Restoring a Champion “Midway” No. 71 Forge & Blower - Part 3: Blower Evaluation and New Legs 

I love how Keith makes the things to make the things.

11:24, This drawing is a Flashback to the 1950s and early 60s our family had one of these in our Workshop to repair our farm equipment

My first thought @15:50 was to clamp that bender to the table! 😁

'This is a good excuse to get it going.' My mantra.

Your craftsmanship makes me think of my brother. He would rather have the fun of restoring something old and make it like new instead of buying a brand new item. Most often resulting in having something better than you can buy off the shelf.

The ball bearings look to be the same as a bicycle front wheel bearings you can get them at a bicycle shop in a cage to booth

It seems crazy to cast a whole new gear wheel and cut 87 teeth. I would braze a piece of cast iron into the gap and just mill one tooth.

thank you for spreading your vast knowledge to the world .

Keith, may I suggest hi-temp never-seize on leg sockets and some nice lathe turned plugs at the floor end.

Morning Keith, if you have a metal angle gauge, the type that pivots and locks with a thumb nut, just stick it to the pipe with thin neo magnets. The first pipe bend sets the needed angle (resultant from your inch drop), such that when the vertical compass leg disappears plumb with the bender frame, you're good to go for the other legs.

thank you Keith

I was glad it sat well on the floor with the "eyeball" measurements on the legs.

I’m a little surprised that Keith doesn’t cut the bottom of the legs so they sit flat on the floor rather than having just small amount of contact with the edge of the pipe like it is now. It would be less likely to slide around that way but it did seem pretty solid when Keith was testing it out. Probably not worried about it but the way it is now it could scratch up his floor just from moving around or when he’s cranking the blower. Going good so far and it looks like we get another gear cutting video which are always good to watch.

I've had to deal with loose ball bearings like that and learned to put grease on the race and embed the balls in the grease. It helps reduce the aggravation by about 40%.

I like how the "wood side" of your shop has become a secondary wing of your metal shop. Not too many wood projects unfortunately, I sure would like to see some! Love your channel, Keith!

I was amazed when it sat perfectly stable when you first turned it over and put it on the concrete floor. The odds of that happening are slim to none.

Thank you for sharing.👍

Definitely make a new gear with that superb horizontal mill!!!!!

Nice work Keith those legs turned out great.

That tray looks great you do Amazing work Thanks 😊😊😊

Truly a renaissance man. Your lessons are so worthwhile. …but you SO lucked out in those leg lengths!!! 😂

The bandsaw is amazing... 🙂

Blower Bearing is on par with what you see in period bicycles. The inner race should be removable by tapping on the backside with a punch. To get the ball bearings to sit in the race you need to first pack the race with thick grease, then the ball bearings will stick in place. Now, picking up the ball bearings and holding them? I've seen speicalty tools that looked like tweezers with spoon bills, and I've seen some use a weak magnet on a wand, but using fingers work too.

Thanks for the video, Keith. See you at the Bar--Z. Jon

Nice to have the right tools for the job. Even better is to rescue old equipment, restore them and put them to use to fill that need for the project. Thanks for sharing.

What great video I have seen a forge like this being used in person !

keith you are so humble about your drawing but to us layman the drawing is fantastic!

Someone else has probably made this comment already... I'm a 20+ yr microscope fine mechanic/machinist... typically when dealing with loose ball bearings, completely fill in the races by embedding the balls in grease and then remove 1. Most people wouldn't think it's possible for chrome plated steel ball bearings to "bog down" but just like you have to have clearance and relief on cutting edges, you have to allow bearings a certain amount of "play" in loose (non caged) bearings... don't over-tighten either or you'll spoil the races.

The easiest option is to fill up the broken tooth with weld and recut that

Would like to see how your bench top grinders and wire wheels are set up, I have several and want to set them up in a good way.

I love the content you post. You are so down to earth about everything. The suspense of not knowing what you are going to make for Jimmy's band saw is killing me! Can't wait!

Good morning!

Ok Keith, Once again I soooo enjoy your content. Thanks!

Keith,,,,,for repeatability measure the RAM TRAVEL. - SOP when you are using hydraulic conduit benders. 😄

i took a 6" x 1 " strip and bent a 90 in it and tigged it to cylinder and added another tab on frame itself for repeatable bends , also i added the hydrulic 20 ton jack from harbor friegt works great

Cup and cone bearings with loose ball bearings. Takes me back to when I worked in a cycle repair shop. 1/4" was the standard size for the bottom bracket.

I thoroughly enjoy watching Keith's various projects. It seems like there is nothing he can't make. Thanks for hours and hours of interesting content. In this episode I wonder if a gear like this could be made from a peace of round cast.

