I was looking for one of the older forges that used the pump handle that drove the gear back-n-forth which turned the blower , etc. I had found one at Quad State on that crappy, rainy muddy friday. I checked it out the best that I could without laying down in the mud pit of rain. I bought it and a friend brought it back to Cols for me. Now that is has dried out and I have it home, upon closer examination, there are some major issues with the forge getting it to work correctly. If anyone on the list has one of these pump-handled type forges, please contact me PM I would like to share conversation and pictures with you about what the issues my forge is having and maybe pic's of yours so I can see if mine is missing parts, Why it is out of adjustment, etc.
I was already warned not to take the pawl and hand assembly apart that turns the gear and blower because of the parts and the spring inside. I hope the spring is still inside mine. How do i know?

Thanks in advance ......
Ohio Rusty ><>

Hey Ohio, If you can post the pictures here you will probably get a lot more responses and help. I'd like to see the pics too.

Mark <><

I had no problems taking the assembly completely apart. It worked fine afterwards. It has sat for a while as I prefer the crack blower I also have. I'm rather busy for the next week or three, but if you post pics and a more complete description of what problems you're having, I may be able to give a pointer or two.

ron

I'll put photos and explanations in here this evening when I get home from work. Now that I know it's OK to put all my stuff out on this public forum instead of private messaging, I'll post a message later with pic of the problem child forge.
Thanks .....
Ohio Rusty ><>

When you post a question on this forum, you get answers, and discussions. By posting photos you add to the discussion and in doing so create a resource for those that follow. We encourage both posts and photos.

If you click on the pics, they get bigger (at least on my laptop) Here is the problem child forge. It needs a good clean up.(This forge was at the top of the muddy hill, being sold by a fellow outside the sheep building. On the other side of the road were all the other folks with tents and lean to's trying to stay dry) It is missing the attachment assembly to the pump handle, the pump handle itself and the leather belt that goes around the wheel and roller. I can make those things ..... The big wheel turns the blower with the leather belt. Unfortunately the wheel is up against the blower and wont turn. I can adjust that problem easily I think.


Here is one of the problems .... This ball is what the pump handle assembly and pump handle attach to. See the forge gear attached to the shaft below the swinging gear attached to the ball? The swinging gear and the shaft gear are clearly not in line. The shaft gear SHOULD be centered right under the swinging gear. That gear is way too far to the right. Those two gears mesh together. when the handle is pumped up and down to turn the shaft, which turns the wheel and the leather belt which turns the roller on the blower.


So you say ... just move the gear to the left ....... Here is the next major problem. I'll try to explain this issue. That housing with the wheel spokes coming out of it (not knowing the proper name) you see butted up against the leg contains the hand, pawl and spring that makes everything work. The housing is two pieces with all the workings inside. If I can move the shaft gear (second pic) to the left, then that housing will come apart and all the pieces will fall out. Does that whole shaft gear and houising assembly move left and right on the shaft? If I can move it all to the left to line up the gears, there is nothing holding the right side of the housing in place, and there is no lock screw that holds the right side of the housing in place because it spins as it is part of the wheel that turns to turn the blower.. Am I missing some pieces or some kind of spacer between the housing and the leg so everything will stay in place? I don't think this should be butted up tight against the leg. If anyone had pics of one like this in working order, I'd really appreciate pics so I know what I need to do to make this workable.
Thanks ..........
Ohio Rusty ><>

That looks a lot like mine. Except mine has 3 legs.
Maybe next week I'll have some time, I want to clean mine up anyway. If I get to it I'll take pictures. I've had mine completely apart when I first got it and added some washers as spacers and made adjustments. Unless someone else provides the help you need first.
I used 1 inch cotton webbing instead of leather. I tried leather first and it would get hot and brittle. Synthetics shrink when they get hot. The remains of the belt that was on mine was cotton, so when the leather gave me problems I went back to cotton. That worked.

ron

Thanks Ron for your reply. The idea of the cotton webbing is a great idea. I had been thinking about leather stretching. I have alot of clean up to do on the little forge. Seems the previous owner felt like it belonged on the island of misfit toys and left it outside to rot. That is a shame to not take care of good things ........
Ohio Rusty

Finally got around to cleaning mine up and got a few pictures.


Here are the parts of the mechanism that drives the blower taken mostly apart showing the connection from the handle. Simple.



