Thread: Workshop Compressor

BobL,

McMillan 3 (and I think; a bit) hp.

"Claimed" 16cfm in a perfect world, the planets all align and no solar flares etc etc.

Probably around 13-14. Power it from a dedicated 15amp line; but it sucks some power and causes light flickering in the shed and house which is on another circuit.

Ken

Originally Posted by Stustoys

"I have a 600 CFM compressor in my garage that uses only 1/3 HP! (It's a fan delivering 0.1 psi.)"

Mines bigger than yours.....

but your right Stustoys, .....that sums it up exactly

I have an Ingersol Rand which I bought sometime in the mid 90s, still have the compressor never had a problem with it, never changed the oil and never topped it up. Around the same time a friend gave me a couple of Arnold spray guns and a couple of touch up guns which I eventually threw away and replaced with a couple of Stars. I now have a set of gravity feed guns, nice finish and a high flow rate but very cumbersome, I’ll be going back to suction guns sometime in the future. Back in the early 70s, when compressors cost a motza, I bought a CIG Little Beaver, marvellous for spraying trailers and stuff like that, high flow rate but a heavy orange peel (very good for cobwebbing). I recycled it into a blower for a coke fired forge years later. Believe it or not I used it to spray show bikes, my elbows are paying for it now though. I won two trophies for my efforts - Best Paint for the one I painted with the Beaver around 1976 in Townsville and the other in Darwin in 99 for the one I painted with the Ingersol (Best Pre 83 Triumph).

Originally Posted by th62

I have an Ingersol Rand which I bought sometime in the mid 90s, still have the compressor never had a problem with it, never changed the oil and never topped it up.

I caved and changed the oil in mine when the bearings in the motor went at about a 25 year mark

Stuart

Originally Posted by th62

I have an Ingersol Rand which I bought sometime in the mid 90s, still have the compressor never had a problem with it, never changed the oil and never topped it up. Around the same time a friend gave me a couple of Arnold spray guns and a couple of touch up guns which I eventually threw away and replaced with a couple of Stars. I now have a set of gravity feed guns, nice finish and a high flow rate but very cumbersome, I’ll be going back to suction guns sometime in the future. Back in the early 70s, when compressors cost a motza, I bought a CIG Little Beaver, marvellous for spraying trailers and stuff like that, high flow rate but a heavy orange peel (very good for cobwebbing). I recycled it into a blower for a coke fired forge years later. Believe it or not I used it to spray show bikes, my elbows are paying for it now though. I won two trophies for my efforts - Best Paint for the one I painted with the Beaver around 1976 in Townsville and the other in Darwin in 99 for the one I painted with the Ingersol (Best Pre 83 Triumph).

My dad had a little Beaver from Gig and borrowed a nail gun to do the picket fence when they built the house about 1988. He accidentally shot that cat with that nail gun. The compressor didn't have a pressure blow off valve or something so the gun if sitting for a while would fire it self. Needless to say he never used the gun after that and not sure what happened to the compressor. Mum probably threw it at him for hurting her cat…. It did survive by the way.

Must have been a different Little Beaver to the two I had. Some vacuums from the 50s and 60s came with spray guns, not necessarily for paint, but they had no trigger and no controls. The Little Beaver I had worked on the same principle, blowing some air through the venturi, the remaining air diverted to the pot to assist the venturi action. The paint was atomised in the normal way. The hose was 1" in diameter similar to a pool pump hose. The gun had a trigger and paint volume control but nothing else. The pressure was such, a thumb over the end would stop the air flow.
Little Beaver Spray Gun commercial [1983] - YouTube
My first Beaver was a little different to this one, the gun was aluminium and the blower unit was cylindrical and made of metal but had no gun rest.

I remember the name little beaver, and the compressor was definitely CIG but looked nothing like that. So I have confused something.

It was one piece and silver with fins on the outside. Not a tank with the mechanics sitting on top.

Originally Posted by DSEL74

My dad had a little Beaver from Gig and borrowed a nail gun to do the picket fence when they built the house about 1988. He accidentally shot that cat with that nail gun. The compressor didn't have a pressure blow off valve or something so the gun if sitting for a while would fire it self. Needless to say he never used the gun after that and not sure what happened to the compressor. Mum probably threw it at him for hurting her cat…. It did survive by the way.

I want one of them!

Dean