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I Forge Iron

Leakey Blower


Ron Hicks

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most Old tools, like blowers never did have seals. leaking was a sign that they were getting a proper lube job. You filled it up daily untill it leaked and wipped the surface with the excess to keep it clean and to stall rusting. Trying to "fix" a leaking blower is like trying to teach a pig to dance, you will just get dirty and agravate the pig.;)

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Ron,
Where's it leaking? Bolt holes on the case? Shaft holes? Split in the case? I took mine appart and cleaned it up last fall/summer and I wouldn't say the gears are made of paper. I bought a package of o-rings that fit in the groove around the case. It still leaks around the lowest bolt hole a little bit, but not enought to be annoying, and if it does start to annoy me, I'm sure a rubber washer would fix it right up. I had to buy a package of 10 of the o-rings, and I'd be happy to mail you one if you want it and it's leaking around the case. Mine had the original packing material in there that resembled valve packing for an old faucet that had dried up and cracked. Let me know.

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My main forge has a Cannedy Otto blower. When I got it I could barely turn the crank, I opened up the gearbox and found that the previous owner had packed it with grease. I cleaned it all out, and chipped out the dried rubber seal that had petrified in the groove. I then reassembled it with a liquid gasket. It now works like a charm. It doesn't spin quite as easily as some blowers I've used, but it's powerful and really moves the air if I want it to.

I'm not sure if we have the same model (there's some pics of my forge in my member gallery), but the gears in my blower are pretty substantial, definitly not "paper."

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I have a Canady Otto blower also. I took it apart several years ago and cleaned all the parts. The gears are not paper. I used a leather shoe lace to replace the gasket between the two halves of the housing. I also used a heavier grade of oil when I refilled it. I think I put in 90 weight gear oil. It has worked fine since, but it's a little hard to crank when it's really cold. Since I only use it for demos in the summer this does not present much of a problem.

Woody

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paper gears?!
I've never heard of paper gears, but I did hear one time about bomb shelter ventilation blowers that used some kind of pressed fiber gears (i know, paper is pressed fibers, but these were different i think?). IIRC these were WWII type items and were not meant for any extended or rugged use. I am not sure who made them.

And as everyone else said, Let it leak, that way you know that the oil is getting to everything.
-Aaron @ the SCF

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A local man that deals in lots of old blacksmithing equipment years ago told me that the " run silent" was a selling point for their blowers.
Maybe its pressed fiber gears - he did though show me some gears he claimed were out of a blower that had gotten water in it.They looked like pressed paper that delamated .
It gets real grungey - it is kepted in a shed out of the weather.
I really dont think they were made to leak when new ?Why would they had packing in them?

My thinking is if Im not on my toes dumping oil in it & werck the worn gears.

My Champion blower doesnt leak oil

Kind of hard to tell where the leaks are need to clean it up first- for sure around the crank & think the case but not sure. The over flow plug on the side must be wrong size very lose and leaks while cranking.
It works like a champ moves lots of air
This is the blower not sure the modle ?
canedy_otto_2.jpg
Edit:
I seen the paper gears maybe he was havin fun with me
I found this - far as I know its the same blower
the add says Phosper Brozen & Steel Gears

Royal_Western_Chief.jpg
Wish I had an original Crank
Ron

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Ron,
After looking at your picture I can tell you one problem you have right now. The gear housing is not correctly mated to the fan housing. The input shaft should not be at the bottom of the oil sump. It needs to be rotated 1/3 turn clockwise. That gets the input shaft above the oil level. The gears get lubricated by splash action. When I re-did mine, I was having issues with the oil coming out of all the shafts. I, like whoever last reassembled yours tried to align it so the lettering was upright. Mike-hr told me he didn't think it was right, then on further inspection we found a small lubrication port where the input shaft goes into the housing and it was pointed at about 7 o-clock (which I'm guessing yours is to?). Anyway, once I turned it 1/3 clockwise the leakiness went way down. It's still leaking a very small amount at the lowest bolt hole that joins the two half's, but it's minimal. Is there also a plug at 6 o-clock in addition to the one we see in the pic? Mine had two, so there's now one at the top, and one at about 7 or 8 o-clock that has a little petcock still in it. I open the petcock and dump non-detergent 30w in the top until it starts to come out of the petcock and that's where I leave it. I must say I'm still pretty much in love with my blower. It's a good one, and I think the Royal Cheif is pretty much the cadillac of the bunch.

