Compressed air at the lathe: where to place it?

[John Whitley]

As I wait for my new lathe to arrive, I’m working on installing air plumbing in my shop (another big “finally” kind of thing)… I’m trying to figure out the best placement for a quick-connect mount at the lathe. At first I’d thought to put it on the wall behind the lathe, but I’ve lately been thinking I might put the quick-connect on the ceiling at the tailstock end of the lathe, about plumb with the plane between turner and lathe bed, if that makes sense. I expect I’ll use a magnetic hook on the lathe to corral an air gun.

Wall space is a bit precious as it’s occupied by turning-related storage – a mount would probably be low on the wall, and so less accessible to swapping out. On the other hand, the lathe definitely feels like a spot for a permanent air gun connection, making swapping less of a concern.

Ceiling space is plentiful and easy to reach for swapping connections(**), but risks putting the hose more in the way. On the plus side, a hookup near the tailstock end would serve dual-purpose for both lathe and my workbench.

With all of that (hot ) air out of the way, how are those of you with compressed air at the lathe set up?

(**) I have low shop ceilings. The high side is only 94”, and the lathe is on the low side where I can easily touch the ceiling.

 

[Gregory Hickman]

On the plus side, a hookup near the tailstock end would serve dual-purpose for both lathe and my workbench.

This is the way imo.

Gregory

 

[Steve Tiedman]

This is the way imo.

Gregory

I agree. Keep it simple.

 

[Ron Solfest]

Pic of mine is attached. I like having the air near the tailstock as I do a lot of turning off of that end. On the nearby wall I have a compressed air gun and two RO sanders. If I were to mount the air on the ceiling it would be a couple feet off of the tailstock so that I could drape the coiled hose down without getting in the way of the lathe. When turning most of the time the hose is draped to a hook on the tailstock end of the lathe.

 

[Ron Solfest]

@Mark Fairchild - it looks like you used standard PVC for your air lines. If so, be careful. At 100psi PVC can be a bomb if you ding it swinging a board around.

Can PVC Pipe Be Used for Compressed Air?

Using PVC pipes for your comoressed air system is an accident waiting to happen! PVC is not a safe or approved material for compressed air piping. In fact, the use of PVC piping for compressed air can lead to dangerous or deadly explosions.

fluidairedynamics.com

 

[Jamie Straw]

Ceiling idea seems like a good one. Mine at home is on the floor in a tight space, really a pain. The hoses in the Studio are on the wall, about 2 feet from the headstock, not very convenient but workable.

 

[Roger Wiegand]

Mine's at the tailstock end on the wall about 4 ft off the ground. Works for me, easy to connect to and nothing dangling in my work space (that would drive me crazy). If wall space were a concern I'd run it inside the wall, the connector only takes up about 4 sqin. As it is it's nestled against the edge of the slatboard on the wall so doesn't really affect storage. I use one of those springy coil hoses in that location so there's not a bunch of hose on the floor but I can still reach several points that I need to get to. I hang the air nozzle on the end of my lathe so it's always handy.

 

[John K Jordan]

I’m trying to figure out the best placement for a quick-connect mount at the lathe.

Difficult to try to help without seeing your space. I can describe what I did. I put my air compressor (5hp 60gal) in a sound-insulated closet and ran the air out to valves, filters, dryers, and regulator outside the closet in the main shop. From there, the air lines go into the walls and ceilings to 8 quick connect outlets spaced around the inside the shop and to outside reels (need air for a lot of things outside at the farm, especially for equipment maintenance.) I regulate the air to about 90 psi.

I decided to mount quick connect outlets at each of two lathes, out of the way on the ends of some separator walls and run coiled hoses to the lathes. One thing was important to me - the type of quick connect fitting! Home depot carried two styles, the only visual difference was one hat a gap between the knurled outer sleeve and the where the hose coupler connected.

The style without the gap required using two hands - one to pull back the sleeve and the other to push in the coupler. The style I used can be connected with one hand - just insert and push!



Also, I devised a a wire loop on the lathe motor an housing to hang the air nozzle. This stays out of the way but hose is always handy and will reach anywhere I need it.



