simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Here are a couple pics of a old belt driven Canedy Otto blower I got from a old blacksmiths scrap pile located on my neighbors property...see story at: http://www.iforgeiron.com/forum/f7/followed-me-home-51/index38.html This blower seems to be missing the bearings and the cast assembly that holds them. I am guessing at the age of this blower to be late 1800's or so and as such would have had Babbitt type bearings. I have not been able to locate a picture of a blower like this one and am trying to come up with ideas to get that great fan floating smoothly inside her housing again. The only idea I can come up with is pillow block bearings and some steel or wood blocks to mount them at the right height to center the shaft in the housing (if that makes sense.) Anyway, any ideas or help would be great. Also I was thinking of running this blower off a old hand crank grinder with a belt pulley in place of the grinding wheel. Then I could mount the crank on the forge with the belt running down to the blower mounted below the forge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeyboy Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 i have an old OTTO Western Indian Chief, hand crank. i don't however have the guts to take it apart. once i cleared all the Mud daubers out (7) :oshe practically started spinning by herself. what a well made machine. anyway i'm killin' time till someone comes up with an idea to get your Otto goin'. i'll bet there is a way. how bout askin' your local friendly machinist to cut some bushing sleeves??? babbitts are simple bearing sleeves? h--l i don't know.:confused: buzz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryM Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 O.K. I'll take a crack at it. If you could heat the impeller and pulley and remove them. You could buy hardware store pillow block bearing. Either bushings or ball bearing. Make new shaft out of a piece of cold rolled shafting. You might have shim under pillow blocks to center the shaft in the housing. As far as the grinder belt drive it sound like good idea to me. Hope this gives you some ideas. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_sandy_creek_forge Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Hey there, I too have an old belt driven blower. It is still not connected to the forge, but I found an interesting way to power it. The blower is bolted to the center post in the shop about 24 inches up off the floor. About 7.5 feet up the post is a 3 foot diameter wheel made of plywood. The big wheel is run on an eccentric that is connected to an arm in the rafters that is connected to a pull rope. Wonderful system. A little unnerving at first to stand around, but it spins the blower up to about 800-900 rpm. I'll try to find the pictures we took of it right after it was installed. -Aaron @ the SCF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ten Hammers Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 My suggestion is that this blower was an underslung type that hung below the forge. The mounts that held the blower to the forge had the bearings in them ( and the tapered ends of the impeller went through the mounts ). I definitely could be wrong. I have replaced babbit in tapered shaft blowers in the past but it was really touchy dammin up the holes to pour the babbit into ( which you do not have ). OK. You could remove the impeller and machine the tapered part ( shoulder it ) to receive a small pump bearing ( say 10 mm ID 20 mm OD ) with a nice snug fit. Then build a housing to receive the outer part of the bearing. Whatever the size of the tapered end shaft of the impeller, the machinist will have to make the decision on what size to use and still have clearance so bearing will run outside the blower housing. I may be all wet with this idea but it's the first thing that came to my mind. Some days you the coyote, some days you the post. good luck. PS After looking again at the setup, I do believe that a pillow block of sorts may be the solution ( as has been suggested before me ). Honest, in reality a block of wood ( like hedge or something hard ) to receive the impeller shaft would be a fine bearing surface for a while. Just keep it oiled. Might catch on fire, yes. Sorry no more help but use your imagination. I would definitely polish up the tapered ends of the impeller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_sandy_creek_forge Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Hey again, That is what i was talking about. As I was searching for and uploading that image, I got to thinking just how clever recycling an old hand-cranked grinder would be in a situation like this. Not to mention it would take care of the issues with a 20 pound plywood disk spinning above one's head. Very clever indeed....that idea might have just been stolen. Thanks!! -Aaron @ the SCF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Thanks for the great replies. I was thinking of loosening (hopefully) the pulley on the existing shaft and sliding it in 1/2 inch toward the impeller. The pulley will still stick out of the housing plenty far enough for a leather belt and that will give me enough room for a pillow block bearing assembly on the existing shaft. The existing shaft is 1/2 inch diameter. Just have to fab up some mounts for the bearing to keep the impeller centered in the housing. I figure the crank grinder will turn the blower at just the right rpm. We'll see how it goes. If anyone has pictures of what this blower looked like originally that would be great too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Aaron, great photo! Great idea. Thanks for sharing that. that could be another cool option if the grinder idea doesnt work out the way I think it will. Chris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Don't forget that bicycles have a nice large "pulley" and gearing so you can change the range while cranking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 Thomas - Great idea! If the grinder idea doesnt work out like I hope that would also be a great option. Here is a picture of the old grinder I am thinking of using. I broke the old grinding wheel off of its hub and what is left looks perfect for a flat belt pulley! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BT Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 It shouldn't be hard to fabricate some bearings boxes for babbit bearings for this. Most of these type of blowers had one piece boxes on them. You could use a short piece of black iron pipe arc welded to a piece of barstock for the box. Drill holes in the barstock to correspond to the mounting holes on the case. Drill a hole in the pipe for the pour hole which will then become the oil port also. Position the shaft in the center of the pipe ends and dam up the ends. Then just pour the babbit through the oil hole that you drilled in the pipe. Smoke the shaft well before pouring with acetylene or with a candle. After the pour, remove the shaft and drill out the babbit in the oil port. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 BT - GREAT idea!!! Hmmmmm, now I have some thinking to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simmonds Posted July 11, 2007 Author Share Posted July 11, 2007 I have no experience with babbit bearing and have never done them myself. What is the exact process of pouring babbit bearings? Also, what advantages or disadvantages would this have over converting to pillow block style bearings. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BT Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 simmonds google "babbitt pouring instructions" and you will get a bunch of hits on tips and examples of babbitt bearing restoration.Crescent 32" Band Saw Restoration is one example, although this example is a two piece box. I think the Little Giant site has some good info also. The advantages of babbit in the case of your blower would be that the tapered shafts would not need to be altered. Just polish them up a bit and they would be ready to go. I have repoured several small blower bearings like yours and it is really not that much of a job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HWooldridge Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Hard maple works fine for bearings that have low loading and as mentioned, will function for a long while if oiled. That is what Little Giant clutch blocks are made from and they will last for many years if kept lubed. You can also use hard wood for the bearing block and pour or press a babbitt center piece to have contact with the shaft. The shaft is tapered to match the now missing bearings so you can adjust the blocks inward to get a running clearance but as mentioned, they need to be polished because the rust will act as an abrasive and cause problems in short order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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