Large Compressor - Build vs. Buy?

[George2615]

I just picked up a new catalog at my local TSC store. There are 3 new fully assembled compressors listed in it for under $600. The lowest priced one with a 60 gal tank and two cylinders is a Campbell Hausfeld for $399.86 the others are $549.63 and $599.96. They also have three larger ones listed but you wanted your price around $500.
I still don't think you can build your own for much less than that kind of money. I bought a 5HP two cylinder one from Northern Tool many years ago and it still runs fine for my garage.

Re: Quincy air compressors. We also use Quincy air compressors at work ( a medical facility) which supplies air to run all pneumatic equipment, damper motors for air handlers, boiler controls etc, throughout our facility.

 

[Mike120]

If you were to build one, why not use a old 4 cyl car engine on a stand? In the old days, there were kits that pugged into a spark plug hole for compressed air where you need it. (this goes back to the '40's). Just a wild thought...
jb

Not such a wild thought, when I was a kid we had hoses with spark plug fittings to air up tires on our trucks and tractors when they got punctured out in the brush. It would get you home! I stopped at a station one time in West Texas and the guy had a compressor that he'd built out of a Buick V8. It delivered a heck of a lot of air and I really doubt he's spent much on making it.

 

[crbr]

Yup, agreed, better to write the check I think...

Q.) Is anyone familiar with Quincy Compressors? Local finish shop spent thousand$ upgrading their painting equipment 2-3 years ago just in time to have EPA and NYS come down hard on the chemicals and make the biz cost prohibitive (ouch!). This included a new, $1200+ 5hp 60gal Quincy stationary. All I have to go by is 18cfm@90psi, 21cfm@40psi, Max psi (?), model #151184-612 (?), but that # doesn't get a hit on the Quincy site or Goggle. The comments I found on Quincy compressors in general have been very, very good. Asking $500 w/ water separator (pic attached). Any thoughts?

A Quincy screw compressor is all you'll ever need. Done deal. Write the check....

To keep from jacking the man's thread, I'd hire out the sand blasting and call it a day, unless you just have to have a new compressor.

 

[ELMO67]

dholly, I just sent you a PM.

 

[sandman2234]

I don't think he was talking about a Quincy screw compressor, although he probably would love to have one. The text and picture refer to a V-twin piston pump. I have an Ingersol Rand that looks just like that. I had a Quincy head (no motor or tank) and I gave it to a good friend. He has yet to mount it but he will one day, when his old GM compressor off a bus gives up the ghost.
I would prefer a good used industrial compressor over the box store pieces of junk they import nowadays.
The size of the tank for sandblasting is really of no concern. The blaster uses so much air, that the compressor usually runs continously. If I were running a S/B'er, I would prefer to have the compressor run continously and just pump in an unloader or a pop-off valve to remove the excess when you stop for a few moments. Starting and stopping is too hard on a motor, especially when under a load of 80 to 125 psi air pressure.
David from jax

 

[digger2]

Years ago i got it in my head to build a compressor for the same reason-
sandblasting.
I did alot of research and for what i wanted to do,i needed a unit that
would supply a pressurized blaster running a 1/8"-3/16" nozzle.I think if you ask anybody who has any amount of expeirience sandblasting they will tell you sandblasting is one of the hardest things ,as far as actual running time ,on a compressor that you can do.Basically,its a constant air leak.
A big one.
If your compessor isnt big enough,eventually it will burn up.The
company that made the pump for the compessor i built(Speedaire)
reccomends 75% pumping time/25% cool down time.
It worked out about right on for my situation.With the blasting unit i was using,i wouldnt have gone any smaller.
But,you didnt mention exactly what size blaster nozzle,or what type
blaster (siphon or pressurized)you will be using.
I ordinarily use a 1/8" nozzle on my pressurized blaster.The compressor i built is a 4-cyl. 2-stage pump ran by a Kohler 18 hp twin engine,mounted on a 80 gal. tank,capable of 34 cfm max. free air flow at 175 psi max.I was actually supposed to be ran by a 10 hp electric motor but i wanted it portable,so i put a gas engine on it.The throttle and the "clutch" mechanism
i designed myself and are air cylinder operated.
That was 1991 when i built it,and if i remember right i had about $2300 in it back then,with the engine and comp. head,all the pulleys and belts and so on.Alot of the stuff that i used came from the scrap-bin at work.I'd probably
have to spend about $3500 to build one like it now.
Anyway,when i started to build this thing i had it in my head that i would save $$$ building it myself.I really dont think i did,but it was fun designing it and it does work great.
I think if i was you,i'd probably buy the biggest compessor i could
reasonably afford,then get the blasting unit to match the air output of the compressor.That way everything is compatable.......digger2