Hi Keith n Australia we use the pipe benders in the Horizontal plane not vertically as you did I find they work better and I mark the angle I need with wielders chalk on the flat of the bender and it works well hope that helps James.

When you go to put the bearings back into the blower you can use a bit of grease to stick them into place. I used to do that with bicycle rims but the principal is the same. The reason we used to do that with bikes is that the cage would degrade to the point where it would mess up the races.

Great job thanks for sharing

Keith, the pipe press is intended to work on the floor and not on a workbench. Gives it a lot more stability.

Thanks for sharing

Good job.

Greetings from the sunny UK! Nice to see this project again. But I'm really surprised that you chose NOT to repair but replace with new! We know you can recut helical gears and for the amount of use you suggest you are going to be getting out of this forge, casting then cutting 87 new teeth (instead of just 1) seems to be an overly expensive option. Was there some other problems with the gear that you didn't explain?

Whole new gear😊

If you bend pipe again count the full pump strokes and give each pipe the same number of pumps and you will get the same angle of bend. I agree with some of the other comments, the legs need some sort of feet on them. Maybe a nice brass ball with a protrusion to drive into the pipe. I love you videos and if I were nearby I would volunteer to assist when you need another set of hands.

What ever happened to the stoker engine project I would like to see it back in the line up

Wishing these kind of things were comm,on around here. Took 5yrs to find a decent post vise, although once I got it home, found out it was a bit bigger than normal, i.e. 90lb, 5.5" jaws, dated 1896, no other markings, or identifiable features. After 6-87yrs dabbling in blacksmithing, I've still got no more than a brake drum forge with as hair drier blower.

Great job Keith. I love watching your channel.

Hi Ole Buddy! You seem to have lost some weight. Noticed in the last few videos. Hope you are well, lookin good!

I'm trying to understand why in the world you'd go through all the effort of drawing, pattern making, casting, and then cutting a new gear when you've brazed hundreds of broken teeth in the past. Was there something about the broken gear that made you think the braze wouldn't be strong enough- especially when the gear sees only the load of a hand spun blower fan!? This seems like an expensive and odd choice for the repair.

Just build up the missing tooth with braze and re-cut it! It'll out last you!

Another great episode! Thank you Keith!

nice..............thank you

my champion forge has the feet on the pipe legs forged down to a flat pad foot to give it a better foot.

Your weight reduction surgery is working good!!!

Good Morning Keith in Georgia!😊

No way those legs would have been even if I was to bend and cut and install them. I would have spent another hour grinding to get it to sit flat. Keith is that good and maybe a little lucky. Thanks for the video.

Whats your problem welding in a new gear tooth . Drill& tap 3 little studs and Braze it or tig weld it with EUTECTIC CAST IRON TIG RD . RIGHT .

looking forward to seeing some hot coal and glowing iron

Joe Pie has a video on cutting those spokes in a gear with a rotary table. He makes it look easy enough. McMaster sells those cast disc for making lapping plates, and I bet they have one close enough in size to make your gear. It will probably be much simpler for you to have one cast since you've "got a guy," though.

Can you buy a cast iron handwheel of approximately the right size and turn it into a replacement gear?

My father used to have a little Buffalo Forge that he conveniently turned into a BBQ Pit and that was our Barbecue Pit for many years Anna's kids playing in the neighborhood if you ran the blower handle backwards it made a post-apocalyptic sound that sounded like a siren and we be in the backyard playing g.i. Joe or some shit and all of the sudden the aliens would attack and you'd hear the post-apocalyptic siren what it was to be a kid LOLOLOL

Just wondering Keith on that gear, could you have turned all the teeth off and made a sleeve to shrink fit onto the body then cut your teeth

I have a blower somewhat yours, and someone took one of the grease cups. So I have to make one. Oh well.

Can also make the blank for the gear using a cast iron blank, an annular cutter and the rotary table on the mill. I had to do one very fast, less than three days a few years ago, and it went pretty fast that way. All the holes are programmable with the DRO and the final cuts are just milling ops using the rotary table to rotate and the mill to cut the spokes to relieve the blanks. I never measured the total time from cast iron blank to gear blank, but i think it took me 7~8 hours with a few breaks. The idea is not original, i first saw this done by one of the mini steam engine makers ages ago at the dawn of RU-vid, all i did was scale the gear they cut to 30 cm OD. One of my first big size projects on the mill actually, i was pretty chuffed with how it came out in the end.

Nice

Mhen ever Keith works on the "Wood side" of his shop I smile. I would have done that with my port-o-band and a grinder. It might have been about 50% as effective, but 0% as cool

Hi Keith i was saying get some clamps . If a guy didn't want to cast a blank what alloy steel plate or round stock would you choose . Thanks for all the cool video . JM

I'll be interested in seeing how you cut an 87 tooth gear, Keith. Being indivisible by any number, may be you have an 87 hole plate for your dividing head.

