air compressor big enough for venturi vaccum pump?

[redfishsc]

If I decide to start using a vacuum pot (ie, HF pressure pot) I will most likely just buy a venturi-style vacuum pump since they are, IIRC, a good bit more affordable than a dedicated electric pump.


I have access to a gianourmous air compressor at the carpentry shop I work at, but my pen shop is across the complex (too far for an extension hose).

Beside my lathe I have a 1.5hp, 6 gallon Husky pancake that I used just for the lathe and occasionally to run a trim nail gun if I'm running trim on a side job.

I don't remember how many CFM this one puts out but I'd expect it to be around 4 CFM. Do you think this little fellow could run a venturi vacuum pump on a 2.5g pot?

Thanks!

Matt

 

[holmqer]

I have a Makita 2.5 HP 4 gal that puts out around 4.2 CFM. It can not keep up with the HF venturi vacuum pump. But what I can do is pull a bit of vacuum, close the valve on the pot and disconnect the compressor. I let the compressor charge back up, reconnect it and open the valve. The pulls it down to 25" of vacuum and I can then close the valve again and hold vacuum.

 

[redfishsc]

Does it only take a couple of recharges for the compressor to accomplish a 25" pull? If so, that's perfectly fine.

As a side note, folks, DON'T buy the Husky. It's loud as heck and after I bought it I noticed on the side of the box the warning NOT to use it as an industrial tool. Should have known better anyhow, but it was the only small compressor that any of the local Borg had the day I needed to get it.[B)]

 

[holmqer]

I can get 25" on two charges, the initial one pulls it down to around 20" and the second gets it to 25".

 

[TBone]

I doubt the Husky is any louder than most of the others. I have a 25 gallon Craftsman and 2 Porter Cable pancake. They are all loud because they are oiless. Any of the oiless are going to be loud.

 

[redfishsc]

Originally posted by TBone

I doubt the Husky is any louder than most of the others. I have a 25 gallon Craftsman and 2 Porter Cable pancake. They are all loud because they are oiless. Any of the oiless are going to be loud.

Lol, the Husky is louder than the old portable Harbor Freight compressor our shop has... by a long shot. The only thing that comes close to the noise this puppy makes is that 25 gallon Craftsman you mentioned---- that is a GREAT compressor but will kill your ears!


Some of them seem to have some sort of sound muffling device on them, some don't. Mine sounds like it has a glasspack on it (like the Craftsman).


So far it's been a decent compressor, but it's only a month into service. I tried to hold off on buying it, but I was basically forced to b/c I had a side job running some trim on a huge run of bookcases and I just couldn't see myself hand-driving a bunch of trim nails and getting the job done in 1 day. With the compressor and a brad gun I was done by 3 in the afternoon.

 

[TBone]

That's about how I ended up with my second pancake. The first one was bought because I was tired of spending 3 hours inflating floats, tubes and air matresses with a 12v compressor at the beach. On the second one, I was going to buy two nail guns and Home Depot had a deal that was only $40 more and I got the compressor and a pneumatic stapler. They are great time savers, I don't swing a hammer if I have to drive more than 3-4 nails.