M.B. Naegle
Diamond
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2011
- Location
- Conroe, TX USA
My project to set-up overhead shaft driven machines in my garage is ever changing. I started with a Universal Tool and Cutter Grinder and bench grinder, but I now have a 14" lathe that will be on the same shafting, so my power source is growing. While I'm at it, I found a very old Curtis air compressor that is, you guessed it, flat belt drive. It has a newer Barber Coleman tank and newer motor, so it's really just the compressor head itself that's the jem. I'd like to power it from the same overhead shafting and could use some help.
The compressor head has two side-by-side flat belt flywheels, one idle and one driven. The original owner says it originally had a hit-n-miss motor to run it and that the operator would manually switch the flat belt on and off of the driven wheel. I'm wondering if there would be a way to automate that process without too much risk or modern technology, and do so mechanically without any electricity. The reason for this is that the overhead shafting is always spinning and without an electric motor that can be easily turned on and off, I need a way to turn off the compressor when the tank gets up to pressure.
I could do it with a double acting pneumatic cylinder, but each action would need to happen only at the set pressure and not gradually so I'm thinking I need an air activated two way valve with one or two regulators that only let air by at a set PSI.
The easiest way would of course be to skip the Rube Goldberg show and keep the control in the hands of the operator, I'm just looking at options that would keep it working like a normal compressor.... but mechanically....
The compressor head has two side-by-side flat belt flywheels, one idle and one driven. The original owner says it originally had a hit-n-miss motor to run it and that the operator would manually switch the flat belt on and off of the driven wheel. I'm wondering if there would be a way to automate that process without too much risk or modern technology, and do so mechanically without any electricity. The reason for this is that the overhead shafting is always spinning and without an electric motor that can be easily turned on and off, I need a way to turn off the compressor when the tank gets up to pressure.
I could do it with a double acting pneumatic cylinder, but each action would need to happen only at the set pressure and not gradually so I'm thinking I need an air activated two way valve with one or two regulators that only let air by at a set PSI.
The easiest way would of course be to skip the Rube Goldberg show and keep the control in the hands of the operator, I'm just looking at options that would keep it working like a normal compressor.... but mechanically....