Mini-Blowers.com Information

Mini-Blowers.com is a website offering, among other things, small scale novelty sand castings of the GMC 6-71 blowers, which function as business card holders and pen or pencil holders. Kyle Johnson took over this project in January of 2011, from his father, Larry Johnson, who started the concept in the early 90's. Several patterns had been built, each a refinement of the previous pattern, as we are not professional pattern builders. The last pattern was the current one used to build an aluminum matchplate to facilitate multiple castings in a timely manner without degrading the wooden master pattern. Kyle had to finish this pattern and shellac it before sending to the foundry to begin making the matchplate. Larry had started a metal polishing business at one time, and had numerous 6-71 and 8-71 blower cases, bearing plates, nose drives, and manifolds shipped from Chicago by Dyer's Machine Service to our shop in Oregon for custom polishing. Somehow all the blowers being around spawned the idea of a novelty version, and and a ton of research into foundry practice, pattern making, backyard metal casting furnaces, crucibles, flasks, etc. Larry found an original GMC 6-71 blower, still on the diesel engine, which was measured, and scaled down, to keep the proportions correct, since he didn't have a complete blower case and endplates in the shop when the idea for the small version germinated. A prototype sand casting was poured by a local foundry that did lost foam casting (before they moved to Minnesota), using one of the earlier, poorly designed patterns. After the previous foundry moved, the project was put on hold several times, and over the years Larry built flasks and a propane fired blower assisted burner, as well as a steel pipe crucible, intending to melt aluminum and cast the mini blowers himself, but just didn't have the time to finish the project, especially once the internet business (Chargingchargers.com) took off. Kyle had watched the blower project since he was about four, and was sure the project ...