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Thread: How useful is a large compressor in a woodshop?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
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    Staunton, Virginia
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    379

    How useful is a large compressor in a woodshop?

    We just purchased a new building that was previously a body shop. It came with two big compressors (a 10 HP and a 5 HP) and air supply plumbing just about everywhere except the bathrooms.
    I'm trying to imagine what on earth how useful these units would be for a woodworking shop.
    Anybody have ideas about how they would use them?
    I'm only responsible for what I say, not for how it is understood

  2. #2
    Hard air plumbing all around the shop can be very handy for simple things like nailers, blow guns, etc, but also can run wide belt sanders (if they require pneumatics) and could also be useful for spraying finishes. Depends on the specs of the compressors, but those are pretty big compressor motors.

  3. #3
    Join Date
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    Air sanders eat a lot of cfm.
    JR

  4. #4
    I have a couple 200 gallon 10hp Quincys. Never have too much air.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
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    Flower mound, Tx
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    There is air and there is DRY air. Having air in any shop is worthless if you don’t have proper conditioning. The conditioning is as expensive as just the compressor.

  6. #6
    possible they did sandblasting which will use alot of air depending on your set up. Air is not worthless without an air dryer far too much of an exaggeration there.

  7. #7
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    Medina Ohio
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    If it was a body shop it most likely has a dryer for spray painting autos.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Warren Lake View Post
    possible they did sandblasting which will use alot of air depending on your set up. Air is not worthless without an air dryer far too much of an exaggeration there.
    While I agree it would be an exaggeration to say that saying air would be worthess withought an “air dryer”. But I didnt say an “air dryer”. I said “proper conditioning”. There are many ways to condition compressed air so as to be useful in almost any shop. But you already know that!

    cheers

  9. #9
    You did say "the conditioning is as expensive as the compressor" which means you were talking about an air dryer.

    You dont have to have a dryer and air drains are not the same cost as a compressor. I finished 25 years with no more than simple Sharpe auto drains. Then I added a Devilbiss DAD but had it five years before I hooked it up as I never needed it. If you want to get picky some people have concerns that Desicant can get into the air. I hooked it up when I had to do a very critical job thinking I need ever advantage I can get. There were people having finishing issues and it turned out to be the air was too dry and the Isos in the finish needed moisture. Took a while for that to be figured out.

    If i think of five small one man shops I know no one had an air dryer. Stakes for all this go up when you have people and do bigger production. Ive finished tons over the years and not one of the shops I was working in had an air dryer though would agree in most of the 25, 50 80 plus man shops ive been in did have them.

  10. #10
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    Warren, I never make a stament on any forum that I don’t know exactly what I am talking about.
    I just finished upgrading my shop’s air system. I researched for a year on the myriad of options available for “conditioning” compressed air. I have talked to three different companies that offer dryer systems from desiccant filter systems to refrigerated dryers. I have friends that spray cars for a living, another friend that owns a machine shop, and at least 20 active professional woodworkers. I have priced out desicant “multi-stage” filter systems for over $1000.00 for each.
    Sharpe three stage filters are $600+/- $30. And again thats just for one? Most shops have a more than one drop with a filter/reg at each. Also, using filters (only)requires precooling/draining before the filters. Most compressor companies offer “after cooler” options to their compressors (more money). Lots of other guys pre-cool the air by lengths of pipe and or grill-stlye coolers and incorporate “risers” on each drop.
    Most guys in a woodshop setting have machines requiring compressed air in addition to a dedicated spray booth. No one is going to compromise their machines with less than perfect air.

    For anyone other than Warren, do your own research, go online, call professional compressed air filtering companies, call finishers. Ask Joe Calhoon.... Kaiser screw type I believe.

    Bottom line, if you want a professional compressed air system (or close), it will cost as much as the compressor.

  11. #11
    Join Date
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    Check Craigslist for refrigerated driers. I have seen them there once in a while, and bought a 54 cfm one for $125. I thought I might have to buy the $178 maintenance kit for it, which they do require once in a while, but it works perfect, even though it's about double the capacity required for my 10 hp compressor. If you can find one cheap enough, it saves a lot of trouble of guesswork, and jumping through other hoops.

  12. #12
    Ive done cars and likely as much or more than Joe. He hardly posts here about finishing. Ive sprayed well over 10,000 pieces of woodwork with likely 10 -15 different finishes from Goudey ML Cambell RM Sherwin WiIliams Glasurit Becker Standox and the others that dont come to mind, likely from all the finishing. Water drains were about 150.00 when I bought them The Devilbiss DAD was 575.00 at the time 99.9 percent of the work I did was just water drains. My experience is real world my own shop and 4 or 5 others non of them had air dryers not that they are a bad thing in the one case Ive cited they were the problem with the isos and air too dry that was one case where it was a negative.

    I responded to what you said that the conditioning is as expensive as the compressor and ive answered the question. You also said air would be worthless with out an air dryer. If that was accurate then I would not have made a living all that time without one.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by John Sincerbeaux View Post
    Bottom line, if you want a professional compressed air system (or close), it will cost as much as the compressor.
    Sorry John, this doesn't sound right. I've got about as professional a compressed air system as you can get. 52cfm Atlas Copco compressor with dryer was around $8k, plus tax and shipping.

    Significant, but can't imagine even close to half unless you're putting a top notch dryer and filters on a Wal-Mart compressor.

    After filters cost me about $900. I doubt the dryer made up $4000+ of the compressor cost. I didn't price out a stand alone compressor, so I can't give an accurate number on it either.

    Throw in the cost of ~600' of aluminum pipe, unions, and fittings it starts getting much less significant

    It just doesn't sound right to me.

  14. #14
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    I can't picture how humid it is in Staunton. I expect it's probably not as bad as it is here, in hot weather. In hot weather here, there is no such thing as air that's too dry. Since both of those compressors are in the building, I guess you might be lucky, and also have 3-phase power. I got by with a 5 hp 2-stage for a little more than 40 years, and only bought the 10hp because it was too good of a deal to pass up. 5hp should be enough, but after having a 10hp, I would sell the 5hp before I would sell the 10.

  15. #15
    ive done custom., commercial and small production run stuff over the years and lots of it on a shoe string which makes it that much harder. Ive had a chance to be in the good stuff as well like an 80k heated booth and one that was likely over 200k as it was 65 feet long.

    These speakers were done like all my stuff with no air dryer. Ive sandblasted, run dynabrades and with no more than 5hp 2 stage 80 gallon tank with an air line leaving the compressor and stopping at a water drain one on the sanbdblaster one at the work bench for the dynabrades and one for finishing. No metal lines just a hose. SHops I worked in set up better but nothing fancy dirty crappy compressor and and. My compressor sits right in the shop with no dust collection and ive way over beaten it with sandblasting which takes more air than running the dynabrades. its too small for what ive done over the years.

    Finish is automotive base silver metallic and then clear with paste to get the required 20 degree sheen. The point is when you tell me what you have to have lots of us have done it without all that stuff for a very long time. Another important point is if you have all the latest greatest its no guarantee. when my friend put in his 80k booth for collision repair he told me he thought he would get flawless clean finishes and was ticked when he didnt always get that.



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    Last edited by Warren Lake; 09-11-2018 at 8:50 PM.

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