Worthington Air Compressors?

[Shwoody]

I've been on the hunt for a new (used) air compressor. Looking for something 2-stage, US made, around 80 gallon. I've found a few nice Saylor-Beall and similar compressors but they're 7.5 or 10 HP and 3 phase. I have a 20hp rotary phase converter but have read about a lot of trouble with running a compressor on an RPC. There is a Chinese 20hp VFD for around $550 that I'm considering.

Anyway does anyone know about old Worthington air compressors? I've been seeing a lot of these on Craigslist but not much talk about them on the forums. I'm sure they're reliable but haven't found many sites selling rebuild kits. 3 phase ones are in the $450-800 range. The one I attached a picture of is the only single phase one I've found. The asking price is way high but it's been listed for a while so I figured the seller might be very negotiable. The model number on the tag is blank. Anyone own one of these? Are they comparable quality to old Champion, Saylor-Beall etc?

 

[cnc-me]

They are a really good compressor. Been running a 20 HP unit for almost 40 years now.
Had to give it a freshening up about 5 years ago because one of the tanks was leaking.
Good time to go through the pump too, mainly just lapped the reed valve surfaces and
installed new reed valves. Forced oil on this unit, still runs at around 20 PSI.
A local factory had the big brothers to the unit I have, I think they were 125 HP each and they
had five, with a sixth one for back up. They were all V twins with direct motor drive.
One of the maintenance guys said "you could crawl inside the low pressure cylinder"!
See if the seller will take $1000 2K is ski high, on a unit you don't know anything about.
If you do decide to get this unit, check to make sure you can still get parts for it before buying.
Before and after revamp pictures below
.

 

[Shwoody]

Nice job on that compressor! Looks real nice. Cool history on the huge ones too. What's the idea behind the three separate air lines between the heads? Cooling?
The tank on that blue one says 1947 and it looks like the outside had some rust pitting before they painted it. Makes me worry about what the inside looks like.
There is also this 7.5hp 3 phase one. The seller said it has an oil leak at one of the base gaskets but I could have it for $300. The company I bought my phase converter from said I shouldn't have an issue running it.

 

[MacMcMacmac]

Top notch machine (when new). Parts may be an issue. The last machine pictured is a single stage, so about 130psi is about the max i'd want to pull from it. They tend to run a bit fast, but seem to last just fine. We have a pair of BDC (big damn compressor) units running at our facility since the mid 50's. Amazing, huge engineering company into everything. It always baffles me how such entities just disappear.

 

[Shwoody]

The parts availability is very questionable. I talked to a compressor parts supplier and he couldn't identify either unit.
I figure if the tank isn't rusted out on the second one, that alone must be worth to close to $300 so I'm going to take the gamble. I mostly use air for occasional sandblasting and plasma cutting. So in theory if it runs well when I go to look at it, it should last me a while. Hopefully.
Do you think the single stage thing is of any concern? I've only used the el cheapo single stage compressors. A commercial quality one should be okay right?

Yes, definitely unfortunate that all those US manufacturers went out of business. The build quality and attention to detail is pretty great compared to a lot of the newer stuff.