RJ's Progressive Air Piping Thread

[OccupantRJ]

I have been working on the air compressor piping for my shop for a while now, installing as I got the time and inclination. The system is feeding two media blasting cabinets, providing general shop air through 7 drops, and providing two external through the wall outlets for outside use, one on each side of the shop. These will come in handy for pot sandblasting.


I had accumulated about a hundred pounds of various new and used black and galvanized pipe fittings throughout the years at auctions and sales, so I used what I had on hand. There is a mix of black and galvanized. The used fittings were wiire brushed or beadblasted before use. The black piping for the runs was purchased locally from the big box.

The system will ultimately be fed by two 20 CFM compressors, but right now one vertical is in a disassembled state, due to having to move it. The flex hose is 1 inch rated at 300 psi. I cut a 3/4 ****** in two, machined barbs on the OD of it, then used them to attach the flex hose with double clamps. This gives maximum flow at this area, as the ID of the hose is larger than the ID of the pipe. The main trunk is 3/4" black pipe, which drops in size to 1/2" after passing the blasting cabinets.

After leaving the compressor, the piping supplies a through the wall external outlet, a second compressor inlet, then rises and pitches upward until it passes through the wall, then goes vertical to a T. After the T, the piping then slopes away from the compressor on the rest of the runs.

Condensate drains with quarter turn ball valves are provided at the drops and low points of the system. A 3/4" moisture separator is installed on the main trunk right before the first blasting cabinet, then the cabinet has it's own 1/2" unit and pressure regulator. The large cabinet is directly connected until I can round up another individual separator for it also.

I was forced to go up and over the garage door through the attic because of the direction the piping needed to take to reach it's end point. That section of line will be insulated. There are drip legs provided on each side of the doorway.

The line then passes through another wall into the machining room to provide nozzles for swarf, bandsaw blade blowoff air, and an external outlet on that side of the shop. You can see that some shop's piping requirements are not as simple as others. This system will be used to make extra cash after retirement by media blasting.

By following the picture sequence, you can see how the piping was fitted in somewhat relative order of assembly and installation.

 

[OccupantRJ]

More piping. A string line was pulled to the proper pitch, then wood standoff blocks were attached to the plywood wall with 1/4" lags. Three inch deck screws were driven in to support sections of piping until straps could be attached. This allowed me to build a section, then hang it in place by myself while I attached straps and connected unions.

The standoff blocks serve several purposes. They allow pipe union clearance, wrench working clearance, and allow for thermal expansion and contraction of the piping. My shop is tradionally not heated unless I am working in it.

The left run in these pics will go to a hose reel near the welding table, to be used for die grinding and air tools for auto repair.

 

[OccupantRJ]

And more.. The 3/4" water separator was a gift from my salvage yard friend. The old brass pressure gauges are from a fire suppression system.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Piping, piping, piping....i needed a convenient way to drain water from the overhead separator, so constructed the brass wall mount to allow attachment of the plastic drain tube and valve. The fittings are push to fit, so maintenance on the separator bowl is easily done.
The blasting cabinet has it's own separator, regulator, and blow off nozzle mounted on the side nearest the wall.

A restoration thread on this cabinet can be found in this link.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124933

 

[OccupantRJ]

Yes, more..The first picture is what I refer to as "Blast Alley". The wood standoff blocks were made production style from shipping crates, and the thinner blocks are pieces of 1/4" masonite. The smaller blocks are used where the pipe fittings contact the wall to compensate for the difference of the pipe diameter versus the fitting, so as to not bow the pipe when the support clamp is attached.

 

[OccupantRJ]

You said you like pics.....This is where the piping reduces in size from 3/4 to 1/2". A drop, along with a drip leg, was installed to feed the large blast cabinet. The gauge allows me to keep an eye on the line pressure in the media blasting area.

Next to the cabinet another outlet was installed to feed a blowoff hose to blow grit off parts when removed from the cabinet after cleaning. This drop also acts as a condensate drain for the section of pipe that rises up and travels across the garage door.

Another blow off hose will be installed inside the cabinet to blow off the inside of the door before it is opened to remove the parts after blasting. This helps greatly to reduce grit from falling off the door when it is opened.

Since I had combined the large cabinet and dust extractor onto a wheeled dolly to make it a unitized mobile assembly, a rubber flex hose is used to allow the cabinet to be rolled out into the main shop area to allow cleaning and servicing behind it.

There is another drop outlet with drip leg on the opposite side of the doorway. A hose can be attached to either side of the doorway for outside use.

