Good Idea Bad Idea?

[TheCahill]

ok so ive been looking at "Actual" forge blowers and found out that i didnt want to spend 70 bux on a fan for my new forge so i started thinking of other things that had fans in them and the idea for using a cheap (30bux) electic leaf blower came up ... now would this be good or bad if its a bad idea please explain why .. it might keep me from hurting myself in the future

 

[Bruce Bump]

I dont know the correct cubic feet of air per minute you need but I would say the leaf blower will overheat your steel in a hurry. Just for an example a simple hair dryer is plenty of air to reach welding heat. If you can put a varible speed control on the hair dryer it would be better yet.

By the way.... Welcome to Shop Talk. Hang around and tell us how you do with the new forge.

 

[TheCahill]

thanks i was thinking that the 172 CFM the leaf blower puts out would be a little much (but then again it had a hand controll) i sure hope my GF doesnt notice her hair drier missing

BTW thanks for the warm welcome

 

[rotor]

i use a 50 cfm kitchen exhaust fan with a ceiling fan reostat it puts out far more than i need even running at 20 psi ttotal cost at lowes or home depot 29 dollars