Antique Sears Craftsman Air Compressor

[herbyreed]

Looking for an instruction manual/sheet for this vintage Sears Air Compressor I recently acquired. Any info about this is appreciated.

Link to more pictures:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=818

 

[lauver]

Wow, that compresser is cool looking... very "art deco". I don't have the manuel for it, but if you can find the model number on it (looks like nnn.nnnnnnn) I can tell you who the OEM was.

Also there are several web sites that specialize in old machinery and equipment that have assembled lots of old manuels and can provide technical advice. Do a google search.

 

[herbyreed]

Model number is 283.1842

I will try more googling. So far not much except a few sale ads.

 

[lauver]

According to my top secret copy of Sears OEM list, 283. = Thomas Industries. You might google the name and see if the company is still in business and what all they make. If in business, there may be a website, email address, phone number, or some other way to contact them.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

PS-- I want your compressor if you die.

 

[SEANDOG]

I picked one up just like it at the antique store just because its so cool. Not sure of the year built sometime after 1942 as I checked earlier Sears catalogs and the compressor is different. Would love to find a manual but that looks iffy at this point. Going to clean it up and use for display at work.

 

[sselander]

Thomas is still around as part of Gardner Denver:
http://www.gd-thomas.com/

The patent number is 113,427, air compressor design by Ronald Manning, 1939
http://www.google.com/patents/USD113427

Also this excerpt from http://www.jitterbuzz.com/indtoo.html :

 

[Dogwoodfarms]

Anyone know what kind of pressure this puts out and I'd it's functional for anything or just fun to look at?

 

[AntiqueBen]

Let's revive this thread I acquired the same type of art deco Craftsman air compressor today. Still runs like a top. It has the info plate & the compressor has the patent number 113,427 stamped on it. This patent dates to 1939. My Google box says Craftsman's first air compressors were made in 1939. Not sure how true that is. I haven't researched this thing yet. This thing is going to look cool once I restore it

 

[Nick1950]

Does anyone have instructions for one of these?

 

[bonneyman]

PS-- I want your compressor if you die.

Now that's one heck of an endorsement!

I, too, love the Art Deco look. Bets of luck fixing that baby up.

 

[Nick1950]

Attached pic is mine.

 

[WillyBoy]

My recollection is that they were made for paint spraying. This might mean that it doesn't develop a really high pressure.
That said, I don't really know what pressure it will pump up to.

 

[Nutria]

I almost picked one of those up at a sale-- ya'll are making me regret passing it by.

 

[david3921]

Does the fin on the back have a function or just for looks? It seems to be in a different position on some of the pictures.

 

[Nutria]

Does the fin on the back have a function or just for looks? It seems to be in a different position on some of the pictures.

Fancy carry handle?

 

[The Cobbler]

My recollection is that they were made for paint spraying.

they were designed for spraying with a constant bleed type gun, the air continually bleeds through the gun whether you are applying paint or not .

 

[Beerhippie]

Does the fin on the back have a function or just for looks? It seems to be in a different position on some of the pictures.

It improves stability at speeds over one hundred MPH.

I think there's a class for these at Bonneville.