Thomas H. Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I am assembling a brake drum forge and I was wondering possible forge blowers ideas. I was wondering if a leaf blower might do that trick. But I am afraid the force of the air will send the hot coals airborne. A hairdryer maybe, but not really on my top list because I am afraid that it will break from over heating. My best shot I guess is probably picking up a BBQ hand crank blower, but I am not sure. If there are any websites that sell forge blowers or bellows for under $100 or less please let me know. And let me know any other ideas that are handy in a blacksmith shop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles R. Stevens Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Hair dryer, bathroom exaust fan, electric bed inflaiter, clohes dryer fan or build a bellows (about 1/2 a dozen styels i can think of) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Old canister vacuum, plenty of squirrel cage fans on scrap commercial copiers, and other office equipment. I use hand crank blowers because I don't have power where I have my smithy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Welcome aboard Thomas, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many IFI folk live within visiting distance.A hair drier won't get hot enough to melt for a couple reasons. First, put it a little ways away on a short length of pipe, 18"-24" is plenty. Second it has cool air blowing through it so unless burning coals fall into it it'll stay cool.A box bellows is really easy to make from a cardboard box and duck tape. There are a lot of options from home made from bicycle parts, setting up in a prevailing wind with a funnel to collect wind. (I've done the last and it worked a treat but a prevailing wind is hard to find) A sack and a piece of pipe makes a fine bellows.Under $100.00 shouldn't be a problem but will take patience. Just don't get your heart set on one type, being adaptable is a prime ability in this craft.Frosty The Lucky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Bellows are an easy project, make some. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 (edited) Funny you ask as we have a entire section dedicated to bellows.The listing of thread titles is over 12 pages long. Suggest you pack a lunch and a cold drink before you go. Edited March 19, 2015 by Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo7 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Heater fan out of a car (Thanks Moony) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpankySmith Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I briefly had a coal forge before moving to propane, used a little inline booster fan from Home Depot that did the trick nicely. It's designed to be installed inside a duct to boost the flow. If I recall it was somewhere in the $20-25 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norrin_radd Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Everyone has pretty much given you all the good suggestions so I cant add much. But I can tell you that I get good results out of the bathroom exhaust fan. I show it in a post about my forge, in the forge chimney section under "Video of my new forge and chimney" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 under the "don't annoy the neighbors" aspect of smithing I wouldn't use anything that was excessively LOUD. If you are in the parts of CA that use furnaces to heat the house on a regular basis then a local HVAC business might have a lot of the exhaust assist blowers used on super efficient furnaces to make sure the not very hot exhaust goes out the chimney. They may have a bunch of used ones in their bone pile.These are NOT the blowers to move air through the heating ducts! Much smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkie Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I use a HD bathroom fan, hardly run it wide open, $15 new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K. Bryan Morgan Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 I use a Bucket Head Shop Vac I got at HD for about $20. It stays out in the weather and survives -60f temps. I've been using it for 5 years. Oh, and I use a sliding light dimmer to adjust the blast. Easy peasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SReynolds Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 What does that sound like..I mean working with a vacuum cleaner operating? I'd want to pull out my hair after a few minutes of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I'd be more concerned about neighbors with pitchforks and torches; I often wear hearing protectors!. My first set of single acting bellows cost me about a dollar to build using scrounged materials. It's still on my Y1K forge set up along with it's high dollar sibling---bought the leather for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puck Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 You could make a Japanese bellows box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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