I use air at the lathe not only to blow dust out of small holes and such but to operate one of two small pneumatic random orbital sanders - by limiting the air they can be run at a low speed for gentle sanding with fine grit paper, usually 400-600. (I never use rotating sanding disks on wood.)



As for the PVC pipe I saw mentioned in another post, just search google for "using pvc pipe for air compressor lines" for some information. Or just read this article:

Can PVC Pipe Be Used for Compressed Air?

Using PVC pipes for your comoressed air system is an accident waiting to happen! PVC is not a safe or approved material for compressed air piping. In fact, the use of PVC piping for compressed air can lead to dangerous or deadly explosions.

fluidairedynamics.com

JKJ

 

[Steve Tiedman]

Please take my professional advice, do not use PVC pipe for compressed air. I have been in the room, with the pipe, with the plumbing contractors, when heavy rubber test caps holding back only 5psi have let loose and launched 30 feet up and 50 feet away. I've seen the shattered pipe and cracked fittings. PVC is not going to warn you of an upcoming failure. The pressure is one thing, it's the explosive and immediate release of the volume of air compressed into that 75psi small diameter pipe that'll ruin your day, your eye, your life... It's sort of like walking across a quick moving shin deep creek, it'll take your feet out from under you and they'll find your body a mile downstream. The pressure is bad enough, the volume is what is never considered.

CPVC pipe, and the PEX varieties, and other plastics are tested and listed for water pressure, but for air, metalic pipe and approved fittings (threaded, brazed, and welded) is really the wise choice for compressed gasses. Talk to a local plumber, he'll probably dissuade the use of plastics for compressed gasses.

 

[John Whitley]

the PEX varieties, [...]

While PEX isn't rated for compressed air, what I went with, RapidAir's MaxLine product, has similar bendability and ease of connection to PEX but is expressly designed for compressed air. I was originally going to go RapidAir's FastPipe, their rigid pipe solution... but came to my senses and realized that I was about to create a lot more pain in routing and installation in my small, crowded, and already built-out shop space.

 

[John K Jordan]

I installed RapidAir too, maybe 10 years ago. Has worked well.

 

[Mark Fairchild]

Lady’s and gents, in the spirit of safety I have deleted my two posts using pvc for compressed air.

 

[Bill Blasic]

When I took a course from Chris Ramsey he had his air hoses on reels that you pulled out and had automatic return which prompted me to put mine on a reel. My auto return is me turning the lever to rewind handle, but it works for me.

 

[Dave Landers]

In my current shop, the air nozzle (quick connect with regulator) is on the wall behind me near the tailstock (to my left if I'm standing at the end hollowing) - 4 or 5 feet from the lathe. Close enough that I can reach it easily. I'll sometimes hang the nozzle on the banjo handle when hollowing. There's another quick connect with regulator on the wall at the headstock. And a reel overhead. I have copper running around the walls near the ceiling with those 2 drops and the reel near the lathe, another near the bandsaws, and another near the finishing table. I plan on someday completing the loop all the way around the shop and add a couple more connects.

In my previous shop, the air was overhead. I hung strut channel over the lathe and ran the air line on that. The quick connect was near the tailstock, positioned so that when I hung the nozzle on the strut, the short coiled hose would hold itself out of my way, so I wasn't bumping my head on it (usually).

Current shop has the strut channel over the lathe (it hangs cameras, the vacuum gauge/valve, etc) and I had planned on running air up there too, but the location on the wall is convenient and out of the way when not in use.

 

[John K Jordan]

When I took a course from Chris Ramsey he had his air hoses on reels that you pulled out and had automatic return which prompted me to put mine on a reel. My auto return is me turning the lever to rewind handle, but it works for me.

Great solution. I do something similar with one retracting 50' line is high on the wall in the back room of the shop where it will reach out all around the room and even out the rollup door to work on equipment outside. Another 50' reel is on the edge of the front porch on the other end of the building, great for airing up tires. FWIW, one is a Goodyear reel and the other a FLexzilla I'll never buy another Flexzilla - they appear to have designed the ratchet catch to frustrate the user on purpose rather than make it easy.

