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Blowers
With regard to the subject of blowers, I too have a great deal of trouble
justifying the purchase of a $600 air source. For years I used a
canister-style vacuum cleaner/blower hooked up to a variac to control
output. It works fine to this day.
I am currently going through a lot of trouble building my glassfires for my
new plant. The ribbon burner will have a momentary action foot switch which
will turn on a blower, a gas solenoid valve and an automatic pilot ignitor.
My Crossfires will normally be on and adjusted for splicing (along with a
splcing torch), with a foot switch that turns on a center fire and increases
the side fires.
Now the blowers that I'm using are the same type used in wet/dry vacs. You
can order the blower separately out of a catalog like Graingers or McMaster
Carr for about $40 new. One drawback is that it is only rated for 500
hours, BUT A) I run a 220 motor at 110, so it runs cooler, B) it is only on
intermittently, and C) it is cheap to replace.
It remains to be seen if this system will last, to be sure, but it is
definitely an inexpensive risk.
Yours,
Garett Churchill
Garett@adnc.com