Primitive Technology: Water powered forge blower

Primitive Technology: Water powered forge blower

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About This Video:
I made a water powered forge blower to blow air into a furnace. Getting running water to power a blower had been on my list for a while now and the weather had been wet enough to cause enough flow in the creek to try one. A significant part of the labour in doing an iron smelt comes from the operation of the air supply (unless natural draft is used). The current air supply method I use was a hand powered, centrifugal fan encased in a housing as seen in previous videos.

I had a 2 ideas as to how to automate this with water power. The first method was to build a large, slow water wheel and run a rope belt around it linking it to the smaller, faster fan rotor to spin it. I tried this and it kept having issues due to the rope not spinning the blower effectively and also the fact that the water level changed and the wheel stopped moving.

The second idea was to use a small diameter water wheel directly connected to the fan rotor with a water spout dropping the flow onto the wheel at a height. This turned out to be the simplest and most effective of the methods with rotor speeds between 6 and 8 revolutions a second being attained. The then encased the fan inside the existing blower housing and tested the blower on a furnace build in front of it. The blower did indeed work though not as powerfully as a hand powered one.

With some adjustments, the blower may be improved so it becomes competitive with the hand powered method. The water powered method will go endlessly without human effort and does not wear out any rope as does the hand powered method. It's simple and reliable and I'll be doing more experiments with it in future.

00:00-00:23 Wet season and Furnace
00:23-01:26 Toy water wheel
1:26-08:59 Design 1, Large wheel, belt drive and fan
08:59-16:14 Design 2, Small wheel, direct drive fan
16:14-18:44 Fire by friction
18:44-19:48 Igniting furnace, last minute adjustments
19:48-22:33 Testing water powered forge blower

About Primitive Technology:
Primitive technology is a hobby where you build things in the wild completely from scratch using no modern tools or materials. These are the strict rules: If you want a fire, use a fire stick - An axe, pick up a stone and shape it - A hut, build one from trees, mud, rocks etc. The challenge is seeing how far you can go without utilizing modern technology. I do not live in the wild, but enjoy building shelter, tools, and more, only utilizing natural materials. To find specific videos, visit my playlist tab for building videos focused on pyrotechnology, shelter, weapons, food & agriculture, tools & machines, and weaving & fiber.

#PrimitiveTechnology #water #forge #fire

[tbuddy]

If there's one thing we can learn from this entire series, it's that he is getting increasingly tired of fanning the forge fire himself.

[tonyf.]

Just realized, I've been watching these videos from PT for almost a decade now.

[nickg]

This channel is the reason the internet is still worth it

[supapintofreak]

I used to watch these videos religiously with my dad. He passed 4 years ago today... Watching this one brought back fun memories. Thank you

[StrikerJewell]

Pro tip for new viewers and friendly reminder for return returning viewers, turn on closed captions if no one has said it yet. John puts a lot of work into these experiences for us, including meticulously detailed explanations both throughout the videos via subtitles and the descriptions.
Thanks for the superb quality content as always.

[SardaukarQC]

That fire didn't start easy! It shows how humidity makes a big difference.

[jaked]

This is the most exciting technological advance this channel has made in a long time. I can't wait to see how design improvements push this to the next level!

[wangmauler]

I absolutely love how John will sometimes come up with a great idea but the implementation doesn't work...he shows this...and then shows him stopping...and thinking about it. Best content on youtube. The OG.

[Abejaved]

10 years of Primitive Tech - Achieves Machine Automation
I expect within the next few years, he will learn to speak and write words

[ffoxdd]

The dopamine hit I get when I see there’s a new Primitive Technology

[accastillo]

The man whips up a furnace like someone folding a paper airplane. "Oh, I gotta test this concept next to this river... I'll just build a QUICK furnace!"

[doctaotsu]

Thanks! Your content is a balm on this otherwise hellish clown world

[juliajs]

Can we appreciate how many really cool rocks are in his creek?

[dagger]

He is now using all four elements! Water, Fire, Earth, and Air. Truly his ability to bend the elements is something worthy of study!

[noneyabidness]

He's slowly making his way into the industrial age.

[attlas]

Almost 10 years, not a single word spoken, grade A quality content that never disappoints.

[ThraceVega]

I think you putting your hands out at 8:30 is the first time I've ever seen any hint of frustration in your videos, lol. Patience of a saint, you have. Keep up the great work!

[Brett.on.a.buffalo]

I'm just going to say it, I can't decide what's more impressive. The fascinating ingenuity of what you make, or the absolute lack of gouged knuckles and finger gashes that I would 100% be suffering through the entire time.

[NoelyNoel]

People have probably said it better/elsewhere, but thank you SO MUCH for showing how you blow the ember into your tinder. Your firestarting skill, along with knowing the best local resources for fire by friction, has always been incredibly impressive; today, it took you seven runs down your spindle to give you an ember, and you did an incredible job or showing us close-up the next part of the process. Thanks you for this, it's very thoughtful.

[logancrider]

I bought your book and helped my nephews scout troop to learn to build primitive fire, make shelter and do primitive pottery. They love how your instructions are simple and straight forward, yet detailed. ❤