[TheForge] Re: Electric Blower question

[Mike Spencer]

> Instead of an airgate to add resistance try putting in  an air spill.
> Run the air into one branch of a Tee and out the leg to the fire,. Put 
> the air gate on the other branch of the Tee.

At one point when I was doing demos at MIT, Sam Allen got new commercial
forges, rheostats and blowers.  Installed by Institute electricians,
no changes allowed to wiring.  No way to get rheostat settings that
covered the desirable range of air flow -- always too much or too
little.

It was probably a geek solution, but I installed a sheet metal tee
with a butterfly disk in the stem *and* one arm, air inlet in the
other arm.  Linked the two butterflies together so that as one opened
the other closed and vice versa.  Not very complicated, just two little
cranks and a link rod from 3/16" round and a 2nd link rod out to where
you could  push it in and out for a control.

Just one butterfly in an air spill tee would probably have been
quite sufficient.  Ho hum.

On my own forge I have an old 1/4HP AC/DC motor and use a cheap
household light dimmer to control it.  I read somewhere something to
the effect that you have to put a capacitor across such a rig but it
works fine without.  YMMV etc.

- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^