More pictures of this large cabinet can be found in the following link of a thread when I was moving things out of storage.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=61583

 

[OccupantRJ]

And more in the machining room. The piping passes through the wall to feed this area. The orange wiring seen behind the lathe is not connected and was only used for temporary testing, awaiting a restoration. The ball valve in the doorway will supply blowoff air for the cut line of a bandsaw. The air will be controlled by a solenoid so that the air comes on when the saw does. The green hose will be the swarf blow off for the Bridgeport mill.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Here the piping provides a drip leg and also passes through the outside wall to supply an exterior wall chuck. The split silver plate is an escutcheon trim plate I made for the hole penetrations through the walls. There are a few more details to be tended to, but since I just got it in action, I decided to get a thread started. Don't hold me to it, but I may even get a wild hair and paint the piping green to match the blasting cabinets. Uh, maybe.....

 

[akdiesel]

OccupantRJ

Great build. Nice attention to detail.

 

[bentwrench54]

that looks amazing!

 

[OccupantRJ]

I had a few minutes this afternoon to make up the blow off hose for the side of the large blast cabinet. This is used to blow grit off the cleaned parts by blowing it back into the open cabinet. A hole was drilled into the upper cabinet hinge to provide a handy air nozzle hang point.

A 25 foot air hose was sectioned up to make a couple of station hoses like this one. A two ear circular clamp was used to attach the hose to the barb fitting. They can be applied using end nips as a crimper, and are available at McMaster Carr. They are neat and compact, and I like them much better than worm drive clamps.

The other picture is one of the exterior air chucks. This particular one is on a line that goes underground to my storage barn. The mobile equipment is parked in there, and this will allow me to air up tires as needed. I may also do some painting there to keep it out of the shop.

 

[Bib Overalls]

Nice work.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Time for another air piping progress report. Several years ago, in anticipation of installing this air piping system, I had acquired a Coxwell hose reel for $20 from my buddy at the industrial salvage yard. It had lain in wait in my contingency materials storage facility until I had gotten far enough along on the project to put it to good use.

After running a few more feet of pipe to it's intended location, I mounted a couple pieces of 2X4 to two trusses and mounted a piece of 3/4" plywood to them with screws. This gave me a large surface to mount the reel, along with the capability to move it in a direction that will allow me to miss the ribs and land in a flat area of the proposed metal ceiling later.

A 3/8"x25 foot Goodyear rubber hose was ordered from Amazon for around $19 to replace the too short hose that was on the reel when I got it. I used a short section of hose on hand to make up the feed hose to the unit, and this was attached to a moisture separator on the air line branch along with a 1/4 turn valve.

The unit hangs on the work bay side of the welding table, which will allow use for either auto wrenching or to feed a die grinder at the table vise.

 

[turbowoodworker]

Thanks for all the posts and pictures. I learned a few tricks that I will put to use.

 

[SBOhio]

Great job of using your old stock of parts on this piping. It looks great. Don't want to side track your thread would you mind if I PM you with some media blaster questions?

 

[SBOhio]

Piping, piping, piping....i needed a convenient way to drain water from the overhead separator, so constructed the brass wall mount to allow attachment of the plastic drain tube and valve. The fittings are push to fit, so maintenance on the separator bowl is easily done.
The blasting cabinet has it's own separator, regulator, and blow off nozzle mounted on the side nearest the wall.

A restoration thread on this cabinet can be found in this link.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=124933

RJ, Why did you put the overhead separator up high vs down low for the blast cabinet? Is it there to catch more down stream drops?

 

[OccupantRJ]

RJ, Why did you put the overhead separator up high vs down low for the blast cabinet? Is it there to catch more down stream drops?

The separator in this case is there for the main trunk line going to the cabinets and beyond to the rest of the system. There is also a separator and regulator for just the smaller blast cabinet. It is tucked between the cabinet and wall, and can be seen in the pics. The large cabinet will also get it's own separator once I locate another one in a 3/4" size. This puts two separators in series before feeding each cabinet. The first separator also comes into play during use of the rest of the general purpose branch lines.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Great job of using your old stock of parts on this piping. It looks great. Don't want to side track your thread would you mind if I PM you with some media blaster questions?

Hopefully I was able to answer your PM questions in a way that helped, SBOhio. Keep us posted.

 

[SBOhio]

Hopefully I was able to answer your PM questions in a way that helped, SBOhio. Keep us posted.

Helped alot! You said you plan on running 2-20 cfm compressors. I'm assuming for the large media blaster. Are you then planning on using 30-40 cfm to blast with? If so will the 3/4" main be large enough?

 

[OccupantRJ]

Helped alot! You said you plan on running 2-20 cfm compressors. I'm assuming for the large media blaster. Are you then planning on using 30-40 cfm to blast with? If so will the 3/4" main be large enough?

