Homemade Compressor

Homemade Light Duty Compressor

Air Brush & Touch-up Use Only

Please see Disclaimer linked from bottom of this page... I honestly don't think everyone is a moron, but I have received Emails claiming I'm leading individuals down the path of self destruction... go figure

Some of these parts I've been collecting for years, propane tank, freezer compressor, cut-in switch and power cord.

The rest were purchased new (yes new!!!). It was a Herculean effort to pry my wallet open for these items, but the utility that I'll enjoy should ease the pain of parting with the coin.

The compressor is from an upright freezer that wouldn't freeze any more, when I cut the lines (after hours of agonizing) there was no great rushing of freon to the polar ozone holes to my relief. Obviously I found the problem...

I won't drag you through all the tedious soldering, drilling, bending and wrapping of fittings with teflon tape. But it came together far faster than I thought possible.

Three hours assembly time, either my watch isn't working or I'm starting to get the knack of his puttering business. Actually when I upgraded the motor on my BIG compressor, I had a chance to learn the machine cold.

Not shown are 2" casters to easily push/pull this around the shop. Since the hose is real short, like less than 6 feet long, they are not an option.

Canadian Tire has a kit complete with Safety Release Valve/manifold, gauge and a real shitty hose for about $24 Canadian or $7.50 USD (it's so sad it isn't even funny anymore...)

A 3/4" male to 1/2" female adapter couples the release/manifold to the tank. The first "T" is fed from the compressor, the second to the Cut-In/Out Switch, and out to the inflexible, flex hose with a 1/4" female quik connect fitting.

This is a standard pump pressure switch, and works great with air in place of water. This was leftover from when we ditched the pump in the barn in favour of a submersible.

The cut-in is set for approx 30PSI and the cut-out is at 60PSI. I need to find a tiny compression fitting for the Compressor as the ring clamp just isn't cutting it.

The whole thing is so quiet you could easily forget it was plugged in.

This is a cheesy little gun that beats the pants off my full-size (expensive) gun. I got this from Princess Auto for less than $15 CD on special.

Though I thought the ad at PA said it was Italian made, I found the exact gun at a Taiwanese Site.

Regardless, for anything smaller than a car hood, this is what I'm using, the clean-up is a breeze, and the finish is as good as I can expect.

I had to paint something, and the Lathe was at one of those Now or Never states, so here it is...

If you haven't seen the Lathe, it's fully documented under the projects and plans page on this site.

Total cost for this little gem less my time under $75 bucks Can, and so I bumble on...

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