Shop compressor refresh.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 249
From: Tucson Az
Shop compressor refresh.
This is a compressor my grandpa has had since about 1960. He bought it from a body shop that burned down close to his house. They figured they should trash it for safety's sake as the tank may have been compromised in the fire. My grandpa had to change the head gaskets and used it to run his own little body shop into the 80's.
A few years ago I fixed the broken lines and started using it again, but the old tank always bothered me. I even adjusted the switch so it would stop pumping at 125 (as if that would make it any less of a pipe bomb). Anyway my parents wanted to buy me a tool box a while back so I asked them if they would mind getting me a non pipe bomb based tank instead. I also took up the opportunity to give the components a little bit of a polish too. I pretty much only work on things down there after 5 or on weekends so it took a good long time.
Scraping off the years of dirt to get to the mounting bolts. I couldn't carry it with the flywheel attached so I had to walk it down a board to the hand truck.
steam cleaned
Bead blasting... Takes forever with a 2.5 gallon compressor
Bead Blasted
I don't know why I decided to paint first and replace the seals later, fumes probably.
Painted
When I began to brush off the flywheel I realized most of the green lead paint was pretty much all still on so I wiped it down and put some industrial acrylic clear over it.
Checked to make sure no abrasive got inside it during blasting. I was dreading seeing something completely worn inside, but it was pretty near immaculate. Though my grandpa had a body shop it was something he did outside of his actual job and only painted a few cars a month.
New oil seal and gakets.
Used the same stuff on the copper and brass to see if it would stay shiny.
The air filter was something my grandpa made that never seemed to fit right so I re-made it. It had the base plate from a tractor and a 60's chevy truck air cleaner assembly, but the base of the Chevy assembly didn't seal to the tractor base. It just so happened that if you put the top of the assembly on backwards it fit perfectly over the tractor sized air cleaner.
The plasma cutter worked better than expected with the small compressor running it.
New seals in and most of the fittings on. Both the truck and the pump are from 1956.
Motor with my grandpa's retrofit plate. It worked, but it was always slightly crooked and rusty. This was because he replaced his 3phase motor with this single when he moved to a new shop.
Sent it away to be re built and they found that all the caps were bad, they also managed to break the pulley and kinda paint it blue. New bearings, brushes, and insulation as well. That was kinda expensive, but still half the price of a new 5hp compressor duty motor.
First I tried to make it as straight flat as I could.
Then I realized it would still be about a half inch off because of the way the pump sits on the tank with the huge flywheel on the size.
Copied grandpa's super precision adjuster design.
The old tank. I couldn't get the plugs out to see, but when you roll it you can hear what sounds like a ocean of rust flakes moving. Also, yay for mechanical advantage.
New certified tank. It came with a thin primer so I put a 2 part primer and some industrial grey on it.
After painting I realized that I needed to modify the slots for the motor to work with the 3/4's of an inch I added on to each side.
Altogether now. You can see that the belts ride a bit too high in the flywheel. I can't find any belts smaller than A though and these have worked okay for a couple of years. My guess is the compressor was made before there was a standard and It's a automotive size.
The old tank barely fit on it's slab and sat out in the rain for pretty much all of it's life. My plan was to pour a bigger slab, and in the future make a small shed out of steel I have laying around to add a little bit of storage and keep the rain out.
Old slab.
No slab
New slab... my dad finished it. Pretty sure the process is magic.
Staging with my super technical chain ballast.
Finally freaking finished. 3/4 inch rubber pad, 4 inch square beam (just for ease of cleaning), 1/2 rubber pad.
Now I have to find another excuse not to finish the other projects.
A few years ago I fixed the broken lines and started using it again, but the old tank always bothered me. I even adjusted the switch so it would stop pumping at 125 (as if that would make it any less of a pipe bomb). Anyway my parents wanted to buy me a tool box a while back so I asked them if they would mind getting me a non pipe bomb based tank instead. I also took up the opportunity to give the components a little bit of a polish too. I pretty much only work on things down there after 5 or on weekends so it took a good long time.
Scraping off the years of dirt to get to the mounting bolts. I couldn't carry it with the flywheel attached so I had to walk it down a board to the hand truck.
steam cleaned
Bead blasting... Takes forever with a 2.5 gallon compressor
Bead Blasted
I don't know why I decided to paint first and replace the seals later, fumes probably.
Painted
When I began to brush off the flywheel I realized most of the green lead paint was pretty much all still on so I wiped it down and put some industrial acrylic clear over it.
Checked to make sure no abrasive got inside it during blasting. I was dreading seeing something completely worn inside, but it was pretty near immaculate. Though my grandpa had a body shop it was something he did outside of his actual job and only painted a few cars a month.
New oil seal and gakets.
Used the same stuff on the copper and brass to see if it would stay shiny.
