Here are some additional pictures - just not sure if it is what you are looking for?

one for picture of hood back

Can you get a shot showing all of the pipe connecting the back of the forge to the intake of the blower?

Htinva, yours is pretty complete. 

 

Other than the clinker breaker and arm missing. 

I'd give an offer if you are going to sell it. 

 

To use it, there are more control issues vs non down draft types so there is added complexity.  

Not really sure if the down draft is as effective as they advertised. 

I do plan on making my own designed unit if I can't get one in the next few years.

 

The school will use coal as long as I can get it.  So really want to find a solution for startup smoke. 

 

 

Your unit looks like it might have had an electric option and someone switched it to hand. 

Don't worry about the concrete..  Back in the day that was normal.  When I say day..  I mean 50's and such.  Adding Salt to the mix helped prevent steam explosions on newly lined forges.. 

Your forge is well aged and all ready cracked so no worries..  

The only real problem is when wetting the fire or green coal and having the water seep down between the cracks and collecting under the cement and rusting out the pan. 

Great pictures. The hand crank blower is original to the forge. The blower below the forge looks to be a sheet metal job , probably a squirrel cage blower put together for some unknown purpose. but not original.  The picture  below is your blower out of  a catalog. 

Nice forge, good score! Back in the day portland cement was often mixed 2:1 with fire clay for fire places, pits and forge tables like yours. Cracks like the ones in yours would just fill with ash and clinker and be ignored in use.

Frosty The Lucky.

I am preserving /restoring a buffalo 660  Forge. Please see my video for progress.

 

 

Nice! So did you get lucky with the blower blades all being intact or did you fabricate those?

Blower blades are all intact. In fact, the wires that are braised to those blades to support them is still in place.

On 11/19/2022 at 6:40 AM, giantdude33 said:

Some folks have asked for pictures so I wanted to include what I have so far.

I have finally finished my Forge project. Two things that I would like to add if I find them are an

 

 

original quench box and a buffalo motor to drive the blower.

/That is so cool..  Do you shutters work too?  

Nice job.. Looks great..  Remember to be careful with watered Coal in the forge bed..   Also remember to add some clay before firing around the firepot.. You don't have to fill it up but going tot he height of the flange on the firepot will help out a bunch..  

Many of these forges were cracked from watered coal and no heat absorber/dispenser..  The clay acts as a buffer. 

The shutters do work. Now I just have to get it out of my garage..I am thinking weld up a frame with wheels :-)... Thanks much for your advise and kind words. It is greatly appreciated.

Attached is my finished project. The moderator did not like my previous video. I am hoping they don't find issue with this one. 

 

 

 

 

The blower blades are markedly different than the standard 200 blower blades.. 

It's neat that they reinforced the blades to deal with the extra heat of the incoming hot air, smoke, etc. 

 

Nice.. Be great to see how the shutters and controls for the pressurized air and the intake air make a difference.. 

Once I get a fire going in this I will post my findings …I’m curious myself.. apparently returning the hot gas back through the blower and back into the firebox add some fuel efficiency ??anyway, it’ll be cool just to see the smoke sucked  back through the blower…

keep in mind, it's the unburnt gases you want to send back.. 

Not the heated gases that are lighter.. 

There are butterfly valves to change the way the air is both taken in from the lower port or lower tuyere and pushed thru into the firepot.. 

There is also a butterfly valve for the upper discharge valve that pushes air out the top..  This creates a venturi effect and blows the smoke up the chimney as an assist. 

you have what I like to call the "throttle Valve"  this controls 2 aspects at once from what I can tell.. 

These units are more troublesome to to use if you don't have experience as they need to be adjusted in use to be used to maximum efficiency.. 

The heavy smoke when first starting the fire is the smoke that will be drawn into the lower smoke reclamation intake.. 

The flame once established is supposed to go up the chimney and not recycled thru the blower.  

I'm excited for you..   But it will give you fits until you figure it out.. 

An 8" flue is very small considering the amount of volume and velocity it will need..  That is why it has the air or venturi assist. 

There is are some minor differences between the 6660 models and the 660 models..  

from the photos it's hard to tell if you have the secondary butterfly valves but from your clean-up photos I believe I had seen one of the valves in the photo.. 

This is also why there’s the gated opening on the pipe into the back of the blower. Once the fire is burning cleanly, you open that up so that you’re pulling fresh air into the blower rather than heated gases out of the flue. 

In principle, this is very similar to the “smoke-catcher” that Alexander Weygers describes in The Modern Blacksmith:

Yes, yes.. 

juts more complex..   Shutters in the hood,  Venturi stack assist, smoke sucker to feed back into fire..  and adjustable butterflies for both... 

The Forges for the school will have a system like the Buffalo.. but I might also include a preheated firepot air system that feeds heated air into the tuyere.. 

Ok. so I went and did it.. I bought a 6660 with down draft hood. 

My shutters are missing..  Love to see how they are and how they work?  shape, thickness and length..  Also curious if your have the divider plate for smoke and fire.. 

On this unit there are 2 holes in the back. One is covered up with a block off plate. The other looks to be a hole if the unit was to be left handed vs right.. 

I'm wondering if this hole was plugged at the factory. 

I have taken a bunch of photos in decent lighting. 

The top hood is a 12" opening.. 

The blower is a Silent 200 14". 

The firepot in this is larger than a typical Vulcan firepot. 

Edited October 10, 20232 yr by Mod34
Removed @ tag

That looks like a nice one… I’ve attached some pictures of the shutters for you if you want additional information, just let me know.

Thanks you..

It's hard to tell in the photo.. Are they shaped like a wing with the axle on the backside? 

Also do they fill the entire inside of the hood? 

The firepot in this one has no side lips..   The side lips were designed to rest on the bricks or to tuck the clay in..  This firepot is completely flat. 

 

I’ll take the hood off my forge tomorrow and get some really clear pictures of the shutters and some exact dimensions for you

Wow, Thanks..  If the hood is together while I appreciate you taking it apart.. 

Just a photo will do. I believe the rods are 5/16?   They slide inside what looks like cast iron wing shapes. 

Something like this.. 

Jennifer, that thing looks like a beast.  How much does it weigh, approximately?  Could you please explain how a "down draft forge" works for those of us unfamiliar with them?  Maybe a diagram?

Thanks,

George