thats a very nice simple gate valve ..I like that Thanks for sharing (incidentally bouncy castle blowers are about the most affordable option at the moment and have the guts to keep going for a decent amount of time.)
This design is so simple but genius, i just made a quick sketch to keep in the old idea book for a rainy day when or if i get an electric blower. I'm using an old Bufco hand crank blower from the mid 20's i restored and its still running strong. Thanks for the great info once again.
Thanks for this video, this is the most innovative design I've seen in years! I built my own for my forge today, it works like a dream. I've angled the opening towards me so the blast can cool me down a little. All the best.
I didn't take any pics today and I'm away from home for a while now. I did do a short video here: instagram.com/p/BH0DWv8jbQh/?taken-by=blacksmith_andy All the best
We made those for our exhaust pipes when we were kids. We called them a dump valves. Used sheet metal and made small ports in front of the mufflers. Made us loud and a sudden boost of power. But that's the exact same thing. I never thought of using it for this though. Good idea.
That's interesting - I've always heard them called dump valves but I have never knew they were also used to wake up the neighbours. Did you have a linkage to operate these valves or did you have to get under the car to set this up ?
Im in the planning stage of building my second forge. I picked up a bouncy room fan but think its too powerful. ive been thinking of using a single to dual exhaust pipe as my dump valve. Im trying to wrap my brain around it all. I think this box will help me to wrap (warp?) my brain around this better. Many thanks.
The nice thing about his system is you can use a large fan by setting up the timing valve to dump the extra air even when the main valve is wide open to the forge. For example you may need for wide open to actually be only 25% of the volume going to the forge and 75% dump. That's how I would have to set up the blower I'm using in a real forge ( this thurs video ) because 100% air from this fan to the fire would blow the coals right out of the firepot.
When I first saw this video, I thought that's nice, but I probably don't need it since my forge is not very hot and I have a little control on the air intake side. I learned my mistake today. While I had been using charcoal, I used coal in my forge for the first time. I burned up several pieces of metal. I no longer have any doubts whether my forge will be hot enough to forge weld! Needless to say, I'm now building the air valve based on your design. Thanks again!
That's great but based on the interest of this series I will be putting out a 3rd video showing a metal version of this valve attached to one of my portable forges - hopefully this thurs - so don't run out to the shop just yet.
I saw a design that had the dump air going up a chimney, introduced at a 60 degree angle up ward; 3-6 feet above the forge. Supposedly, this helped initiate a draft even with 100% dump, (when the fire was first started with no air being forced) and supposedly cut down on the dust... Never saw one in action
Sending the dump air up the chimney is a great idea especially if you are having trouble with downdrafts. The dust reduction claim is probably just due to not blowing all that extra air into the shop.
That's really cool. I use a single-speed fan in my backyard foundry and to control the air flow to the fire I just used a simple plumbing 90 degree 'Y'. The fan blows down the straight side of the 'Y' and the fire is fed off the 90 degree side. On the outbound end of the straight side is a simple pivoting gate, like you tried in the first video of this series. To increase air to the furnace you gradually close the gate and the back pressure forces the air down the 'Y' and into the fire. I haven't tested to see how much air gets to the fire when the gate is fully open (ie: the least air flow), but it quiets right down. It's basically the same principal as this timed gate concept except it relies on the air taking the path of least resistance away from the fire when the gate is open rather than forcefully diverting it away from the fire. I'm not sure if that's enough control for a forge fire, but it might be worth a shot and it's REALLY easy to make. At any rate, I intend to try it when I get time to set up a small forge of my own and I'm interested to hear thoughts on it. BTW, I didn't think this up, I got the basic idea from Colin Peck's book: www.artfulbodgermetalcasting.com/index.html.
