Sunday, June 13, 2010

Garbage Air: how sweet the smell!

Hey,
I see a lot of useful stuff getting thrown out. Maybe it isn't useful to the original owner anymore but I find use in some of this stuff. One such happenstance occurred the day I found an 8gal. sized air compressor tank with a busted wheel and missing compressor. The tank itself was solid and undamaged (important for a pressure vessel) so I took it home hoping to make a portable air tank out of it one day. Months passed... no progress. Such is life. Then I found a second smaller discarded compressor thing that had some more interesting parts on it so I took that home as well and the brain-gears started turning.

I had to drop about $3 at the hardware store for threaded pipe fittings and $5 for some tacticool looking flat OD green spraypaint so I did end up spending a little money on the project but it's still pretty low budget.

Long story still long I sanded and painted the tank, pulled the (busted)wheels off it and added the 4 rubber feet off the smaller tank. Then I cut and welded the handle at a more jaunty angle(towards the centre of gravity) to aid in balancing the tank by the handle. I used some teflon thread tape, my hardware store threaded pipe bits, and my straight-out-of-the trash gauges and bits to plug the holes in the tank and add... well... functionality.

I'm pleased with the result. I now have enough portable air to do a little air-nailing, inflate some stuff, even air-out a computer fan or something without busting my hump trying to drag my big compressor around.

I have included a video for my own enjoyment... but you're welcome to have a look as well: