February 20, 201313 yr I am curious as to what other are using for fans/blowers for pushing air into forges... I have currently a 12v dc Datsun heater blower powered by a 12v battery charger.. And external damper on inlet.. http://www.iforgeiron.com/topic/31104-first-time-forge-build/# And have found a 115v ac fan off back of dish washer and am in process of adapting it (because existing mount is almost non existent) and developing a blast gate for inlet to tuyere to be used with what ever fan I end up with permanently on forge... Dale
March 4, 201313 yr Don't know if this would work w/ your setup, but here's mine. I hinged the fan to a 2" pipe flange and then used picture frame wire w/ knots tied in it to control how much air flow goes into the forge. The fan also somehow changes speed based on the amount of pressure against it, so flush against the flange the forge is roaring. I doubt I'll have it cranked up that much very often, as it goes thru coal much faster and will burn up carbon steel easily, but good to have the ability. Dale, saw the forge you put together in your First Time Build Forge thread, looks good! You might consider adding a dump gate at some point. I was able to build my forge for $20-30, the refractory cement and 2" piping were the more expensive items. Instead of using a 2" T-pipe, I cut a hole in the tuyere pipe and then t-welded the horizontal pipe from the blower into it. The frame was all scrap angle iron I got when someone discarded fire pit. Warped and covered w/ scale, but free. Initially I used my air compressor as the blower, but changed that this weekend when someone gave me a squirrel cage. Big improvement!
March 4, 201313 yr Here is my old setup its a blower out of a bowling ally they use to dry your hands when bowling. i just screwed the 2" pipe inside the outlet of the blower and tacked welded it so it didnt fall off.The next time i go to use this blower im going to use an airgate instead of a damper. (i know the pipe is galvanized and not recommended to use)
September 2, 201312 yr I plan to use this until I can rebuild a hand crank I was given: Seems to have plenty of CFMs; especially since I will be burning primarily charcoal. If it turns out to be too much, I can gate either side. I'm not sure where it came from. 110v and if memory serves, 1/8 hp. Anyone know what its from? I'm guessing old space heater or such...
September 21, 201312 yr Well I'll add mine to here. I picked it up today, needs a bit of beutifying but it works which is all it needs to do :) It's an odd thing, it was a dog dryer, for large dogs. But when I saw it I instantly thought of a forge blower. A bonus is I picked it up for $15, a steal in aus any day :) Here's the pictures
September 21, 201312 yr Cool joe. You'll want to have some way to control airflow and it's nice to be able to turn it on and off without having to reset the airflow. A foot switch works for that
September 21, 201312 yr http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/36989-cam00121/ 's a purple hairdryer now instead of blue, but ya get the idea. Also added a rheostat since. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37339-bloom2/ Also got used in my first bloomery attempt. http://www.iforgeiron.com/gallery/image/37666-furnace2/ And my casting furnace. It's silly, but it pushes more than enough air, (too much before added the rheostat really) and cost all of 10 bucks, so why not?
November 18, 201312 yr no pic right now, but I use an air mattress pump, stuck it into a wooden box for dampening the sound and it works great. picked it up at big lots for i think 5-10$
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