The system has an outlet through the wall to the outdoors right above the flex hose at the compressor to allow pressure pot blasting nearby. This is the reason for the two compressors, and will allow me to use larger nozzles in the cabinets if desired. Here is a chart on air flow vs. Pipe size.

http://www.jgbhose.com/technical-reference-literature/maximum-recommended-air-flow.asp

 

[Tarnished]

RJ, You have inspired me. Great looking setup. See a a lot of ideas I can steel if you don't mind.
I just picked up the copper to re-due my old barn today. Have 1/2" copper run now, but will be upgrading to 1" and 1-1/4" as that is what became available. Have an old Quincy 325 compressor, and most of the plumbing parts now, so just need to plan it and do it!
Perhaps I missed it, but what are you using for the valves at the end of your drip line? Couldn't see a close up but it looks like perhaps 1/4" brass valves of some kind? Was thinking of something along the lines of this brass petcock at the end of the drip leg just for blow down, but pretty $$ for the amount I would need. Looking for alternatives.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Steal away. That's why we are here, to learn from each other and share ideas and accomplishments. Since I buy a lot of hardware items at flea markets and sales, I tend to have a good stock of items on hand to build projects from. I also look several years ahead on shop projects, and have detail items already made up and laid back for future use, instead of waiting for right when I need it. It makes a project motor right along when the time comes, and things are not constructed in a rush.

An example is the wall mounted Tee with the flatbar welded to the back of it. They were made 3 years ago.

As far as the drain valves, they are hex body brass ball valves, with either a barb fitting or an air chuck plug on the end to direct any water. There were about 15 of them in a batch of fittings purchased in the late 70's. I don't consider myself a pack rat, but I hang onto good hardware, as I always end up using it.

 

[NelsonC]

I have a few questions about piping for air supply, I'm planning on running a line from the compressor to 2 locations, about 50' of line. It's not a big system, I'm thinking about getting the Craftsman Pro 30 Gallon compressor.

What is the best practice for water sepration, location for the water drain valve? Do I need to run the line in a certain way? I see some people run the line then down, not sure if it was done for a specific reason.

Should I have a separate pressure control other than the 1 that's on the compressor?

How about filter or oil supply location? Is there another thread that talks about more of the basics of piping for air supply?

thanks for any help.

 

[J Persons]

RJ, You have inspired me. Great looking setup. See a a lot of ideas I can steel if you don't mind.
I just picked up the copper to re-due my old barn today. Have 1/2" copper run now, but will be upgrading to 1" and 1-1/4" as that is what became available. Have an old Quincy 325 compressor, and most of the plumbing parts now, so just need to plan it and do it!
Perhaps I missed it, but what are you using for the valves at the end of your drip line? Couldn't see a close up but it looks like perhaps 1/4" brass valves of some kind? Was thinking of something along the lines of this brass petcock at the end of the drip leg just for blow down, but pretty $$ for the amount I would need. Looking for alternatives.

I used ball valves from Lowes or Home Depot. Depending on the size, around $7.00 each. The drip leg doesn't need to be as large as the main line, it can be reduced down to 1/2" or 3/8" to save you a little money.

 

[Tarnished]

I used ball valves from Lowes or Home Depot. Depending on the size, around $7.00 each. The drip leg doesn't need to be as large as the main line, it can be reduced down to 1/2" or 3/8" to save you a little money.

Thanks J. Like that idea. Think 3/8 should work just fine. Like the idea of the barb fitting to add a short hose when needed.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I have a few questions about piping for air supply, I'm planning on running a line from the compressor to 2 locations, about 50' of line. It's not a big system, I'm thinking about getting the Craftsman Pro 30 Gallon compressor.

What is the best practice for water sepration, location for the water drain valve? Do I need to run the line in a certain way? I see some people run the line then down, not sure if it was done for a specific reason.

Should I have a separate pressure control other than the 1 that's on the compressor?

How about filter or oil supply location? Is there another thread that talks about more of the basics of piping for air supply?

thanks for any help.

The link below is to a popular diagram for running air lines, from TP Tools website. It will answer some of your questions for you. While you are there, there are other articles on water separation in an air system.

http://cached.tptools.com/Images/airline-piping-diagram.pdf

 

[OccupantRJ]

RJ, You have inspired me. Great looking setup. See a a lot of ideas I can steel if you don't mind.
I just picked up the copper to re-due my old barn today. Have 1/2" copper run now, but will be upgrading to 1" and 1-1/4" as that is what became available. Have an old Quincy 325 compressor, and most of the plumbing parts now, so just need to plan it and do it!
Perhaps I missed it, but what are you using for the valves at the end of your drip line? Couldn't see a close up but it looks like perhaps 1/4" brass valves of some kind? Was thinking of something along the lines of this brass petcock at the end of the drip leg just for blow down, but pretty $$ for the amount I would need. Looking for alternatives.

