Champion #4 blower question

[56FordGuy]

I'm building my first forge, and have acquired my blower. It's a Champion #4. No hand crank, it was meant to be belt driven. I've found a few pieces of reproduction literature that lead me to believe it was originally belt driven from a hand operated lever.

I am planning to use an electric motor to drive mine. Does anyone know what the appropriate RPM for the blower is? I'm concerned about running it too fast and damaging it. I can use a different combination of pulleys to change the speed, I'm just not sure what my target speed should be. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[pkrankow]

The gear ratio on my hand crank blower is about 50:1, the fan turns 50 revolutions per turn of the handle (I counted some time ago). When using it 15-60 rpm on the handle is about as fast as I turn it, depending on how the fire looks.

Hope this helps.

Phil

[twcoffey]

I don't think it is a good idea to try to drive a #4 blower gear box unless you have some way of drive it around 30 rpm.
bearing will wear quickly under continuous operation unless frequently lubed.

I took a #4 fan blade and the blower housing off of the gear box and mounted them directly on a 1700 rpm motor. You may need
to fashion a bracket for this purpose. In my case it was a simple 1/4" plate.

With an adjustable trottling vane over the blower housing inlet it works fine for normal sized fire boxes allowing an idling blow
up to and including a forge welding blow by closing and opening the air inlett vane.

[56FordGuy]

I appreciate the input. The blower I have doesn't have a gearbox on it. However, I think I've decided against using the electric motor. I may use a hand crank with a belt to the fan shaft. Might be kind of funny looking, but it should work and I wouldn't have to worry about plugging anything in.