search for good used items or make them to perform repairs. A much less forgiving blower, which employs NO bearings and is very reliable due to it's very sturdy/simple construction, would be the Champion Eureka 140 or a similar unit. They are small and provide a strong blast of air. Don't be fooled by the size. If you can fire with a hair dryer, this little baby will exceed your expectations. I have provided some pictures. They cost so much less than the more complex blowers. The 400 is nice, but the little Eureka is more then enough to fire a forge. I found one in use at a historical society on thier large masonary forge.

What I did was to set that screw and locking nut to the point the shaft will turn with the weight of the handle. I'm not concerned with the end-play, rather the shaft must be free w/o any additional free play-end thrust-axial play. What-ever you wish to call it. These don't have bearings, so your simply adjusting the end-play between the shaft and the housing boss. I have also had to adjust the fan hub on the shaft. The one pictured had to be cleaned out as it was badly rusted due to water but still turned free. Then oiled, adjusted and a new wooden handle installed. It makes way too much air. A slow turn is all thats required. I see one is on e-bay auction now. http://www.ebay.com/...=item337370f4c5

This is the 140 blower with a jam nut and set screw............... I have tons of pictures of these Champion blowers. Your is like this one, no?

I completed the Champion Forge. This is as good as it will get. It was clean and straight and only required a gear box cleaning and leveling the legs. This will be used in the Ohio Historical Society's blacksmith shop as demonstrator. I made a new grate and installed a sun shield as they would have originally had. It's a tad short, but that was the largest section of sheet steel I had at the time......... I sourced the old style hardware from the Hardware store. That old style stuff is costly, when purchased in small quantities, but looks so much better than modern hex-head bolts/nuts when displayed in an old blacksmith shop.

Fire Starters. Made from saw dust and wax. One per fire. Some like the propane torch.