Here are the other parts laid out. The washers I added for spacers where I thought they were needed.



This shows the mechanism the handle attaches to back in place. Notice the washer (red arrow). Not really needed but it helps keep it away from the ash dump (green circle). Poor design put the wheel on one side of the dump and this on the other, both closer than I would like.



This series shows re-assembly of the gearing and wheel. Notice the green circle that shows the pawls aren't symmetrical. I don't know if it was designed that way or wore that way. But it works in that configuration. Also you mentioned springs, notice no springs and very simple. It still works.



And finally, back together. Notice the green arrows. The 3 washers on the right are for spacing to like the wheel with the blower. The one on the left is because I like a washer between parts that move.


There are holes to give access to the moving parts in mine that I drop a bit of light oil into once in a while. I first tried grease but that held too much dirt and grime.

If you have any questions feel free to ask. Or maybe you've already got yours up and running, in which case, maybe this will help someone else.


I didn't take the blower itself apart this time. But that is a simple fan in a housing.
To attach the belt, I wrapped the cotton webbing around both parts and made a mark where they met up. Cut long for some overlap and sewed a bit shorter than the mark (maybe a quarter inch). The cotton will stretch a bit but you don't want it too tight.


ron

Thanks for all the pictures !!! I am thankful and appreciative for your time posting all of this ..... I see where you put washers to the right of the belt wheel to push that whole assembly to the left to line up the pump handle and shaft gear. I was assuming I was going to have to do that, and your picture answered that question.
The ratcheting assembly inside the wheel seems pretty simple. I haven't taken mine apart yet.....
I was afraid there would be a million moving parts. I was told there is a spring inside ....

I sprayed rust-buster on all the nuts and bolts holding things together and letting that work into the threads. The fan in the blower housing spins very easy when I turn it by hand. Soon I have to take the whole blower assembly off the bottom of the forge pot and get it right so it doesn't bump against things. For some reason, the owner before me has put a thick rubber gasket between the two halves of the blower. I'm not sure why, but I believe this is what is causing the wheel to come in contact with the belt wheel. There isn't much play, but the gasket is making the blower housing too wide. If it needs a gasket, a simple thin layer of RTV silicone will work just fine. It works fine on the heads of your hot car engine .........

The long rod with the two eyes ... one commected to the ball and the other connected to the handle ... that will be easy to make. I also need to make the handle. The assembly to mount the handle on is still attached to the forge. Your pics gives me renewed spirit to get started on this little forge and get it running right. I found a couple quarts of refractory cement on sale at menards this weekend. I'll put that on the inside of the forge pot to protect it.
Thanks again !! I am thankful for your time and advise ....
Ohio Rusty ><>

Glad I could help.
My blower has no gasket at all. It will still push more air up than is needed. I really should put some bushing on the fan axle where it rests on the housing. As it is it works and I tend to not use it much.
My fan is also out of balance and it rattles and shakes when I pump it too fast.

ron

Just curious where you guys get this cotton webbing? I just picked up a coal forge similiar to what you both have. The drop weight thing is set up a bit different. It does not have a gear on it. I was thinking about leather as well, but thought the same things as you with it getting brittle and or stretching. I will try and post pics of it when I get some. Thanks.

 

Sin

Mountain Dwarf Forge

I picked up the cotton webbing at the fabric store.  Since you don't list a location we can only guess who is in the country you are to be able to tell you what fabric stores you may find.  Around here we have Jo-ann's and Hancock.

 

ron

On 10/23/2011 at 10:17 PM, son_of_bluegrass said:

Finally got around to cleaning mine up and got a few pictures.


Here are the parts of the mechanism that drives the blower taken mostly apart showing the connection from the handle. Simple.



 

 

I have a three legged coal forge with a hand pump. I'm trying to take the mech apart that has the pawls in it. I noticed that son of bluegrass had some pictures posted over 10 years ago, but they won't come up anymore. Would anyone maybe Mr. Bluegrass have some pics?

Thanks,

Dwight

Edited March 19, 20233 yr by Mod30
Trim quote.

Welcome from the Ozark mountains. You might try this to get the photos.

https://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/70371-internet-archivewayback-machine-for-recovering-missing-photographs-in-ifi-posts/

Bluegrass hasn't logged on since his last post, so I doubt he will see this. I would try and send him a PM, if he has notifications turned on he should get an email notifying he has a message.