Also have a smaller retracting reel in garage at the house and one in the barn. A little winter trick for those who have a hydrant in one place on the farm and need a long hose to fill up water troughs in another spot. I leave the long hose permanently in place (half burried!) and connect as usual. In the winter, that long hose will freeze solid. So after use, and before it can freeze again, I fire up the air compressor near the hydrant and connect a fitting with a valve, spread out the coiled end of the hose flat on the ground and blow out all the water! Been doing this for years now. I hate winter at the farm.

In the shop, I also like electrical lines on reels fastened to the ceiling. When wiring my shop, I put receptacles in the ceiling in several places. It's nice to pull down a electrical line in the middle of the shop when needed rather than run an extension cord across the floor.

JKJ

 

[Toby A Brown]

Specific to my lathe, I had two in my shop, a 50ft reel mounted under the table saw outfeed table and a second quick connect point on the wall at the end of the bed. I used it mostly for driving the sander. The real workhorse was the dust collection port on the floor.

 

[Dave Hulett]

My fitting is in the ceiling, not really visable in this picture but you get the idea: using a 1/4" coiled hose it hangs on a hook on the wall and uncoils enough for me to reach anything needed around the lathe. coiled hose at HF is cheap. out of the way, but in still in reach!

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

I have it hooked up on the tailstock side, and it works great for blowing off the workbench. Since me and my brother @Ethan Hoff turn together, I have another line running up over the 12 foot ceilings in our shop to his side. I works well we each have our own air, I also have a hose reel for car tires, balls, outdoor machines, etc.. That has a quick connect, so it can be hooked to the existing hose, and then run out the door 100 feet. I use a Rolair compressor for the air supply. Here are some photos.

 

[Gabriel Hoff]

My fitting is in the ceiling, not really visable in this picture but you get the idea: using a 1/4" coiled hose it hangs on a hook on the wall and uncoils enough for me to reach anything needed around the lathe. coiled hose at HF is cheap. out of the way, but in still in reach!

Is that a light they use at the dentist!!??

 

[John Whitley]

which prompted me to put mine on a reel.

I did have a reel in the shop early on and that was nice! But that was before (infernal/eternal remodel) and the shop itself being really built out. So the reel passed to someone else, in favor of my plumbing air around the shop. The current crowded layout makes running a longer hose around a pain.

In the shop, I also like electrical lines on reels fastened to the ceiling.

Nice. With my shop plan and low ceilings, I ended up locating ceiling outlet boxes in strategic locations for both machines and general use. For the most part, I can just find a nearby location and plug right in.

 

[robo hippy]

I have a compressor in my shop, but it is almost never on. About the only time I turn it on is if my car tires are low. I NEVER blow things off because it puts so much dust into the air.

robo hippy

 

[John Whitley]

I NEVER blow things off because it puts so much dust into the air.

I actually planned for exactly this based off my experience working in co-op shops, namely that it's incredibly difficult to fully control dust in all operations/situations.

First, the big dust collector filters back into the shop. In winter, I can fire it up with a few blast gates open and clean the air up without having to lose the heat. (And yes, I can measure whether that works and when it's done.) Second, I installed a big extractor fan in the back wall. Partially open one of the garage doors, fire up the fan, and the whole shop is cleared out very quickly. It's strong enough to create a breeze through the open door! Even in cold weather, that's not too bad. Most of the thermal mass is in the machinery/walls/floors, so it doesn't stay cold after venting out very long.

Perhaps obviously, blowing things off with the air gun is a mask/PAPR on operation, which is always the case when I'm at the lathe.

 

[Dave Hulett]

Is that a light they use at the dentist!!??

yes it is! I found one on e-bay by accident. it did not work so I paid about $70, most of which was shipping. I was really paying for the mechanism and reworked it using a cheap desklamp with a 1000 lumen LED floodlamp. Got another one over my primary workbench too. LOVE 'EM

 

[John K Jordan]

Is that a light they use at the dentist!!??

I looked for years for one of those and never found one.

I use some of the cheap swing-arm desk lamps plus a bright light from Woodturner's Wonders. Instead of using the big magnetic base at the lathe, I drilled and tapped a hole for the end of the flexible shaft.