That is the same principle and it would be fine for a foundry ( air on or off ) but I don't think it would give you the control required for a forge fire. I think there would be a midrange that would be hard to adjust so you would go from lots of air to very little. My valve gives you the full range like you would get from a variable speed fan. If you try it out before I do let me know how it works
I haven't studied it in depth, but the control is much better than just on/off, and needs to be for my particular oil burner because you need to sort of ramp it up to the heat you want (it's venturi-driven, not pressurized). My feeling of it though is that at the low end the adjustment is somewhat more fine than at the high end. Sort of like a parabolic curve where more adjustment give less results, whereas your design is more likely to give a linear adjustment. But that's just the feel of it. I haven't measured it or anything. I'm certainly going to try out the 'Y' fitting first as it's dead simple to make, but if it fails I'll use something like your design. I'll try to remember to get back to you on it. Thanks for some great content and good conversation.
I would definitely try that first as well. If it gives you the control you need than that's great. I was looking for something that reproduced the control you get from a hand cranked blower. Not something erratic like 5,10,15,30,60,100,300 cfm . Try to remember let me know how it turns out. Thanks
BlacksmithsDepot.com sells 3 inch and 4 inch air gates for $16 plus shipping. But it is always fun to make things. Also, Centaur Forge sells them for $19 plus shipping.
Te nice thing about this valve is that it allows you to use blowers that would normally be much to large for a forge. The blower in this video is from a small dust collector but I could have used a fan that was twice the size.
no, this valve is just used to control the amount of air getting to the fire from a single speed fan. If you can do that with a dimmer switch or you have a variable speed fan then you don't need this valve.
I tried the dimmer switch on mine... Didn't work. Blower kicks off then on at full power, then off again. Afraid I'd burn out the motor. So this is my best shot.
Nice simple design for the valve and also an excellent explanation on why such a valve is needed when using something like a leaf blower.
thats a very nice simple gate valve ..I like that
Thanks for sharing (incidentally bouncy castle blowers are about the most affordable option at the moment and have the guts to keep going for a decent amount of time.)
fixin to make a valve soon, would have drove me nuts over complicating things to engineer one. this is simple and effective, thanks for sharing!
This design is so simple but genius, i just made a quick sketch to keep in the old idea book for a rainy day when or if i get an electric blower. I'm using an old Bufco hand crank blower from the mid 20's i restored and its still running strong. Thanks for the great info once again.
Glad it gave you some ideas for the file.
Very slick design. Thanks again for sharing.
Nice idea I have been looking for. Stumbled upon it today. Well presented video. Thanks for sharing. Will definitely make myself one....
Thanks for this video, this is the most innovative design I've seen in years! I built my own for my forge today, it works like a dream. I've angled the opening towards me so the blast can cool me down a little. All the best.
glad it worked for you. Send a picture - I'll pass it around. Thanks
I didn't take any pics today and I'm away from home for a while now. I did do a short video here: instagram.com/p/BH0DWv8jbQh/?taken-by=blacksmith_andy
All the best
We made those for our exhaust pipes when we were kids. We called them a dump valves. Used sheet metal and made small ports in front of the mufflers. Made us loud and a sudden boost of power. But that's the exact same thing. I never thought of using it for this though. Good idea.
That's interesting - I've always heard them called dump valves but I have never knew they were also used to wake up the neighbours. Did you have a linkage to operate these valves or did you have to get under the car to set this up ?
We used flexible cable and a linkage. It was a pretty simple system.
Im in the planning stage of building my second forge. I picked up a bouncy room fan but think its too powerful.
ive been thinking of using a single to dual exhaust pipe as my dump valve. Im trying to wrap my brain around it all.
I think this box will help me to wrap (warp?) my brain around this better.
Many thanks.
The nice thing about his system is you can use a large fan by setting up the timing valve to dump the extra air even when the main valve is wide open to the forge. For example you may need for wide open to actually be only 25% of the volume going to the forge and 75% dump. That's how I would have to set up the blower I'm using in a real forge ( this thurs video ) because 100% air from this fan to the fire would blow the coals right out of the firepot.
+DF - In The Shop
lol. Thats what I'm afraid of, or just burning through too much coal too fast.
I'll be looking forward to Thursdays video. Thanks.
When I first saw this video, I thought that's nice, but I probably don't need it since my forge is not very hot and I have a little control on the air intake side. I learned my mistake today. While I had been using charcoal, I used coal in my forge for the first time. I burned up several pieces of metal. I no longer have any doubts whether my forge will be hot enough to forge weld! Needless to say, I'm now building the air valve based on your design. Thanks again!
glad it helped
Bonus points! : Direct the blowoff extra air to cool you down while working :-)
Excellent. I'm getting ready to build my third forge, this is very helpful for me.