The air filter was something my grandpa made that never seemed to fit right so I re-made it. It had the base plate from a tractor and a 60's chevy truck air cleaner assembly, but the base of the Chevy assembly didn't seal to the tractor base. It just so happened that if you put the top of the assembly on backwards it fit perfectly over the tractor sized air cleaner.
The plasma cutter worked better than expected with the small compressor running it.
New seals in and most of the fittings on. Both the truck and the pump are from 1956.
Motor with my grandpa's retrofit plate. It worked, but it was always slightly crooked and rusty. This was because he replaced his 3phase motor with this single when he moved to a new shop.
Sent it away to be re built and they found that all the caps were bad, they also managed to break the pulley and kinda paint it blue. New bearings, brushes, and insulation as well. That was kinda expensive, but still half the price of a new 5hp compressor duty motor.
First I tried to make it as straight flat as I could.
Then I realized it would still be about a half inch off because of the way the pump sits on the tank with the huge flywheel on the size.
Copied grandpa's super precision adjuster design.
The old tank. I couldn't get the plugs out to see, but when you roll it you can hear what sounds like a ocean of rust flakes moving. Also, yay for mechanical advantage.
New certified tank. It came with a thin primer so I put a 2 part primer and some industrial grey on it.
After painting I realized that I needed to modify the slots for the motor to work with the 3/4's of an inch I added on to each side.
Altogether now. You can see that the belts ride a bit too high in the flywheel. I can't find any belts smaller than A though and these have worked okay for a couple of years. My guess is the compressor was made before there was a standard and It's a automotive size.
The old tank barely fit on it's slab and sat out in the rain for pretty much all of it's life. My plan was to pour a bigger slab, and in the future make a small shed out of steel I have laying around to add a little bit of storage and keep the rain out.
Old slab.
No slab
New slab... my dad finished it. Pretty sure the process is magic.
Staging with my super technical chain ballast.
Finally freaking finished. 3/4 inch rubber pad, 4 inch square beam (just for ease of cleaning), 1/2 rubber pad.
Now I have to find another excuse not to finish the other projects.
Last edited by Stapler; Nov 5, 2012 at 01:54 AM.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 249
From: Tucson Az
Thanks all.
I'm lucky to have been given quite a few old tools, but sometimes I can't find the parts to get them working again or it just doesn't make sense over buying a new or slightly used one. Even if I had bought the tank myself I still would be quite a bit under what a comparable new compressor would cost.
I really wish I could use this old binks regulator/filter/dryer, but I can't find a suitable diaphragm.
I'm lucky to have been given quite a few old tools, but sometimes I can't find the parts to get them working again or it just doesn't make sense over buying a new or slightly used one. Even if I had bought the tank myself I still would be quite a bit under what a comparable new compressor would cost.
I really wish I could use this old binks regulator/filter/dryer, but I can't find a suitable diaphragm.
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Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 249
From: Tucson Az
I used a old siphon feed sand blaster with a air compressor that was way too small and had no descant dryer. I wouldn't recommend it. It's Strip for 30 seconds, wait for 60, then drain my filter to make sure it didn't create mud and plug up the nozzle.
The abrasive I used was glass bead. I didn't want to dig too far into the old brass and copper and I thought aluminum oxide would be a bit too aggressive. Some people will also use something like nut shells on rubbers to just take the old hard layer off the top.
The most important part of blasting is safety equipment. Respirator, eye protection/hood, long sleeves, gloves, and even tape. Even then the abrasive will find a way in and you will be washing it out of your hair for days. I had one bit of glass fall in my eye when I took the hood off and it took way too long to wash out. The last thing I want is to visit my optometrist because of a stupid project.
You will also notice the blue tarp. I have it taped to the ground and tied back to give myself a nice clean back drop and slab. This makes it easier to sweep up and shovel back into the hopper. If I were on dirt I doubt I could recover 10 percent of it. In a previous picture you can also see that I steam cleaned all the grease off first. This also helps keep the abrasive clean (as you re use it you are basically throwing all of the crap you took off back in to the mix).
My point is it's a pain in the ass. It probably would have cost me 30 -50 dollars at a sandblasting outfit (after doing the steam cleaning), but I wanted to do it on a weekend. I probably won't be doing anything outside of my little harbor freight cabinet again. Which sounds eerily like what I told myself a few years ago.
The abrasive I used was glass bead. I didn't want to dig too far into the old brass and copper and I thought aluminum oxide would be a bit too aggressive. Some people will also use something like nut shells on rubbers to just take the old hard layer off the top.
The most important part of blasting is safety equipment. Respirator, eye protection/hood, long sleeves, gloves, and even tape. Even then the abrasive will find a way in and you will be washing it out of your hair for days. I had one bit of glass fall in my eye when I took the hood off and it took way too long to wash out. The last thing I want is to visit my optometrist because of a stupid project.
