What Blower for a forced air burner forge?

[chknifemaker]

I was building a forced air burner and was looking for a quality blower and was looking for some advise as to where to get it, which one, what kind etc....
Thanks

 

[C.I.TR3]

When I was building my blown burner this blower got a lot of really good reviews and recommendations. I ended up scrounging one for free from a friend but would have gone this route otherwise. Not cheap but ...

http://www.blacksmithsdepot.com/products/forge-fan-fuel/forge-blowers.html

Hope that helps.

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Some more info will be needed for a good answer.

How big is the forge?
How big is your burner pipe?
How big is your air manifold pipe?
How are you planning on controlling the air flow.

A proper and good quality forge blower has more static pressure than a simple squirrel cage blower from a bathroom fan. Places like Centaur Forge, and many other blacksmith supplies sell them. That said, most smaller forges run fine on a simple Dayton blower from eBay. Try and get something that puts out 80-120CFM. If at all possible, get a DC powered blower and hook it to a DC sped control. An AC blower will run off a light dimmer switch in many cases, but it isn't the optimal setup. Again, many forges run a $20 eBay used blower fan with a dimmer switch and wok just fine.

Not saying this is the one you need, but this blower will run a good size forge.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-IN-BOX-...236?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d4890914
From Centaur Forge:
http://www.centaurforge.com/searchprods.asp

A visit to your local heating and AC guy may get a used unit from an old gas/oil burner for free.

 

[chknifemaker]

Can you have trouble with to powerful a blower? Thanks Guys!

 

[Salem Straub]

Stacy makes a good point about the HVAC guys being a place to look. I got an old oil burner for free one time, had a really great forge blower on it...
It's good to have some sort of blast gate, to control the air to the forge. I use a 2" plumbing gate valve on my main blown forge, it works well and you can find them at second hand stores etc for a lot cheaper usually than new. Grizzly sells blast gates too, for around $12 IIRC. One nice thing about a blast gate as opposed to using just a fan speed control, is you get to keep more air pressure in your blast, making for a nice fast flame and good mix.

 

[Chris Pierce]

I used shop air with some old break line and a ball valve. Easy and cheap.

 

[CWendling]

Im about to build a larger forge. 10" od that after 2" of lining will be about 6" inner diameter and 18" long or so. Probably going double burner and want to go blown. How many CFM should blower be?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Your chamber is about 3 cubic feet volume. I would think 100CFM would be plenty.