Compressor

I had the opportunity to spend some time in the shop today.  Shop time has been a little scarce this week.  My 90-year-old dad has been having some health issues and that has been occupying my attention.  As well it should. 

In addition to finishing up the cutting and fitting on one rib and gluing up gussets on that rib, and the flip side of another, I spent some time working on this old compressor.

I picked the thing up at a garage sale for ten bucks more to help a friend than a desire to have the thing.  But I figured that since I had it I may as well see if I could make it work.  So I went through the electrics to make sure the basic connections were all there, dusted off the sawdust, and plugged it in.

By golly it fired up and built up pressure.  In fact it runs very smooth and built up to 20 psi in a very short period of time.  I shut it off at 20 psi.  I will do a pressure test on another day when I can put it out somewhere where I can cower behind some kind of protection until the little safety valve trips.

If all goes well, I will use it for small jobs around the shop.  It is a small unit.  The whole thing only stands about 30" tall.  I would call that about a 1-1/2 cubic-foot tank, maybe.  I couldn't find any brand names or data tags, even on the motor.  So no idea who built it or how old it might be. 

The power plug needs replacing, too.  It works, but it is pretty rugged and could short out a little too easily for my comfort.