In article ,
Charlie England wrote:

John Bundy wrote:

What size air compressor do I need for building my RV-10? I don't know
about rivets and air tools. My experience is mostly carpentry. I may
be interested in spraying some primer in interior areas but that's
about as far as I'd go with painting.

Go to:

http://www.matronics.com/search

& get as many opinions as you can stand about air compressors directly
from RV builders.

If all you do is rivet & don't try to use spray guns or air powered die
grinders (air drills are ok), a little 5 hp unit with 10-15 gal tank
would be adequate. Type of compressor gets important if you don't care
for noise (oilless is bad; old style piston type with oil in the
crankcase is good).

Charlie


One precaution id to drain the accumulated water out of the tank at
least onece a week, as it can corrode the bottom and could result in a
catastrophic tank rupture (about like a couple of sicks of dynamite).
Always remember to turn it off when not in use!

I was lucky with mine. I fired up the compressor and it seemed to take
forever to reach shutoff pressure. As I approached it I heard a lot of
hissing. I turned it off and let it depressurize. Later I found about a
1.5inch crack in the weld attaching the dome to the cylindrical part, in
the bottom, of course!

The funny thing, is that I had read an article in the Vintage about
exploding air compressors (with pictures) and talked to the author at
Oshkosh. This happened about 2 weeks after I returned from Oshkosh, so I
figured out what was happening pretty fast. Fortunately, all I had to do
was replace the tank, with a UL-approved type from Grainger's.