56FordGuy Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkrankow Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twcoffey Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
56FordGuy Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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