That's great but based on the interest of this series I will be putting out a 3rd video showing a metal version of this valve attached to one of my portable forges - hopefully this thurs - so don't run out to the shop just yet.
nice job, I'll have to fab one of these up. thanks.
Great video.Thank you for your efforts, brilliant.
Thanks again
My father made one like that fifty years ago😊 still working great
I saw a design that had the dump air going up a chimney, introduced at a 60 degree angle up ward; 3-6 feet above the forge. Supposedly, this helped initiate a draft even with 100% dump, (when the fire was first started with no air being forced) and supposedly cut down on the dust... Never saw one in action
Sending the dump air up the chimney is a great idea especially if you are having trouble with downdrafts. The dust reduction claim is probably just due to not blowing all that extra air into the shop.
That's really cool. I use a single-speed fan in my backyard foundry and to control the air flow to the fire I just used a simple plumbing 90 degree 'Y'. The fan blows down the straight side of the 'Y' and the fire is fed off the 90 degree side. On the outbound end of the straight side is a simple pivoting gate, like you tried in the first video of this series. To increase air to the furnace you gradually close the gate and the back pressure forces the air down the 'Y' and into the fire. I haven't tested to see how much air gets to the fire when the gate is fully open (ie: the least air flow), but it quiets right down. It's basically the same principal as this timed gate concept except it relies on the air taking the path of least resistance away from the fire when the gate is open rather than forcefully diverting it away from the fire. I'm not sure if that's enough control for a forge fire, but it might be worth a shot and it's REALLY easy to make. At any rate, I intend to try it when I get time to set up a small forge of my own and I'm interested to hear thoughts on it. BTW, I didn't think this up, I got the basic idea from Colin Peck's book: www.artfulbodgermetalcasting.com/index.html.
That is the same principle and it would be fine for a foundry ( air on or off ) but I don't think it would give you the control required for a forge fire. I think there would be a midrange that would be hard to adjust so you would go from lots of air to very little. My valve gives you the full range like you would get from a variable speed fan. If you try it out before I do let me know how it works
I haven't studied it in depth, but the control is much better than just on/off, and needs to be for my particular oil burner because you need to sort of ramp it up to the heat you want (it's venturi-driven, not pressurized). My feeling of it though is that at the low end the adjustment is somewhat more fine than at the high end. Sort of like a parabolic curve where more adjustment give less results, whereas your design is more likely to give a linear adjustment. But that's just the feel of it. I haven't measured it or anything. I'm certainly going to try out the 'Y' fitting first as it's dead simple to make, but if it fails I'll use something like your design. I'll try to remember to get back to you on it. Thanks for some great content and good conversation.
I would definitely try that first as well. If it gives you the control you need than that's great. I was looking for something that reproduced the control you get from a hand cranked blower. Not something erratic like 5,10,15,30,60,100,300 cfm . Try to remember let me know how it turns out. Thanks
thank you so much for this . Using a air bed plug-in blower. It to much. Turn lightly sandy dirt to glass real ease and burn up the work.
Super cool!
BlacksmithsDepot.com sells 3 inch and 4 inch air gates for $16 plus shipping. But it is always fun to make things. Also, Centaur Forge sells them for $19 plus shipping.
Thanks
What would you suggest for blower specs
Te nice thing about this valve is that it allows you to use blowers that would normally be much to large for a forge. The blower in this video is from a small dust collector but I could have used a fan that was twice the size.
if a person uses a "light dimmer dial" to change fan speed should they still use a valve? why/why not?
no, this valve is just used to control the amount of air getting to the fire from a single speed fan. If you can do that with a dimmer switch or you have a variable speed fan then you don't need this valve.
I tried the dimmer switch on mine... Didn't work. Blower kicks off then on at full power, then off again. Afraid I'd burn out the motor. So this is my best shot.
A light dimmer will harm your motor
@@stevesyncox9893 how so?