Learned the hard way about cheap forge blowers

I picked up a $60 electric blower off Amazon for my coal forge, thinking it would save me some cash compared to a hand crank. It lasted exactly three forging sessions before the motor burned out, leaving me with a half-heated billet and a pile of junk. Anyone else had better luck with a specific budget blower brand or should I just bite the bullet and go hand crank?

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mitchell.mark12d ago

Three sessions ain't bad for a sixty dollar Amazon special, honestly. I've seen guys get maybe one good fire out of those cheap inline duct fans before they start screaming like a banshee. You probably cooked it running it wide open, most of those little motors just aren't built for backpressure off a coal pile. Is it really that much of a crisis to go back to cranking for a bit while you save up for something decent?