JKJ

 

[Dean Center]

Thanks for asking this question, John. I've learned a lot and may be able to fix a problem with too many things hanging down and getting tangled up.

 

[hughie]

For me, where it easy to get at and with no hoses on the floor.

 

[John Whitley]

Thanks for asking this question, John. I've learned a lot and may be able to fix a problem with too many things hanging down and getting tangled up.

Thank you! One of the joys of this forum for me has been the ability to learn and gather ideas from turners working with a range of different inspirations, constraints, and preferences. This produces a lot of creativity, whether directly related to turning and turned objects, or to all of the "important ancillaries" like this question.

For me, where it easy to get at and with no hoses on the floor.

Definitely this. I started out with just a hose reel in the shop, which was both helpful and a hassle. When planning the full build-out of my shop, I committed to installing air plumbing. I was definitely spoiled by the co-ops I worked out of with easy access to air hookups distributed throughout the shop. I also have specific machinery needs: my dust collector requires an air hookup for automatic filter cleaning, and my jointer and planer have helical heads with an associated air torque driver for insert maintenance.

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I just have a hose reel on the outside of my compressor room and hang it on the end of my lathe.

 

[Bill Alston]

I have a compressor in my shop, but it is almost never on. About the only time I turn it on is if my car tires are low. I NEVER blow things off because it puts so much dust into the air.

robo hippy

I agree, and I also have a compressor in my shop. I had health and safety briefings many years ago and blowing stuff around with compressed air was forbidden. Not only is it potentially dangerous to human health but fine dust and swarf can get forced into parts of machines where you really don’t want it. It’s surprising how much some folks spend on removing wood dust with extractors and filters, and then happily blow wood dust around with compressed air?!
One of the common excuses is removing dust and shavings from hollow forms but this is easily done with a small tube on a shop vac.
Each to their own I guess, but commercially, blowing dust around is a disciplinary offence in some work places.

 

[Tom Lucas]

I fell into a few of these spring balancers and plan to try them at the lathe to hold things like air nozzles and the like up above the lathe. Don't know how well it'll work but I'm going to find out. We use the spring balancers at work for hot air guns and electric screw drivers. They work well there. So I decided to give them a go.

 

[John K Jordan]

I fell into a few of these spring balancers and plan to try them at the lathe to hold things like air nozzles and the like up above the lathe. Don't know how well it'll work but I'm going to find out. We use the spring balancers at work for hot air guns and electric screw drivers. They work well there. So I decided to give them a go.
View attachment 71694

Interesting. Do they have adjustable spring tension for different weights?
Where does one find such a thing?

JKJ

 

[Tom Lucas]

Interesting. Do they have adjustable spring tension for different weights?
Where does one find such a thing?

JKJ

John, they are adjustable with the screw in the middle. The one shown is good for up to 10 lbs. And they are pretty small (a little smaller than a billiard ball). I got mine off of ebay. I see that MSC sells them :

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/76050574?cid=ppc-google-&mkwid=%7Cdc&pcrid=&rd=k&product_id=76050574&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwOe8BhCCARIsAGKeD56lD3eYdyTr-_jGpuf0V2UrJWAEbZ5sm3uOY6A6vtyqIudxBF_CL0kaAnMGEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

What you want to look for is aero-motive gm31

There are larger ones for heavier things but they get big in a hurry. I'm also going to try it on my corded R/A sander.

I think they work best when used on the "cord" of the tool, leaving enough free play to use without restrictions.

 

[Curt Fuller]

I'm pretty late responding to this question. Quite a few years ago the late Wally Dickerman answered this same question by saying that he never uses compressed air at the lathe. His reason was he said he already had too much dust in the air and on everything in his shop. Instead he had made a hose attachment for his shop vac that was small enough to fit inside hollowforms. Whenever he was tempted to blow something away, he just grabbed the shop vac. That made sense to me and I've done the same since. I've never had compressed air at my lathe so I can't say that the shop vac is cleaner. But it is kind of a clean as you go approach to dust and shavings that seems to work very well for me.

 

[John K Jordan]

Wally Dickerman answered this same question by saying that he never uses compressed air at the lathe. His reason was he said he already had too much dust in the air and on everything in his shop....Whenever he was tempted to blow something away, he just grabbed the shop vac. That made sense to me and I've done the same since. I've never had compressed air at my lathe so I can't say that the shop vac is cleaner.

