I bought this air-brush compressor. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M33C8MV/
It doesn’t give me the CFM that the pancake compressor gave me BUT it is quiet. Can’t hear it with the router on, much less if it’s cutting. Just measured and got 57 db at 1’ above the compressor.
Now - while it doesn’t have the air blast it still does fine clearing aluminum chips. I add a mist of alcohol and it cools just fine. (and way cleaner than any oil)
My biggest problem right now is that the coolant value on my mister is messed up and I’m probably gonna have to buy another one. I can’t turn it down so it’s always spraying more coolant than I want. (Yeah maybe I could take apart the valve and fix it but it’s also < $20 and it’s probably smashed by someone over tightening the screw.)
@DanO and @Liferj, thank you for the pointers. A few youtube videos of underwhelming aquarium pump based systems later, I am now leaning towards buying that kind of air brush compressor model (4 bar/57psi, 23l/min / 365GPH, and a super quiet 47dB), figure out a nozzle geometry that will grant a decent air flow, and rely on a separate mechanism for coolant mist (or maybe a simple drip tube). At less than 100$, it’s not a huge commitment anyway, and if it fails I can still learn airbrush painting
I reread the initial post. At what point do 50¢ earplugs make sense. I just wear hearing protection and don’t worry about the air compressor. Or is this a problem with neighbors?
Yup, our house has a common wall with our neighbor’s, also the door between my garage and the house is not soundproof, so compressor noise at 10pm is not welcome
I’ve been dealing with the exact same problem. My 16gal Dewalt compressor works great for sandblasting, painting and air tools but is way waaaaay too loud for me to be using it continuously. I’ve been using an airbrush compressor to clear aluminium chips for a while with varying degree of success.
Adjustable arm is so flimsy that the nozzle would almost never stay in the desired position and I could never properly adjust the air stream. What a waste of money.
Already tested that setup and it’s doing a great job. Plenty air, quiet, not very expensive . All I have left is to extend the coolant hose. It’s a 4mm OD tube. Once I’ll be able to afford my own shop and won’t have to worry about noise I can remove the paint gun from the mister and hook up a regular compressor but for now this is a great setup for me.
The only thing is that the compressor gets extremely hot after running for awhile. Don’t know if I should be concerned with that or not. Also, when I was still using Carbide3D controller, I was getting disconnects every time compressor was turning on and off.
The airbrush compressor I have gets to hot to touch after a few hours of running. I am not fond of that fact but for the time being I’m going to just keep running it until it dies. So far it has been doing ok.
I get occasional disconnects when I power off my router. The compressor hasn’t caused me problems. I have been able to minimize the disconnects by making sure the power cable for it is physically well separated from the USB and stepper cables. I also put some ferrite chokes on a few of the cables. Not sure that helped but I figure it can’t hurt. Running it off a separate surge-protected power strip would also probably help.
Is the compressor on the same circuit as your controller or PC? That could be the cause of your issues if there is a sudden voltage drop when it starts.
Be careful with compressors. The compressing of air causes heat. Not only does the compressor get hot so does the air itself. Continuous use of a small compressor like an airbrush type can cause you to start a fire with dust and/or combustible materials too close to your compressor. An airbursh compressor when used for an airbrush usually does not stay on continiously. You brush a little and the tank gets full and the compressor shuts off. With an open valve cooling and/or blowing your chips the compressor will get quite hot. They are oilless and have nothing to carry the heat generated away but air.
So make sure nothing can fall or get knocked on to the compressor during use. Although you are trying to get the unit quiet the use a a small fan directly on the compressor would help dissipate heat.
@gdon_2003 Thats a good info to have. Thank you. I have two cnc machines standing one next to another and they both need misting setups. I don’t really cut any wood so not that worried about debris catching on fire. Airbrush compressor is doing good job but is not enough to run two machines simultaneously, so I’m actually in the market for another compressor. Originally was thinking about picking up another airbrush compressor but after your comment I started thinking about getting one of these guys -> California Air Compressor
I’m thinking of hooking up two lines to it and control each of them with a solenoid valve so they turn on automatically when the machine starts the program. My question is, with this CAT compressor having a Oil-Free pump am I in the same boat as with the airbrush compressor?
Unfortunately, if you look at the specs for compressors, they cannot operate at anywhere near 100 duty cycle, this is why you need to match the CFM at the pressure you require for the job at hand. A larger high pressure tank makes it possible for the compressor to catch-up and dispense at lower pressure. Usually a compressor will have a circuit breaker to address when the motor will draw too much power when straining but it will get hot for sure.
That makes sense. My 15gal compressor set at around 20psi would turn on usually every 9mins. The problem is that it’s so loud that every time it kicks in it scares the living hell out of me. I’m assuming a quiet compressor with 11gal tank from Harbor Freight should do the job.
I hate to ask a dumb question. But what is the purpose of the air blast? Is it for metal or wood. Doesn’t the dust boot clear the chips when cutting wood?
There is no such thing as a dumb question. This is indeed for clearing chips when cutting metal, since you cannot suck them out of the cut as you do with wood
Before you buy one of these from Amazon type this into your Browser; PointZero 1/5 HP Airbrush Compressor. Point Zero has them at around $15 less than Amazon.
And, maybe your local art shops have these or similar in stock, which you might be able to plug in and listen to for you noise level.
Look at you guys spendin all this money on air blast setups!
All you gotta do is run your machines upside down and chip clearance problems become a thing of the past! Inverted vertical machining centers are the future!
I 100% meant this as a joke but I bet you actually could run a Nomad upside down and this joking comment would actually work perfectly.
