My weekend in the shop- new hose reel mount and air lines...

[Mezzanine]

Had a nice weekend in the shop- I got my compressor placed in it's closet, and got all the air lines piped in.
Here is a before pic:



Sorry for the dark photo- the wall on the right is where ended up putting my air filters and reel. The compressor is a Devilbiss 5hp/80gal that I got from my grandfather. He got it free- it ran but had some issues, so he rebuilt it and realized that he had no use for it. Thanks Granddad!

After reading about nice quality hose reels here on GJ, I bought a really nice reel from Coxreels. Made in USA, and top shelf quality. This was the most expensive part of my kit; think I paid around $100.

Anyway, I also bought an Arrow filter/water separator and a coalescing filter on eBay. Total was like $50 after shipping. I also got a nice Hankison desiccant dryer for a whopping $30. I was thinking about making my own until I realized I could get it all on eBay for less than the materials would cost me.

Here it all is after piping it up:



Since my air compressor closet separates the two sides of my garage a bit, I knew I wanted to be able to swing my reel to either side. I spent a couple hours fab'ing up this mount:



I made it out of some scrap I had- I wanted it to be pretty burly... That hose reel is heavy. It turns about 110 degrees, and suits my needs perfectly. Here is a detail shot:



Now I have to take it back down to paint.

The only thing I am not satisfied about is the regulator I have on the air discharge- it is home depot/Husky crap. I set the manifold up so I could valve off the desiccant dryer- I only need to use that for spraying paint... The other two filters and my iron pipe do a fantastic job eliminating moisture, so I figure I can reduce my desiccant replacement by only using it when I need really dry air. Anyway, the reg I have for the desiccant side is only good for 65 lbs, which is plenty for my HVLP gun, and is a good quality unit. Just need to find a good reg for the other line now.
Made for a pretty good weekend in headquarters!

[Uncle Buck]

I really liked your swivel mount, so much so I swiped a copy for my file of computer pics to make one for myself!

[Mezzanine]

Make sure you use 4130 steel for the hinge parts, and grade 8 bolts... That is what I used! OK, I know that is stupid overkill, but it is what I had laying around!

[383astro]

Originally Posted by Mezzanine

Make sure you use 4130 steel for the hinge parts, and grade 8 bolts... That is what I used! OK, I know that is stupid overkill, but it is what I had laying around!

there is no such thing as "overkill", any other way is just half-a$$

[383astro]

BTW very nice, 2 thumbs up. nice fab skills. What kinda plasma you got?

[rickairmedic]

Looks great I think I may have to pilfer that reel hanger myself . I will be mounting one of my reels from the ceiling and the other will be wall mounted .

Rick

[IDASHO]

Looks great!

Do you think some nylon washers in the pivots would help?

[bluesman2a]

Is there a specific vendor you used from ebay? I need many of those same parts, if there's a vendor you could recommend, I'm sure many of us would appreciate the advice.

[logical]

I'm still flip-flopping btween wall and ceiling mounting my Reelcraft. If I wall mount I'll need some sort of swivel like that. Thanks for the pics.

I'll be real anal and point out one thing though: You should install both pivot bolts "threads down" so if you lose the nut the bolt will not fall out.

[914forme]

What you didn't safety wire them nylox??????

Nice fab work, I also swiped the picture for future reference.

[buening]

You may look into using some thrust bearings between the two brackets to minimize friction and wear

[kbs2244]

While we are nit picking, the top ear on the moving part should be on the top of the ear of the non-moving part.
Just like the bottom one.
But I would bet his grand kids will be useing that hinge just the way it is now.

[tdkkart]

I think he got confused, someone told him to make a bracket to mount the air thingy, he thought they wanted the entire compressor mounted on the wall............

[akdiesel]

Regardless of all of the "You did a good job, but" remarks, I think it looks great.
I wish I had a tig welder.

[Uncle Buck]

Originally Posted by akdiesel

Regardless of all of the "You did a good job, but" remarks, I think it looks great.
I wish I had a tig welder.

I thought that too, glad I was not the only one.

[alkemyst]

you must have stayed at a holiday inn express!

[WV Firefighter]

Nice job on the bracket! Wish I could weld.....

[ron in sc]

Having a swivel bracket like you have will be very convenient. I thought I remembered seeing a swivel bracket made by Coxreels. It was nowhere near as beefy or nice as the one you made.

The other two filters and my iron pipe do a fantastic job eliminating moisture, so I figure I can reduce my desiccant replacement by only using it when I need really dry air.

That desiccant can last a surprisingly long time. I’ve have a Dryaire filter system, I think I’ve had it about 3 years. I’ve renewed the desiccant 2 or 3 times already simply by putting it in shallow tin foil type trays and then putting them in the oven until the beads turn blue again.

I run the system with the desiccant filter all the time.

See photo for my coxreel and the air filter system.

[Mezzanine]

I love this place- Lots of warm fuzzies from people who like your work, and every piece of "nit-picking" I got were exact things that I had thought about and exercised my own OCD over! I thought about turning some nice bronze bushings, or maybe putting some nylon washers or something, but I did such a good job stress-relieving while welding that the two parts fit perfectly. Don't need no stinking thrust bearings or nylon washer! It has a VERY smooth pivot to it- doesn't take any effort, but isn't too loose either.

As far as equipment, I cut the parts with my Thermal Dynamics Pak Master 75 XL Plus. Say that three times fast!
I was going to put the root pass down tig, and follow up stick, but it looked so pretty, and I was all set up so I just tig'd the whole thing. Machine is a Thermal Arc 250 GTS.

Oh, and I bought all the stuff from different vendors... None of them were particularly stellar, but not too bad either. The filter was supposed to have a sight glass and didn't, and the coalescing filter was supposed to be 3/4" NPT but was 1/2". My rule of thumb on ebay: don't buy from anyone who's feedback is below body temperature. I seem to do ok.

I would suggest Arrow products- not a famous enough name to command a lot of searches. You can get NOS for cheap. Great products too. Mine both have auto drain valves.

Thanks for the kind words guys!


C

[e-tek]

It is a nice set up. The only thing I'd add (you should have) is a filter after the dessicant dryer. The desicant leaves in the DRY air, which you'll see every time you empty it. I see you have a reg, but you need a filter for sure.
My dessicant dryer is also 3 feet long! Wonder what the efficeincy is of big vs. small (I should ask Mrs E-tek!!)