Patrick Kerns

JME - thanks for the tips. If I were to disassemble it, how should I go about ensuring the worm gear and the shaft are aligned properly?

Update - lagging a bit in my own breakdown efforts. My 400 is really stupendously coated in grim and greasy grit. I've decided I'm going to have to disassemble it completely after I took a look at the gears and found there is SAND in the gearbox mixed in with the copious grease and oil. I won't sleep well at night if I don't get every last grain of sand out of the machine because I assume the bearings will seize up in a year or two of normal use.

I've gotten the dust caps off and removed the rear fan shaft lock nut. Pictures are attached. You can probably see some of the pitting on the rear fan shaft bearings in the picture.

As with Bo, I've been reading a lot of warnings about what not to do and am going slowly at every step to make sure I understand what I'm doing before I do it. Next step is going to be sorting out locking the fan shaft like Bo was working on.

I'm beginning to wonder why this machine was setup at a 90 degree angle vs. all the other blowers I've seen that are parallel to the fan. It seems like it makes the gearbox necessarily complex.

 JME, that is MASSIVELY helpful. Thank you so much.

Also, the pipe wrench worked like a charm on the bearing dust caps, thank you for the recommendation.

Bo T, I think that is where most of the noise on my 400 is coming from as well. Glad I'm not the only one overhauling one of these ancient machines.

I knew there was a reason I should have kids - someone to work the forge blower!

David and Bo T, thanks for the suggestions. I'll pick up some penetrating oil to replace the 3 in 1 I've been using and try a pipe wrench. Need to get a pipe wrench (all the plumping I've done has been PVC).

For those of you who have restored 400's, how quiet can you reasonably expect them to be after a rebuild? I have a very dirty but functional 400 and I am trying to decide if it's worth doing a complete rebuild or if I should just give it a deep clean without disassembling the mechanism. Currently it moves air well, turns >1 revolution after I stop turning but makes a odd grinding/scraping noise at operating speeds. The fan seems to have no clearance issues with the case. Will post a video tonight with the noise.

Those are some nice finds, how do they run?

Bo T, let me know if you have any luck getting the fan nut off. I just got a 400 myself and am stuck at that step. Any advice for getting the dust caps off?

Wow, excellent forge. Love the legs. Will probably go back to the drawing board this weekend and post up a new design. I appreciate everyone's input!

Also, David - did you use to live in Hampden and make those decorative railings around the neighborhood? I was up in Westminster yesterday buying a blower off a guy and he mentioned there used to be a blacksmith in Hampden.

Very cool, thanks for the pictures!

Nice work! Hope you don't have to move it around too much! Also, how did you make your clinker breaker?

Arkie, how are your sideboards attached?

Also, just got a great deal last night on a Champion 400 blower - it moves air but is grinding a bit so apparently I'm rebuilding a blower this weekend! Whoo hoo!

Wheels are clearly the way to go.

Glenn - thanks for the advice. I certainty considered adding wheels, and I may still do it. Unfortunately the back porch stairs I would need to get the forge up features at least one >1 foot steps (yeah, my house is a collection of weirdness) so I would probably need to use a piece of ply to make a ramp. But at least that way the forge could chill on my back porch when not in use. Definitely worth thinking about.

Arkie - Yes that's the hope, bigger size tables seem to be a nice luxury but it seems like the chief drawback to the classic brake drum forge is no extra room for coal. And at 2 x 3 feet I can probably get a decent propane grill cover and I may just be able to leave the forge outside. But I'll still need the folding feature to get it home in my trunk :).

Mr. Einhorn,

That's a very kind offer, I appreciate it and will take you up on it! See you on the 27th!

