fan for forge burner?

[Will52100]

I just got done building a new gas forge, this one is a little less "junky" than the old one and I'll use my standard red neck blower for a while but would like to upgrade to something better than taping a hair drier to the end of a venturie burner. Hey, it works surprisingly well, just have to remove the hair drier as soon as you shut down or things start to melt.

My main question is where to get a decent blower?

Thanks

 

[bryce]

http://www.grainger.com

should have it for you

 

[JTknives]

my blower is a vacume motor that fits inside a pipe and then reduces down to 1 1/2" black iron pipe. vac motor is run from a varac that controls voltage.

 

[Will52100]

Thanks, I looked several years ago and couldn't find an old vacume cleaner for sale for cheap, so I tried taping a hair dryier and it worked even if it is a little combersom to mount up.

I'll check out grainger and see what they got.

 

[Will52100]

I am looking through grainger, anybody know what CFM is required? 100CFM should work I'd think, and so far all I've seen are plastic blowers.

 

[bryce]

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/categories/hvacr/blowers/small-centrifugal-blowers

mine is apparently 110 cfm but it hasnt worked yet so i couldnt say thats the right one

i have read 150 cfm on one page but i dont know for sure it probley depends on a bunch of things

 

[Will Leavitt]

Here is what I'm using for my next forge blower. It's contollable using the elcheapo router speed controller.

Ebay link just to show what they look like, not suggesting this seller or anything:

http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTABLE-LEAF-D...ryZ29516QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've got one coming, so I don't know the exact dimensions of openings and such, saw a guy on another forum using this same blower so I'm giving it a go.

Will
formerly known as badbamaump

 

[sunshadow]

I have a couple of old Kirby vacuum cleaners I got fro scavenging the blowers out of. My first 2 gas forges I had airflow design issues, so I thought my initial 150CFM blower from Grainger was inadequate and bought a 350 CFM, then I redesigned my forge/burner assembly design, now I run both of those blowers almost completely closed down and get better weld temps with less fuel consumption, my next gas forge will probably have one of those Kirby blowers on it (metal housing and impeller) with a homemade triac speed control (basically a dimmer) I may sell the other two kirby blowers

-Page

 

[M.Griffin]

I got my blower from my wood stove. My stove had two blowers which was was too much heat for my small house so I was forced to find a good use for the extra. I don't know what the CFM on it is, but it moves a lot of air.
-Mike

 

[Will52100]

What do you all think of this one? http://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/Templates/cart_templates/cart_search.php

I may try one of the grainger blowers, thanks for the link.

 

[Raymond Richard]

Will, I use a bathroom exhaust fan I picked up at Home Depot. I got the cheapest one I cold find at about 12 bucks. It really does work.

 

[raker]

Will,
I use a shop vac on my big forge that supplies 4 burners. You can adjust the air by closing off part of the intake side, or the vacuum side of the shop vac. You can pick those up at garage sales pretty cheap sometimes. I think I paid $7.00 for the last one I found.
I finally got my big forge working right. Looks kind of wild but it gets hot very quick. Hope to heat some steel tomorrow and see how it cooks.
The cfm will probably be alright on most small fans. If the hair dryer works, that should give you a clue. If you really want to get up some btu's, you will need more air. I think you should be able to regulate the volumn of gas that goes in. That way, whatever cfm's you use, you can get the inside atmosphere pretty close to neutral for less scale.
Will, I will email you a pic of the new forge burner set up a little later.
Ray

 

[A C Richards]

Check out your local heating repair shop. They often have blowers that they have taken out of heaters etc, they are still good and work great. You can also get a forced air heater blower for a shop fan or filter.

Chuck

 

[C L Wilkins]

I have a 4C443 blower from Grainger on my horizontal forge. Works well.

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/items/4C443

I also have a gate valve between the blower and the burner assembly. Works well to restrict air flow. Better than trying to regulate the intake with a piece of cardboard.

Craig

 

[Will52100]

Well I got it up and cooked the satanite to cure it, it's got a coating all around the inside, I was out of ITC-100, and about 1/2" thick layer on the floor for flux resistance. I'm not in a hury now, I hooked the hair drier burner up and it gets to welding temp quick, but I'll keep and eye out for a better blower. I don't know why I want some thing a bit better, the hair drier has been working for around 7 years now, not the same hair drier though.

What you got there Craig is kinda what I've got in mind.

I'll post some pics as soon as I can find a resizing program, my computer crashed a while back and I lost everything.

Ray, you get a chance post some pics of your new monster.

Thanks for all the ideas guys.

 

[raker]

Will,
I can't post attachments here. I did send the pics to you in case you want to. I don't have a problem with that. That one that Craig has looks like something I could use.

 

[Will52100]

Send em' on Ray, I'll post them if I ever find anouther image resizer. There used to be a link to one over on TKN tutorials, but it's gone now. I'm doing a search now for one which is a pain with dial up.

I'll agree with you on the blower, it definatly looks like what I've got in mind.

 

[John Frankl]

Surplus center usually has a few good ones, cheap.

John

 

[Will52100]

Here's some pics, 1" square tubing salvaged several years ago from a K-mart atomotive display, inner dimensions are 7.5" x 13.5" long. I used angle iron from an old bed rail and scrap flat bar to make a rack to hold fire brick so I can open or close as needed depending on work size and shape. Also I can shut it down and put a plug in the burner opening and use it to slow cool as part of an anealing cycle. Also a good pick of my red neck forge burner, it's basicly a venture burner that I taped a hair drier too.

 

[Will52100]

Here's some pics of Ray's monster forge, more like a steel smelter! That's a normal sized forge in one of the pics next to the monster.