Hey guys, im getting ready to assemble a little workshop.

Im presently shopping around for a good Dollar\value comp.

With that compressor, i'll be using power tools, as sand blasting,

polishing, grinding, cutting, porting tools.

I dont want to buy a 25 gal and blow it up lol.

Ive also heard the oilled units are much quieter, and longer

lasting. This is a long term investment, so IF I have to pay 600$+

I will, tho I just need enough to get started.

For moderate use of power tools (IN HOUSE) what would be

best ?

 

if you're going to be sand blasting look at duel stage compressors and 80 gallon tanks and figure on 1500 at least for a budget. sand blasting will use all the air you can make. if you forget the sand blasting and only run a die grinder or impact for a minute or so most quality compressors with a 30 gallon tank or more would work. you don't want an oil less compressor for anything. running a DA or file will eat up a lot of air also. thing to do is look in a catalog and look at the consumption rates for the tolls you plan to use against what the compressor can put out.

 

In addition to ede's observations, remember than all compressors make noise. The quietest are screws, but you aren't likely to find one less than 15HP and for less than $5-6,000. The next quietest type and most efficient overall (don't even go there, since I have empirical data proving it) are crosshead/piston type compressors. They are available in all sizes and designs. They are also the most durable. Those that make the most noise are diaphragm types, often marketed as "oilless" compressors. About three minutes in a room with one of those and I'm ready to drill a hole right through the compressor head. You'll wake the neighbors, the dead, the Russians, get phone calls from the USGS asking about earthquakes, and generally annoy anyone within a five mile radius. They don't deliver a lot of volume/HP either. Couple that with the fact that they are not as easily serviced, and have a shorter life, and they don't make a good long-term choice.

If you have an open checkbook, try to find a belt-driven, multi-cylinder piston compressor. Cast iron would be best, but those are getting harder to find. Cast iron sleeves in an aluminum air head are the next best choice. Two-stage units will provide the greatest volume and pressure per motor HP, but also cost a bit more.

Vertical tank units take less space, but are not as mobile, if that's a concern. If you don't intend to move it around a lot (air hose is cheap) a vertical is a good choice. They also more effectively separate condensation from the air by their design.

 

Well, The sand blasting would kinda be like at the dealership I worked once .. with a booth big enough to sandblast misc engine parts.

I found 2 that look adequate for my need. (I think)


http://www6.sears.ca/webapp/wcs/stor...ctId=158485000

http://www6.sears.ca/webapp/wcs/stor...ctId=158485837


The die grinder would be the most used I guess, along with a polishing tool.

 

Most oilless compressors are not diaphragm compressors, for that matter, diaphragm compressors tend to be relatively quite but are usually only used for low capacity stuff like air brush compressors and vacuum pumps.

Oilless compressors are like most of the sears compressors, they are piston driven but the don’t have an enclosed crankcase. The fact that the insides are exposed to the outside, that they’re relatively light weight (not much to deaden sound), and that they’re driven at 2-4x the speed as most oiled give them the ability to wake the dead. You don’t want to be in the same state when my oilless craftsman professional series kicks on (think twin piston big compressor with an oilless design).

heh, I just got my mitts on an old Compare/Kellogg 2 stage compressor head that I’m going to build a quiet compressor out of. It’s a big cast iron piece that probably weighs >150lbs. In their original configuration they were supposed to easily put out 20-25cfm at 100psi turning at 800 rpm. I figure with that motor sitting next to it and a 4:1 to 5:1 pulley drive ratio I’ll be somewhere in the 18-22cfm range… way more then I’ll realistically need.

 

Well, just found this one.

campbell hausfeld

10 HP, 120 Gallons, 575 volts, 10 HP 3 Phases, 10,8 Amp, poulie a 2 courroies.

Its used but looks like it could survive a war lol.





edit: and found an other that looks exactly like it.

Compresseur a air 10HP de marque Webster fabrique par Curtiss Wright Canada.Compresseur de 2 phase industrial,poulie a 2 courroies

 

I agree with that my oil-less craftsman professional series is louder than all hell. I have to wear ear plugs so i don't go completely insane

 

Three phase power may be a problem. Most houses dont have three phase and will need a power converter motor.

 

If the're cheap get a different motor and pulley it down, you don't need nearly the capacity of that thing.