Patrick

Arkie, thanks for the tips! The whole thing will probably be a little smaller than it looks in the picture - probably only about 2 feet x 3 feet because of weight concerns. I'll probably use only 3/16 rather than 1/4 plate for the top as well. It will break down into  the top, folding table, two bottom crosspieces, firepot, 2" pipe tuyere/ashdump assembly, and the blower, so it will probably be managable. By my calculations the top piece should weight about 54 pounds (2 x 3 foot of 3/16 should weight about 46 lbs plus 8 pounds for the 1 x 1 x 1/8 angle iron around the edges).

Jim - much appreciated! If you mean what I think you mean, you're suggesting that I make the frame out of tube steel and weld unions on where the hinges would go, then screw pipe into the unions during setup. Not sure I fully understand how that would all go together since the unions would be fixed on either end and you could only turn the pipe one way (I'm probably missing something). That seems like it would be a very stable way to put the table together, but it also seems like it would be more time intensive on the setup. Also, the pipe seems a little heavier than the tube steel. Thanks for the encouragement!

Hello! I'm gearing up for blacksmithing and will be taking some local courses in Blacksmithing and welding here in the Baltimore Area. I have a backyard where I can smith but I need to be able to move the forge up some stairs into my basement at the end of the weekend. So I've set out to design a folding coal forge. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated!

The top will be some light plate steel, probably 1/8 or 3/16 inch with some angle-iron welded around the edge to keep the coal on the table. Square or round stock pegs will be welded to the base of the plate to allow it to sit on top of the square tube of the table frame. It will have a circular cut out for the brake drum/rotor will will be attached to the standard 2" black pipe setup for a brake drum forge. Air will be courtesy of an old vacuum blower that I tore out of an old vaccum and have converted to act as a blower, handily it comes with it's own electrical already wired it (but only one speed at this point). I'm considering adding an air gate. I'll be using a McMaster-Carr cast iron shower drain in the firepot, surrounded with either clay or refractory cement to create a nice bowl in the drum/rotor.

The folding table frame will be fabricated from square tube steel with butt welds. The top cross bars will be welded to hinges, which will in turn be welded to the corner posts to allow the table to fold once I remove the plate top (side view of folded table picture). The bottom cross bars for the table will have small pieces of flat stock welded onto the ends so that they can be dropped into place, fitting into small slot-boxes welded onto the upright corner posts.

The rotor/drum firepot will probably be welded to the plate top and will have a 2" pipe flange welded onto the bottom so I can screw in the 2" pipe tuyere and suspend it from the top plate in a way that still allows it to be broken down. The salvaged vacuum cleaner blower will be mounted (probably) on a wooden board that will be clamped to a cross bar between the corner posts (or something like that).

Anyhow, that's the plan. Any advice, recommendations, etc. is very welcome. Also, any locals in the Baltimore area who can recommend steel supplies, salvage yards, or a good junk yard (still need to find a rotor or drum) or if you have an anvil that you're looking to sell.

Hello! I'm starting in on Blacksmithing as a new hobby after several attempts over the years (burned my hand in high school shop using the gas forge). I've signed up to take a beginner class with my local guild - Blacksmith Guild of Central Maryland, but the class isn't until October and I'm itching to get started. Have also signed up for a beginning welding class here in Baltimore so I can assembly my forge after than - will be posting some plans in the coal forge section. Big challenge after that is going to be getting something like a starter anvil (probably some railroad track or an excavator pin) and some coal (considering I won't be buying a ton at a time I might have to buy it off a real blacksmith or truck up to The Mill at Bel Air) but hopefully the guys at the guild can give me some pointers.

I live in Baltimore but have a decent backyard where I can do some outdoor smithing, so my forge is going to be designed to fold up so I can carry in into the house (also so I can transport it from the public workshop where I'll be welding it together to my home in the trunk of a four-door sedan).

I've found a good local supplier for the structural steel (Boulevard Sales Corp) I'll need for the forge and can use the plasma cutter and welder at my public workshop, the Baltimore Foundry (once I take the welding class).

So if anyone is looking to sell an anvil or any other random blacksmith tools, or if you have a good local scrap yard to recommend please let me know!