Hi Keith, quick question about babbitt bearing scraping. I work at an old grist mill. The shafts that support the stone (~2000lb) terminate in a babbitt thrust bearing of sorts. Essentially just a square cup filled with babbitt with a divot formed for the base of the shaft. The shaft end itself is domed with an ~1" radius. The former bearing wore out. Pouring the babbitt isn't new, but I'm curious how you would scrape the babbitt. I haven't found a scraper that fits it.

Regarding off the shelf gears, perhaps constraining your search to an exact match to your 14 pitch, 87 tooth gear is asking a bit too much. Perhaps if you were willing to consider changing the little gear this 87 tooth gear mates to, you might have more success finding a new pair of gears that will serve you well enough. EG if you can only get 16 pitch gears, but can get one in near the same diameter as the 87 tooth original and a little gear that's the correct dimensions to match it, then you'd be off to the races. Exact ratio matching wouldn't be absolutely necessary.

Just thought would have screwed legs in first and tried to see where bend should come.😊

This reminds me of Justin, from the "Good of the Land," channel. He did a restoration of a forge several years ago. I know you attended one of his events, a few years ago.

Remember all them handwheel ?

Mr Rucker, the blower gear doesn’t move very fast or have a lot of forces on it. I would’ve just weld it up and cut it to shape.

Keith, just curious, why wouldnt you just soak it all in Evaporust?

It would have been easy enough to adjust the original leg braces...all you need is a forge.

Really surprised you don't braze in a new tooth on the gear wheel. Seems a lot of trouble and expense to cast & machine a new gear. I'd understand if it were a machine part but it is a hand operated gear with attendant low forces. It's also a hidden part and anyway I enjoy your brazing!

Not just for forging? Might this become a great place to heat large pieces of cast iron prior to brazing? Even heating, without having to use a lot of gas??

It looks to me like the leg braces should go on the outside of the legs… Seems that would be a stronger way to keep them from splaying out.

I'm hearing Keith say he's lost his bearings.

Will you be radiusing the spokes to match the original?

surprised you are not going for a brazed fix on the gear. For you a simple job.. Seems like with the low use that will see compared to it's history it would survive a brazed tooth. You used to do that quite often.

12:27 I could tell it was chinese by the sheer thin-ness of the metal used in it!

I think I would have made locking nuts for the legs. Perhaps because I am paranoid when working with cast.

the end of the legs need to be flat with the floor, not 30 degrees with it. You need to go back to your set up and mark with the table, not 90 to the pipe.

It looks like you are trying to make the braces for the legs fit on the inner diameter, did you try it with the brace flipped over, having the ends wrap around the legs? I feel you probably have but it seemed like a simple thing to miss.

Seems like in the past if you had something with a lot of rust on it you'd start off by putting it in a tub with rust remover. Lately it seems like you just don't do that anymore. True? If so, why the change?

Do you have a roof cover or shade tree so you can accurately read the color of the metal in the forge? If you are in sunlight you just might burn your piece. I still have about 300 lb. of forge-quality coal left over from the forge that I gave away. I am seriously thinking about a brake drum forge just for small pieces. BTW, I have the same HF bender and bent 1.5" cement-lined pipe. You can use the bender laying flat on the floor. A couple of angle indicators such as the HF gravity angle indicators. Just divide the angle you want by 2 and use that reading on both sides of the pipe. Also if it were your bender make a clamp (see internet) to keep the piece bent from migrating to the side and ruining your center of bend if you are bending a measured set of bends. I also duct tape one end of my pipe, fill it with damp sand, and cap it with duct tape and it will do a good job preventing kinks.

This may have been asked already but…. Why did you cut the feet perpendicular to the pipe and not parallel to the floor? This, IMHO, would have given a larger downward ‘footprint’?

Would be happy to help out with 3d printing needs... Not too bad with cad either... Been designing and printing for a few years now

*- Are the 4 iron straps supposed to bolt together Outside of the legs, wedging tight on the feet?*

Keith have you setup an anvil and base for the forge already❓❓Would Love to see it!😍👍

When bending the legs, I would have measured from the table to the end of the pipe.

👍

Should repair that gear...

Good morning Keith. It is coming along nicely. What will you be able to get for fuel?

A possibly stupid question: I noticed your design for the gear had no dimensions. Does the number of teeth together with the tooth pitch tell you how big the gear will be?

I'd put some leg brackets on asap, you wouldn't want to break those threaded castings off the "bowl", yikes!