alwe1 Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I am planning on building a coal forge for my shop this summer and I have been looking around for hand cranked blowers but they are apparently impossible to find in my area. So I was wondering what are some companies if any that make or at least sell hand crank blowers still and are they worth buying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I know Blacksmith Supply sells new hand cranked blowers. I've seen them on other online sites offered, but don't see any tonight for whatever reason. As far as if they are worth still buying, that sort of depends on what you are looking for. I know I wanted a hand powered blower for my portable demo forge so I didn't have to worry about power where ever I went. Lots of people still want that "old fashioned feel" of a hand cranked forge. It also is harder to "waste" fuel with one since you only supply air when you are cranking. However for production work day in day out, I'm not sure I'd want to be tied to strictly a hand cranked blower. I'd much rather use some sort of electric blower and save my energy for forging. There's also the point that some sort of electric fan is often easier and cheaper to source. After I bought my electric blower I managed to source 3 or 4 decent squirrel cage bath fan blowers for almost next to nothing. ( all older steel units from demo jobs) All probably would have worked almost as good as the dedicated electric blower I bought with a few minor adjustments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwe1 Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 I am kind of fond of the idea of not being reliant on electricity to be able to forge. Do you have any experience with the blower from blacksmith supply? The only other one I can, even find is on centaur forge but it's terribly expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DSW Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 I'm afraid I don't have any personal experience with their hand blower, but I've gotten other things from them in the past without any issues. If you haven't already, you might look into joining a local blacksmithing group. Many times that can put you in contact with someone who may have a spare they are willing to sell, or you might find someone who is downsizing as they get up in age and find they don't need or can't use everything they have collected. Also many times guys will collect all sorts of blacksmithing related stuff that they find cheap simply to have available to new guys. That's how I ended up with my pump forge. A guy I knew used to use it for demos before he got a nicer hand cranked unit. He kept the old one in storage for a few years and when he found out I was looking for something, offered it to me for what he originally paid for it. He also sold a 15 year old kid a fair/poor condition Peter Wright anvil he'd collected as well. The face had some issues, but for a kid learning it was a good deal cheap. Many times these sort of things take patience. You can always start off with a cheap bath fan blower and convert later to a hand cranked one when you locate what you are looking for at a reasonable price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwe1 Posted April 27, 2014 Author Share Posted April 27, 2014 I have also toyed with the idea of fabricating a box bellows again I have no experience with using one and was wondering if they are worth trying or if i would be better off to keep looking for a crank blower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 27, 2014 Share Posted April 27, 2014 A well made box bellows is nicer to use than a bad hand crank; an excellent hand crank is nicer to use than a mediocre box bellows; an excellent double lunged bellows is nicer to use than either of them---but takes up a LOT of space. Not know the details of what you plan to do and how you plan to do it makes it VERY HARD to give specific advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big-D Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 I am planning on building a coal forge for my shop this summer and I have been looking around for hand cranked blowers but they are apparently impossible to find in my area. So I was wondering what are some companies if any that make or at least sell hand crank blowers still and are they worth buying? Let me tell you, if you can't find a hand crank blower in Iowa, there's a real problem!!!! One thing you might try is to run an ad in the local newspapers, something like "top dollar paid for blacksmthing tools; anvils, forges, blowers, vises". People around here in SC tell me they can't find anvils. I've bought an Arm and Hammer (NOT a Vulcan!!!), a Kohlswa, and a Peter Wright, all in very nice condition just in the past two months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 30, 2014 Share Posted April 30, 2014 Got a feed store nearby? Post a "wanted" poster on their bulliten board with tear off phone numbers. Are you a member of any groups in your area? (church, scouts, social, political, etc?) send the word out! I found an anvil in anvil poor NM in a day just by mentioning in church that I was hunting one---fellow *gave* it to me! Wating for folk to post ads trying to sell one is the slow expensive method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDrew Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 You can buy a hand crank blower from Centaur Forge. I'd keep a close eye on tailgate sales at local events or on Craigslist. I recently picked up an old Champion #40 off of Craigslist cheaper than a new one from Centaur Forge. It needed a little TLC but once I got her cleaned up she works great. I prefer to use an antique hand blower rathern than a new one is because one of the many joys this hobby brings is a tangible connection with the past. You won't get that with new made tools. Just a thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockstar.esq Posted June 27, 2014 Share Posted June 27, 2014 Alwe, I was in your exact situation two years ago so I built a box bellows out of plywood. Mine would probably rank "mediocre" by Thomas' appraisal above. The concept isn't too tough to understand. What's difficult is to know is what dimensions would be best. To make it simple, I built the box with a divider to create a cylinder and a manifold. Some of the plans I've seen online built a small box tacked on to the side of the cylinder to make a manifold. If I had it all to do again, I'd have made the whole thing smaller with a shorter stroke. I'd also recommend using some kind of laminate surface on the interior walls of the cylinder to make it smoother. I used craft felt to face the edges of the piston, and surround the valves. It puts out a lot of air - so much that I think it'd work better for a longer trough style forge like I've seem some sword makers use. A smaller box would cycle easier and be easier to mount. The cylinder on mine is roughly 10" square with a stroke of about 3.5' It was outputting to a 3" pipe running to the firebox. Each end has two valves that are approximately 2" x 4". There are two valves at each end on the manifold side as well. I've found it's easier to seal smaller valves but there must be enough of them to alleviate suction resistance. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up my new forge which has an integral hand crank blower. If we were closer I'd loan you my box bellows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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