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Compressor Advice

Posted: Sat 26 Jan, 2019 5:18 pm
by PictureHouse
Hello,

I'm looking to make the workshop more efficient and I'm interested in buying a compressor to blow out dust etc when I'm assembling frames. I've seent the bambi silent compressor on Lion's website - would this be suitable for purpose? Also, if I were to buy the compressor, what blower accessories might I need to buy?

Thanks

Paul

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Sat 26 Jan, 2019 5:36 pm
by Tom Chambers
I recently bought this one from machine mart.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/quiet-run-compressor-2/

Great little compressor and works for blowing out dust etc. I just bought this https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/25cn-sh ... -blow-gun/ and works well.

Cheers
Tom

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Sun 27 Jan, 2019 11:18 am
by vintage frames
That little Bambi compressor will fit neatly under your workbench and give you years of trouble free blowing of dust. As has been advised, and correctly, you could also by the cheaper compressor from Machine Mart. It may not last quite so long but as you only have an occasional use, then that might even be the better option. But one day you might want to upgrade to a pneumatic underpinner and even a few handy air tools. Well I'm afraid your little compressor isn't going to cope. Not enough available air.
Or..
You could spend £150 odd on an ordinary 25Litre oil free piston driven compressor, with two wheels; stick it in the loo where it won't annoy anyone and run an air line back into your workshop. Then you can blast away with all sorts of pneumatic equipment. And with the other £150 saved, buy some nice clothes, a few cases of wine or a weekend break in a nice hotel.
Or you could buy the dinky little Bambi for under your workbench and puff quietly away all day.

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Sun 27 Jan, 2019 10:51 pm
by Not your average framer
I bought this comprssor from Machine Mart using a 20% discount voucher that they sent me though the post.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke- ... air-compr/

O'K; it's not super quiet, but the noise level is not that bad, especially as I am operating it with a 10 metre pressure hose and the compressor under the bench in the next room. Admittedly there is no door between the two rooms, but the distance quietens things down a surprising amount. I could have bought the cheaper version of the same compressor with only the 2HP motor, but I went for the 2,5HP motor because the extra price difference was not that great, but the extra rate of supply is probably worth paying a little bit more for.

I only use a compressor for my 23 gauge headless pinner, a 22 gauge narrow crown staple, a 22 gauge wide crown stapler and a 18 gauge nail gun. I do quite a bit of making stacked moulding frames, making display boxes, small cabinets, repairing various other items for customers and even making a few fixtures and fittings for my shop and home. Air tools save me a massive amount of time in so many ways and make things much easier as you get older. I don't know where I would be without them and can't recommend them enough. The 16 gauge nail gun will fire anything up to 50mm long nails into solid oak and the finished result is very neat and professional as well.

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Mon 28 Jan, 2019 10:24 am
by PictureHouse
Thanks for all you help on this one!

Paul

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Mon 28 Jan, 2019 9:08 pm
by Not your average framer
It's going to cost up about £1 per metre for a quality rubber compressed air hose to move your normal noise level compressor away from where you work. I bought a 10 metre hose which is about 30 ft long. A long bit of hose is a lot cheaper than paying the extra cost for a silent compressor of the same capacity.

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Tue 29 Jan, 2019 3:20 pm
by JohnMcafee
For many years our ectremely noisy compressor sat on a sturdy shelf above our toilet. The WC was far enough away from the work and sales areas so that the sound was minimal when the door was closed. The on/off stitch was by the entrance so that the infernal machine could be disabled, leaving undisturbed those moments of quiet contemplation. :cool:

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Wed 30 Jan, 2019 11:24 am
by PictureHouse
I've also contaced Lion for advice on which compressor I would need. They have suggested an oil free compressor, beacuse the oil would contaminate the air too much.. Does this sound right to you?

Thanks

Paul

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Wed 30 Jan, 2019 11:28 am
by PictureHouse
Also, this is the model they have suggested:

https://www.lionpic.co.uk/p/38082/Bambi ... sor-Single

(bambi PT 24)

Would this be suitable for blowing application and for future use, if I decided to upgrade to pneumatic underpinner / morso, for example? Or could I get away with a cheaper model, say the PT5?

Thanks

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Wed 30 Jan, 2019 3:49 pm
by vintage frames
Yes you do want an oil free compressor and no, you don't need that Bambi. But you can still go ahead and buy it. The only reason to buy a Bambi is that you don't have a toilet to hide a more noisy and more powerful compressor. Looking at the science to all this, that Bambi has at least a 24litre receiver, which is a must, but it's only capapible of pumping out 110litres of air/minute. That's only 2litres per sec. The average underpinner will gulp up that, including the reserve, in one or two cycles. Then you'll be waiting for the pressure to build up again for the next pin to go in.
Have a look at this one -
https://www.airsupplies.co.uk/abac-pole ... compressor

And note that they are selling the same Bambis for quite a bit less!

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Wed 30 Jan, 2019 9:11 pm
by Ed209
I have recently bought a lovely old Bambi twin with a massive receiver tank for £100 of eBay and apart from being much quieter than my old standard compressor it has improved my underpinner performance quite significantly with the small increase in pressure it provides. It hardly ever kick in as the tank is quite big (or I’m not working hard enough [emoji3])
I also have another small compressor that I bought for dusting in a different location to the big one, it is a Durr technik and surplus to a large burger chain beverage dispenser. It’s relatively silent, oil free and also has a solenoid fitted that automatically empty’s the tank of any water that was also a Ebay special for £100.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Wed 30 Jan, 2019 10:27 pm
by Not your average framer
If the compressor that you buy is not an oil less one, you can still install an oil and water trap in the air line. There are various types of these available and some are more sophisticated, or more expensive that others, the more basic and less expensive ones are probably all you need.

Also if your compressor is set to provide enough pressure to run an underpinner, or air tools it would be normal practice to include an air flow restrictor in line with the blow gun to prevent debris that you are blowing away from achieving excessive velocities.

Small bits of grit and other small sharp fragments can travel further than you may expect and retain enough velocity to cause eye injuries, etc. Your supplier of compressor, or air tool accessories should be able to supply a suitable in line air flow rate restrictor.

This is just like a coupling threaded at both ends, with a very small hole it the middle and they cost very little. There are standard restrictors made for this specific use.

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Fri 08 Feb, 2019 7:08 pm
by Daveyo
Very I testing stuff.... I've been toying with the idea of a cassese underpinner eventually as well as air gun for shooting in flexible pins..... what size tank and how many litres per minute ?
We and have to go down a quite route as No where to hide it in my unit.... ta f

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Fri 08 Feb, 2019 8:17 pm
by vintage frames
You are going to need a compressor with at least a 24Litre tank and a delivery rate of 200+Litres/minute. A Bambi type compressor will cost you from £600 up and if you don't mind spending that sort of money, then that's your man. A piston compressor will cost half that or less. What you could do is buy two or three sheets of 50mm polystyrene insulation board from your local building supplies yard, ( £10 each and get them to deliver), and make a double/triple walled cube to house the compressor in; that should shut it up!

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Fri 08 Feb, 2019 8:42 pm
by Daveyo
Ta.... very useful d

Re: Compressor Advice

Posted: Fri 08 Feb, 2019 9:13 pm
by prospero
I must say that trying to get rid of dust by blowing it all over the place has never exactly seemed sensible to me. :roll:

Better to get a good workshop vacuum cleaner and suck it up. :lol:

I got a nice Karcher one which is very good. It has a HUGE filter which is easy to remove and shake out over the neighbour's fence
and it sucks up big chippings as well. Holds about 2 gallons so you don't have to keep emptying it. :P