Compressor build yesterdays(Friday) progress.

Compressor update!(if anyone actually cares :P)  Heres a scale pic so you get an idea of its size.  Some seemed to think it was huge-  but its about half the size of a soda bottle.  Keep in mind the part we're working with is the round black thing.  The rest is just the crap its temporarily bolted to :)   Its cold and raining today,  so I doubt I get to work on it :(

So,  With the wiring finally solved on Wednesday on Thursday I was able to pickup a few bitz at Harbor Freight I thought I was going to need.  Mostly hose fittings, and a set of star wrenches to undo the mounting bolts holding it to the plate.  Ironically- it turned out I didnt need any of it.  But- I did score a great deal on a clearance roofers airhose(super light weight, rated 250 psi) 7$ for 25 ft.  and got a bottle of compressor oil for 2$.   The first thing I wanted to test Thursday morning was to make sure it would work under pressure and actually fill a tank.  So I did some temporary fittings,  emptied my 5 gallon tank and started filling it.  mentioned stopping and starting it with it under load- and as that seemed like a prudent suggestion I stopped it at 35 psi, and 70psi.  This type of compressor isnt designed for rapid cycling so I did give it a moment before turning it back on and there was no air loss while waiting.  Both times it came back on without any issues.  And as the pressure loads increased it actually seems to fill faster.  The noise level never increased either.   Total run time, not counting the stops, to fill the 5gallon tank to 100 psi was about 11 minutes

 By comparison,  the shop compressor in the pic below can do it in about 5 minutes I think- I've never actually timed it.  Even though its outside,  and around a corner.  I generally turn it on and basically run away because its so damn loud.  Dont get me wrong- its a great piece of hardware- years of solid service and all that.  But it doesnt really cooperate with my migraines at all.  And in case anyone asks- yes,  the bird poop is an advanced weathering technique- and no I will not share the secret of how to do it with you.  I will however sell you a kit with the ingredients...

Anyways,  in the pics are a few of the steps I took pics of.  The out flow pipe is actually steel rather than copper-  which caught me by surprise.  I had to adapt some different bending techniques so it didnt crimp.  Luckily I had some extra gas in the torch and a fat socket nearby to give me a radius to bend around.   On the plus side- its less likely to get bent in the future from an accidental bump like a copper tube would.

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 During the bending I discovered the outer diameter of the tube is nearly the same as the inner diameter of ther quick connect air hose fittings I have laying around.  Even for my littler airbrush stuff I try to use mostly standard 1/4" connectors just to make swapping stuff around easier.   I went the the process of trimming this fitting on my redneck lathe(aka power drill clamped to a bench and used a hacksaw on the spinning part).  But I might instead go with a threaded fitting and put a moisture/oil trap in place- as this is an oil filled compressor I need to keep that in mind and have the filter in line at the compressor or tank before it hits the hose to my brushes.

My phone died before I got pics pics more pics,  but I got it off the mounting plate, and the wiring cover in place.   I'm almost certainly going to have to paint it up to look like some sort of goofy little robot.

Finally- I do not know what the hell is up with the formatting on Blogger today- everytime I try to preview its changing things around.  If it does something hideous with the text on the actual post I'll try to fix it.