If you look at the middle picture of the top row in post #4,you can see a closeup of the quarter turn drain valves I used. They are available at McMaster Carr. #4112T22, $11.45.

 

[ADSR]

Great thread, RJ!

Going to use some of your ideas, brother!

 

[OccupantRJ]

Great thread, RJ!

Going to use some of your ideas, brother!

Go for it! Post up some pics of your project.

 

[volleyball]

I saw your exterior outlet and it reminds me of mine. I used a 50 year old solid brass head and it still needs oiling once in awhile. Mine comes straight out of the wall so I will be putting one of those foam spigot cover on it to help. You may want to put a plastic bag over yours to keep it out of the weather when not in use.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I saw your exterior outlet and it reminds me of mine. I used a 50 year old solid brass head and it still needs oiling once in awhile. Mine comes straight out of the wall so I will be putting one of those foam spigot cover on it to help. You may want to put a plastic bag over yours to keep it out of the weather when not in use.

Thanks for the observation. I have had exterior outlets before, so am aware of the need to keep them freed up. I selected this 40 year old QD because a shot of lube, along with a few smacks of the hand on the end keeps it freed up.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The air piping pictures in this thread have also been included in an album in my profile. This will make viewing them in series in full size a little easier. Link here.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=3311

 

[kbs2244]

Lots of planning is coming together well.

My only concern is the unions.
You are using a lot of them.
A typical plumbing union is designed to be water tight at apx. 80 PSI max.
Air is a lot thinner than water and you will be at a higher pressure.
I am afraid you may have some leakage problems.

Also. I like to avoid horizontal outlets.
It invites bending of the hose.
If it cannot be vertical I go with a 45 degree.
You can get 45 degree tees so you still have a vertical drip leg.
It is just a personal thing.
I have seen plenty of horizontal outlets that seem to be working fine.

 

[J Persons]

Lots of planning is coming together well.

My only concern is the unions.
You are using a lot of them.
A typical plumbing union is designed to be water tight at apx. 80 PSI max.
Air is a lot thinner than water and you will be at a higher pressure.
I am afraid you may have some leakage problems.

Only use unions that have a copper sealing surface and use Rectorseal on the union seat. I doubt if they will leak with the proper precautions.

 

[volleyball]

Mine don't leak any more than a threaded fitting. You could add a gasket if you had a poorly made union or just replace it. It is a convenient point to open the pipes.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I just make a small modification to one of my exterior air line ports. I had a port on the right rear corner of the shop to allow use of air for exterior painting or blasting, then I acquired a Gordon Smith 100 cfm portable compressor.

This is a link to the acquisition of the Gordon Smith monoblock air compressor.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=322952

I had this setup on a previous shop so decided to do it to this one. I added a full flow 3/4" brass gate valve with Chicago fitting to allow me to back feed the shop from the Smith compressor if my son and I are both using the two blast cabinets at the same time. I left the original quick disconnect in place to be able to use a standard air hose in the area.

A shelter for the compressor is planned in the future to keep it in a better environment for the unit.

A critter cap was made for the Chicago port with a handle to make it easier to install or remove. Once the Smith is hooked up and running, the valve is opened and a man should have all the air he would ever use inside the workshop.

 

[larry_g]

https://sandblast-nozzles.com/information/nozzle-air-and-pressure-requirements-chart/

I'm just dropping this link in for anyone who is doing blasting and wonders what it takes for air consumption and what not. There are many other pages on the site above with good information, search around it a bit.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[OccupantRJ]

Relative to the use of unions in the air piping, I got hold of a second commercial air hose reel a while back and mounted it to the ceiling near my garage door. I needed to tie it into the existing piping, and there is a union less than 18”away from the location. That is my project for today, so here is a pic of the area. Sooo much easier to tap into the piping with the union there.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Finished up.

 

[Augus7us]

The link below is to a popular diagram for running air lines, from TP Tools website. It will answer some of your questions for you. While you are there, there are other articles on water separation in an air system.

http://cached.tptools.com/Images/airline-piping-diagram.pdf

I was reading that article as I'm about to start figuring out my air setup. I noticed this at the bottom of the document and was curious if you guys agreed with it, as I was thinking copper or something like rapid air.

Use Black Iron Pipe only. We do not recommend galvanized metal pipe, as galvanization can come off the inside of the pipe, clogging
separators and regulators. Do not use PVC pipe, as PVC will not help cool the air; and glued joints often separate. Avoid copper tubing, as
it is easily damaged; and soldered joints can come loose under pressure (Safety Hazard).

-Clint