Plumb Your Shop with Air New Haven CT

Plumb Your Shop With AIr

Flexible Hose Saves Time and Money

by Richard Tendick

Moments after I tripped over the air hose and dropped an armload of boards, I decided it was time to plumb my shop for air.  I was tired of having 50 ft. of hose on the floor and dashing back to the compressor to adjust the line pressure. I knew a permanent system could deliver the right amount of air where and when I needed it—without a big hose snaked dangerously across the floor. 

Every article I read on plumbing air lines advised using either iron or copper.  Because my basement shop holds a lot of obstructions, using iron or copper would result in a whole lot of threading or soldering of short little pieces. Besides, copper and iron fittings are costly. 

Ultimately, I decided on a solution I had used many times in my 27 years as a manufacturing plant engineer. When installing printing presses and other large machines, I used rubber air hose as a flexible pipe to route compressed air in and through the equipment without having to do a lot of complicated plumbing.

That approach would certainly work with all the obstructions in my shop. I chose a rubber hose rated for 250 pounds per square inch (psi), plenty for my little pancake compressor. The 1/2-in. inside diameter meant no reduction in air pressure would occur along the length of the run.

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This story originally appeared in  American Woodworker September 2006, issue #123.

Source information may have changed since the original publication date.

Source  

MSC Industrial Supply, (800) 645-7270, www.mscdirect.com

September 2006, issue #123

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