How You Can Pick An Air Compressor For The Woodworking Shop

I began out my woodworking career having a quarter-sheet electric sander, promptly graduated to a random orbit electric disc sander and lastly realized that I could substantially shorten sanding time with an air palm sander. I settled on a 5" Dynabrade sander and Sears 3HP air compressor. It took me much less than an hour to comprehend my mistake: The little compressor I bought could not start to maintain up air demands from the air sander. It would run out of air stress almost quickly plus the air sander would slow down towards the point of becoming useless. I would then have to wait for numerous minutes for the stress to construct up once more to obtain a different minute of sanding.

To make matters worse, I had 3 individuals hired as sanders and so I'd want to help keep three machines operating at prime speed all day lengthy. I did some math and found that I would require a ten horsepower air compressor using a big tank to complete this. I was lucky to discover a utilized 1 for not too much funds nevertheless it needed three phase energy and a lot of it. Additional dollars went out for an electrician to wire it up to the building's 208 volt 3-phase power. The big air compressor was so loud it could be heard all over the developing and down the block nevertheless it powered those three sanders from dawn to dusk. The excellent news is that it paid for itself in saved sanding time incredibly speedily.

Air sanders are aggressive and efficient. They are light in weight when in comparison to their lesser electric cousins. My sanders took to them right away and production took off. I was as pleased as they have been. Quickly there was an additional machine apart from the air compressor required having huge amounts of air in the shop: an Onsrud inverted pin router. It was also fantastic to become in a position to blow sawdust of benches and machine whilst cleaning upon the shop in the end from the day. The compressor was also applied to spray finishes on the completed furnishings.

Years later, I built a smaller woodworking shop in my household which only expected a single air sander running at a time. For that shop, I bought an air compressor half the size and isolated within a soundproof room in a single corner in the shop. I ran ¾" galvanized pipe under the shop floor to 3 regulators at 3 distinctive handy areas. The machine I bought for that shop as a five HP Ingersoll Rand model with an 80 gallon tank. At the 80 PSI expected by my Dynabrade sander, the compressor would produce adequate air all day extended. I must say that that compressor was very effectively constructed. All I had to complete was hold an eye around the oil level air compressors  in the sight glass. At night, I would turn off the master air valve around the side of your machine, leaving the electricity on, to silence the compressor for the evening.

I should assume that, having read this far, you have got some interest in working with an air compressor to power air tools within your shop. Probably, a 2-stage reciprocating air compressor will fill the wants of a modest to medium shop. As a rule of thumb, a five HP air compressor will energy one air sander, a 7.five HP machine will power two in addition to a 10 HP machine might be necessary for three sanders.

The size on the compressor's air tank is definitely an crucial consideration: The smaller the tank, the more generally the compressor will need to cycle on and off, This can be challenging on both the motor and compressor pump more than time and it makes use of a lot more electrical energy. I would not even take into account an air compressor used to energy an air sander with less than a 60 gallon tank and I'd feel considerably more comfy with an 80 gallon tank.

The kind of electrical power expected by an air compressor is one more consideration. In the event you have three-phase power accessible at your location, fine. 3 phase motors have a tendency to use electrical energy a bit a lot more effectively than single-phase motors. Substantial air compressors will all call for 3-phase power but the 5 HP models come either way. If you don't have 3-phase power out there, you can manufacture it having a rotary or electronic phase converter as I did in my smaller sized shop. Regardless of whether you use single or 3 phase power, you may have to have 230V AC power for single-phase motors and 208 or 220V AC for the three-phase range. Make sure to verify the voltage and amperage requirements of any air compressor before you buy it. Electricians is often high-priced.

A two-stage compressor pump is actually a should to get a machine of this size. Two-stage machines have two cylinders, a single bigger than the other. Air is initial introduced in to the significant cylinder where it can be partially compressed and sent to the smaller cylinder for final compression into the tank. As air is compressed, heat is developed and so a good machine will always possess a finned intercooler built in.