tobykilroy Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hi, I'm currently using a small camp bed pump with my forge and aside from leaving me shattered the air flow doesn't seem to be consistent enough. After a bit of research I have found out that buying one new will set me back a bit more than I can spare at the moment. Can anyone suggest a good, readily available alternative? Thanks in advance, Toby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Lumpkins Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I use a squirrel cage.( heater motor) outta a 64 chevy truck. it works pretty good,Plenty of air, I just need to fix a switch on it so I can turn it off and on easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbalist Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Lots of folks seem to use car heater fans, but one idea I came across the other day was to fit a standard domestic extractor fan into a steel Jerry can and feed a pipe from it to the Forge. There are some good ideas out there! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matt87 Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Or use a metal ammunition can from your local army surplus. Then you can run control wires inside and mount them through the wall, and open the lid for access. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbalist Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Or use a metal ammunition can from your local army surplus. Yes, I thought about that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Yes, I thought about that too. everyboddy's always talking about these amunition cans around here... never seen one, wouldn't know where you cold get a thing like that... are there just bulits lying around everywhere over there in the US? :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johannes Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 try going to a heating or airco repair companny, sometime they have broken units , but , with a working fan in there. you can get em at junk prise usually, but you'l have to take apart the unit yourself. also an old vacum cleaner in reverse.. but thats a bit of a noisy sollution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisB Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 The Military sells the empty cans for scrap to the highest bidder. They usually end up in "surplus" stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabre Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 a shop vac on a dimmer is what i used for awhile..on the lowest setting thevac still put out too much air so i made a valve form pvc and carboard! worked great...just hook the hose on the vac to the blow spot and your ready to go Try ebay for a hand crank blower...got mine from there for 70 bucks! 10 bucks to ship it witch =80 bucks.....blower works GREAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Find a local heating and cooling repair business and get one from a usit they pulled. The new gas furnaces here in the states have a nice small blower for the forced exhaust that should work a treat. Also photo copiers contain blowers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devon blacksmith Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 A hair dryer or a vacuum cleaner,are things I have heard of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hill.josh Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I use a ten dollar hair dryer with a valve made of pvc "T" and steel sheet, the sheet fits into the opening thats 90 degrees from the two others but cardboard would be better because it could be cut easier and get a better fit because of that.. also the one that the carboard fits into needs to be parallel to the ground so it won't fall out and should be left open to allow the air to escape when the valve is closed completley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martin Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I use a mighty electric Champion 400 blower, I could power at least 4 smiths at welding heat with it. I have to barely crack the air gate to get welding heats I started with a hair dryer. Worked real good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Browne Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Hand cranker for me, total control. Not much good with coke though as it goes out if there is no air pumping through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 m brothers champ is a real wonder. It is the fan and housing from a 14 inch champion that Some long past smith updated with a GE electric motor. When I first hauled it home and rewired it I shot a mouse nest clear across the yard with it. I'm glad he's happy with it. Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 I have a blower from a Kodak photo processing machine. Squirrel Cage type, cap on blower is twin bore, looks like a shotgun. It fed two pipes so I'll use it to power the forge and create a forced air chimney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryCarroll Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 My shop forge (coal) has a blower/injector from an oil furnace with adjustable air flow that can be tuned with a lever on the front of the forge from a slight breeze to enough air to blow the fire outta the pot! The furnace was being replaced with a natural gas heater so I got the blower and a bunch of working stock just for hauling it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 m brothers When I first hauled it home and rewired it I shot a mouse nest clear across the yard with it. I'm glad he's happy with it. Finnr John or the mouse? Frosty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnr Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Frosty. Yes! Finnr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Martin Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Lol, the mouse nest. When he said it the first time, I thought he said he fired a mouse across the yard. However some of those industrial blowers that used in factories for venting could prolly easily blow me across the yard. Lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tobykilroy Posted October 16, 2008 Author Share Posted October 16, 2008 Well I've got something cobbled together now. Used a fan out of a pc server, an ajustable power supply, some piping and loads of gaffer tape (the king amongst tapes)! Works a treat! Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
divermike Posted October 16, 2008 Share Posted October 16, 2008 After I broke the handle off of my buffalo blower, I dissassembled an old vacuum cleaner, made a slide gate and it worked great. Recently John Rausch gave me a blower that was made for this purpose, even better!! but the old vacuum motor is still standing by!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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