forge blower (hair dryer?)

[sunny_2_75]

Ive seen hair dryers used as forge blowers. Is this an acceptable practice? does it give enough air?...too much air? The old hand crank blowers seem to be tough to get...Ive been looking on E-Bay and they want alot for them. want to make a smaller forge simular to Tim Lively's. Will the hair dryer work ok for this size of forge? Thanks for any and all feed back.

 

[Kentucky]

It'll work, done it myself. Just make sure your tuyere is big enough. Around 2"..

 

[Hesparus]

I use a Tim Lively style forge with a hair drier as a blower. He mentioned in one of his tutorials that he used to use a hair drier. I bought a new one for less than $10 at walmart and cut the wires for the heating coil. The hair drier blows into a tin can, which is attached to the drier with duct tape, which necks down to a 1" black steel pipe. I drilled holes every 1" alternating between 3/16" and 1/4" (I'd have done them all 1/4" but my drill really sucked). The only problem I've had with the hair drier is that it was originally giving me too much air (on the low setting), so I had to punch some holes in the tin can to let some of the extra out. Or if you're good with electronics, you can put in a rheostat.
In short, a hair drier makes a great blower.

- Chris

 

[Hengelo_77]

I've hardened two blades in a BBQ.
It was burning coals and we used the hair drier to just blow air in to the fire.
It did work, but I am now looking in to something more controled and precise