You will also notice the blue tarp. I have it taped to the ground and tied back to give myself a nice clean back drop and slab. This makes it easier to sweep up and shovel back into the hopper. If I were on dirt I doubt I could recover 10 percent of it. In a previous picture you can also see that I steam cleaned all the grease off first. This also helps keep the abrasive clean (as you re use it you are basically throwing all of the crap you took off back in to the mix).
My point is it's a pain in the ass. It probably would have cost me 30 -50 dollars at a sandblasting outfit (after doing the steam cleaning), but I wanted to do it on a weekend. I probably won't be doing anything outside of my little harbor freight cabinet again. Which sounds eerily like what I told myself a few years ago.
1919
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,467
Likes: 162
I used a old siphon feed sand blaster with a air compressor that was way too small and had no descant dryer. I wouldn't recommend it. It's Strip for 30 seconds, wait for 60, then drain my filter to make sure it didn't create mud and plug up the nozzle.
The abrasive I used was glass bead. I didn't want to dig too far into the old brass and copper and I thought aluminum oxide would be a bit too aggressive. Some people will also use something like nut shells on rubbers to just take the old hard layer off the top.
The most important part of blasting is safety equipment. Respirator, eye protection/hood, long sleeves, gloves, and even tape. Even then the abrasive will find a way in and you will be washing it out of your hair for days. I had one bit of glass fall in my eye when I took the hood off and it took way too long to wash out. The last thing I want is to visit my optometrist because of a stupid project.
You will also notice the blue tarp. I have it taped to the ground and tied back to give myself a nice clean back drop and slab. This makes it easier to sweep up and shovel back into the hopper. If I were on dirt I doubt I could recover 10 percent of it. In a previous picture you can also see that I steam cleaned all the grease off first. This also helps keep the abrasive clean (as you re use it you are basically throwing all of the crap you took off back in to the mix).
My point is it's a pain in the ass. It probably would have cost me 30 -50 dollars at a sandblasting outfit (after doing the steam cleaning), but I wanted to do it on a weekend. I probably won't be doing anything outside of my little harbor freight cabinet again. Which sounds eerily like what I told myself a few years ago.
The abrasive I used was glass bead. I didn't want to dig too far into the old brass and copper and I thought aluminum oxide would be a bit too aggressive. Some people will also use something like nut shells on rubbers to just take the old hard layer off the top.
The most important part of blasting is safety equipment. Respirator, eye protection/hood, long sleeves, gloves, and even tape. Even then the abrasive will find a way in and you will be washing it out of your hair for days. I had one bit of glass fall in my eye when I took the hood off and it took way too long to wash out. The last thing I want is to visit my optometrist because of a stupid project.
You will also notice the blue tarp. I have it taped to the ground and tied back to give myself a nice clean back drop and slab. This makes it easier to sweep up and shovel back into the hopper. If I were on dirt I doubt I could recover 10 percent of it. In a previous picture you can also see that I steam cleaned all the grease off first. This also helps keep the abrasive clean (as you re use it you are basically throwing all of the crap you took off back in to the mix).
My point is it's a pain in the ass. It probably would have cost me 30 -50 dollars at a sandblasting outfit (after doing the steam cleaning), but I wanted to do it on a weekend. I probably won't be doing anything outside of my little harbor freight cabinet again. Which sounds eerily like what I told myself a few years ago.
If I thought I'd do it more often, I might take a look at DIY, but I have friends that could probably do it for me for a donation and probably show me if I wanted to learn. Thanks though, and again very nice work!
1919
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,467
Likes: 162
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 2,340
Likes: 249
From: Tucson Az
It will certainly help, but it depends on the style of compressor. If it's direct drive, oil-less, and single stage it's probably just going to be loud.
Senior Moderator
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 81,385
Likes: 3,068
From: Appleton WI
Huh, I never thought of a hockey puck. Actually living here I have never held one in my hand and always thought they were very hard plastic.
It will certainly help, but it depends on the style of compressor. If it's direct drive, oil-less, and single stage it's probably just going to be loud.
It will certainly help, but it depends on the style of compressor. If it's direct drive, oil-less, and single stage it's probably just going to be loud.
I have mine (80gal) mounted in a room in the back corner of the basement which butts up to the garage. It was useless wasted space only good for collecting dust. I put it there so that it wasnt taking up space in the garage. I insulated the floor above and the walls in the room and when its running you cant hear it in the garage, and in the house its no louder than the sink running (the kids can nap when its running, you can barely hear it and doesnt wake them) I tried some rubber for pads for it but it was still noisy and caused vibration, someone recommended that i try hockey pucks. They are dense rubber and have held up great and cut all the vibration out.
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