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mcraigl
I think you hit it on the button
Looking at the old add you can see the crank is at the left side not down on the bottom.
I did not see a small lubrication port where the input shaft goes into the housing but I bet its there.
I took the crank off and tried to wipe some of the gunk off to get a better picture.
Whats it like taking it apart and reassembly tough to line up the gears?
> <img src=//
Thanks you save me loads of problems
Ron

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Mine was real easy to take apart. However, I've been told that the bolts are "special"... In other words take great pains not to damage them 'cause if you break one off, you will end up drilling and tapping for new bolts. The only other gotcha is to make sure you don't have any nasty burrs on the input shaft so that you don't bugger up the case or brass bearing that it goes through when you pull the shaft. It required a puller to get the fan off mine, but it was simple to make one. Drilled a 3/4" hole through a piece of 1/4" x 2" x 4" plate, then cut out the web on one side so it is "c" shaped and I could slip it behind the fan. I then drilled a couple of appropriately spaced holes and tapped for 3/8" bolts and voila, fan puller. I did a little looking into it, and your is either a slightly older or newer vintage than mine. Mine has little brass caps on the end of where the fan and gear shafts come through the housing whereas yours has plugs. I think the one Mike-hr has/had looked like yours. One of ours had a patent date somewhere, and one of ours has "pat. app'd for" or something like that one we were thinking the "pat. app'd for" one was probably a little bit older. When I re-assembled, I coated the shaft ends with moly grease, then just the non-detergent 30. I think 90 is way overkill since I intentionally NEVER apply more than slight torque. I don't think the oil film is under much pressure as opposed to the rear end in your truck or something. Plus it's colder'n a well digger's @$$ here right now and you'd never be able to turn the thing. YMMV. I'll pose up a pic when I get home of my Western Cheif.

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So Ill need to pull the fan off also - cant just take the crank side off ?

I guess it would be better to take it all apart - I did want to clean it up and
paint.

What kind of bearings in it- anything like the Champion with the old races with steel balls?
I learned the hard way on a Champion I reused the pitted balls and broke a race. I need to get an old junker for parts.
Get a picture I would like to see it.
Thanks again
Ron

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Ron,
I can't remember if I "had" to take the fan off or not. My unit was pretty crusty with old congealed oil etc. and I wanted to wire brush every inch of the outside and degrease the entire inside so I took 'er down to the smallest part. No ball bearings in mine, just brass bushing type bearings. Here's a couple of pix of mine. Sorry they're not the best, it's dark and cold.

ML

070110_blower_001.jpg070110_blower_002.jpg

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McR
Look on the net trin to find out a bit more
I guess Canedy Otto made things up into the 1950,s
Also found one for sale on an ebay store a bargin for onl $800.00:o I think it must have Golden fan or something:confused: it had a home made handle also.
I think I found a picture of one thats all there with the crank
<a href=Royal_Western_Blower_Orginal_1.jpg'>
Thats my next project , think I have enough Farmall Red to purdy it up with.
maikn a dirty pig dance:confused:
Thanks Loads
Ron

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$800?! I got mine off eBay for $40, and the guy threw in a decent firepot with it.

I did have to take the fan off to get the whole thing apart, which was a chore because a couple of the bolts holding the fan casing together had rusted shut. I ended up replacing them all.

Mine's got the original crank, but the counterweight has been cut off and the crank welded into the piece that attaches to the arbor. I've been thinking about forging a new counterweight and welding it on, but it's not high on my to-do list.

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A friend of mine has an old blower that I took apart. Something had fallen into the gearbox and one of the gears got ripped up pretty good. At the time I thought it was a wooden gear, but I'd believe pressed fiber. Are these things pretty much junk when the fiber gear dies?

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