Shop Air Compressor Plumbing

I Love Compressed Air

Gimme some air, please!

I love having air conveniently available in my shop. I use it to run all manner of hand held air tools, a blast cabinet, and it's very important for the CNC Machines in my shop to have clean dry compressed air. I started with a Sears Craftsman compressor that sat below a 50 foot coiled hose reel like you'd find in an auto repair facility.

The hose reached pretty well throughout my shop, but I wanted to take the next step and get a bigger compressor and plumb in a more permanent and convenient air distribution system. For one thing, it'll clean up dragging that silly reel hose all over, and for another, the current compressor is very loud. It's so loud, that sitting right next to it where my CNC controls are, I used to put on my hearing protection muffs until the tank had filled.

So, I ordered a new 5HP industrial stationary compressor from Eaton, installed it in some crawl space that is removed from the workshop, and plumbed in an air system using black pipe. I couldn't be happier with the results. The workshop is now very quiet except for the slight hiss of a little air leaking here and there. In addition, I have a lot more air capacity when I want to run really air-hungry tools like my blast cabinet.

This page chronicles the choices and the installation of my new system.

The original air system and Craftsman compressor. The manifold was built with the knowledge I would eventually want to link it up to a compressor located elsewhere...

Shop Air Plumbing Part 2: Compressor and Plumbing

Want More Shop Projects?

Try our Blog and our Projects Page.

Want More Shop Projects?

Try our Blog and our Projects Page.

Home Shop Hall of Fame