Kind of like the compressor head that I'm playing with (btw, I'm goign to check and see if I can find a K&N for that air fliter housing, that freaking thing has what looks like a standard but smallish automotive filter in it), that thing orignally came with a 575V 3 phase on it also...

 

he wants 1250$ negotiable.
Im sure ill be loving it later, tho if I cant power it at home for now, something smaller will have to do.

 

Most peopel I know that run air tools and what not have 60 gallons, and they get by just fine.

 

that's not what I would call cheap

 

And a 10 hp single phase motor may not be cheap either.

 

Or non-existent. I can make some recommendations. I made the mistake of getting the 60 gallon SEARS air compressor that uses the same pump and motor as the black one you linked. I was fooled into thinking it was a two-stage compressor. It is a two cylinder, not a two stage compressor. Neither the SEARS or the Porter Cable one you listed are a two stage compressor. The big clue is that they don't state that they are a two stage, also the max pressure rating is just 135 psi, where a two stage will usually be 175 psi.

I had a single door sand blast cabinet from Harbor Freight equivalent to the model 47603-4VGA. Don't believe the 5 SCFM @80 psi rating. My Sears compressor flat out wouldn't keep up with the sand blaster. It would drop to about 50 psi in roughly 7 minutes of blasting. I'd have to wait another 7 minutes or so for the compressor to catch up. Rather than continue beating up on the compresor I decided to sell it less than a year later and upgrade to a properly sized compressor.

I did a lot of research both online and visiting local air compressor service shops. I decided to buy a new Eaton 230v single phase 5 hp 80 gallon compressor rated at 17 CFM free air @ 175 PSI. I'm very pleased with the unit. It runs very quiet and has no problem keeping up with an of my air uses. I've since upgraded from my HF blast cabinet to a nicer industrial unit made by MBA (Media Blast & Abrasives).

You can get a used commercial air compressor for less at auction, but they often have a three phase motor. I don't have three phase power available. If you do, then go for it.

Good luck,

Lon

 

a 10hp, single phase motor is just about non existant, and that wasn't the point. If they were cheap then get a 5hp single phase an pulley the thing down to run at half it's speed at 10hp and you'll still have plenty of capacity for anything that you're going ot do in a home shop...

 

83 Crossfire TA, on an air filter for that compressor you have, those little filter aren't cheap, & even with a K&N it needs to be cleaned pretty often.

i mounted 2 air filter housings from about an 89 or so TBI pickup on the 2 stage V compressor at work, they work great, its much quieter than it was with the little filters, fram extra life filters are cheap & can be found everywhere, & they last for years. on top of it, the compressor pumps up quicker.
it will take a little work to do it, altogether it took me about 2~3 hours to mount 2 on our compressor with about $40.00 in parts.

 

Heh, I'm way ahead of you there... I'm a cheap bastard and not about to spend real money on something like that, if I didn't find a new filter for cheap I was planning on using a '04 mustang filter housing and filter that I had sitting around or just a normal filter housing even.

You probably saved me some time there anyway, if they're expensive I doubt that I'll even go looking for one when I need it. For the time being though the one that is in there looks practically new.

Looks like it's just a piece of threaded pipe coming into the back of that so it would be extremely simple to adapt to other housings, worst case, whip out the plasma, cut the base out of that and then weld it into the new filter base... 5 min worth of work and no money and I'm done...

Huh, now that I’m thinking about it, I have 2, roughly 9” K&N’s left over from my crossfire… I bet that they’d make a pretty slick air filter for that thing

 

You said that was a 3-phase. If it is going in your garage you probably don't have 3 phase power.

 

You can get a single 5 hp motor under $300 new on Ebay. Don't forget you'll need to run some heavy gauge wiring, and a 30A breaker if you're going single phase 5hp. You'll need a magnetic motor contactor box and a disconnect switch as well. If you plan on other 3 phase tools, like a lathe or mill at some point, then you can buy/make a rotary phase converter, which converts your single phase to 3 phase power. Air compressors are notoriously hard loads, so the RPC will probably be sized double - 20 hp, which needs huge single phase wiring (and copper prices are through the roof). I'd probably toss in a 5hp motor and pulley down. The CNC Zone forums have one dedicated to phase converters, and will have good reading. Anyways, it's doable, but by no means a 2 hour weekend job with $20 of home deopt parts to get it all working safely.