I was at the county fair in Springfield and saw a guy forge weld with just a hair dryer

I was helping at our guild's demo tent last weekend. This older smith from the next county over was doing a repair on a gate hinge. He didn't have his normal blower, so he hooked up a basic hair dryer to his forge pipe. I thought it would never get hot enough. But he got a clean weld on some 1/2 inch stock in about eight minutes. He said he keeps one in his truck as a backup. Has anyone else tried using something like that in a pinch?

2 comments

2 Comments

martinez.karen4h ago

Hair dryers can work, but eight minutes for a weld on half-inch stock sounds really optimistic. Most dryers just don't move enough air volume for that kind of heat. He might have been using a high-power salon dryer, not a basic one. Those have stronger motors.

the_sean7h ago

Used a cheap shop vac on reverse once when my blower motor died. It was way too much air, had to rig a flap over the intake to choke it down. Got the fire screaming hot, almost too hot to control.