I agree in one respect - about not blowing dust into the air inside the shop. I don't think it's a good idea to blow dust off the lathe, bandsaw, floor, etc.

However compressed air at the lathe can work where vacuum may not work well, for example to clean out shavings remaining in the bottom of tiny drilled holes, or after tapping threads in blind holes.

But there are more uses for compressed air at the lathe than blowing dust around.
I sometimes use it at the lathe to power a pneumatic file (a fantastic little tool), a modified needle scaler for texturing, and with a couple of small random orbiter sanders, slowly (at very low air pressure), for example with a little Grex with fine paper such as 600 grit.
This makes very little dust, maybe about as much sanding by hand.

One helpful thing I did was add a vacuum hose to a splitter on a drop from my cyclone dust collector and hang it from a hook by the lathe. The hose is long enough to reach to across the isle to the bandsaw.



When I want to blow out more than a little dust from something, say to clean out an air conditioner filter, there's the great outdoors. And hoses on reels on both ends of the shop.

JKJ

 

[Mark Jundanian]

A couple of people (@Bill Alston @Curt Fuller ) have mentioned making/buying small diameter adapters for shop vacuums to get dust out of hollow forms. Does anyone have an example or reference?

 

[Dave Landers]

Mine's pretty fancy - you may not want to go to this much trouble

I jammed a length of copper pipe in a spare nozzle and added some duct tape.

 

[Curt Fuller]

Mine is just a quickly turned wooden adapter that fits the standard shop vac hose and has a piece of 1/2 PEX plastic pipe hot glued into it. The PEX is a little too long and I keep forgetting to cut it off.

 

[Lowell Fuher]

I'm in the final stages of completing my woodshop. Cabinets and workbenches are next on the list.

Interesting that I finished my compressed air system at the end of November. My airlines are 1/2 inch copper, and my compressor is in an add-on room outside the west wall of my shop building, so the noise is out there. The compressor has an automatic condensate dump valve that comes on for 3 seconds every time the compressor starts. The air dryer is next to the compressor, and it catches any other moisture. I also have my vacuum pump for my vacuum chucks in this outbuilding. And then there is the dust collection fan, cyclone, dust barrel, and canister filters; they are all out there. Like I said, Noise Is Out There..

The AIR system is built so I can switch to a regulated air supply pressure or a full 120 lbs with the flip of a valve. That part of the system is just 2 1/2 feet from my lathe. I have a pulldown hose reel just a few feet behind me, which is the air I use the most for lathe work. Next to the big roll-up door, at the other end of the room, is another hose reel at ceiling level for stuff like filling tires or blowing off my lawnmower deck.

My laser engraver is in a different room in the building, and I ran a dedicated airline to that, which is not initially regulated. The engraver has a regulator for the 10 lbs of air it uses.

Last but not least is an airline going upstairs to the storage area, another hose reel up there to clean up, and whatever. It's all been well thought out.
The copper air lines are tied together electrically, and a #8 ground wire to the grounding rods completes the ground connection in the building. No floating ground, they are all bonded together. My dust collection is made of metal piping, and it's all connected to the ground rods. (go ahead and ask, is the dust barrel grounded? Why Yes, it is!)

Static? We don't have no stinking static!

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Steve Tiedman]

I'm in the final stages of completing my woodshop. Cabinets and workbenches are next on the list.

Interesting that I finished my compressed air system at the end of November. My airlines are 1/2 inch copper, and my compressor is in an add-on room outside the west wall of my shop building, so the noise is out there. The compressor has an automatic condensate dump valve that comes on for 3 seconds every time the compressor starts. The air dryer is next to the compressor, and it catches any other moisture. I also have my vacuum pump for my vacuum chucks in this outbuilding. And then there is the dust collection fan, cyclone, dust barrel, and canister filters; they are all out there. Like I said, Noise Is Out There..

The AIR system is built so I can switch to a regulated air supply pressure or a full 120 lbs with the flip of a valve. That part of the system is just 2 1/2 feet from my lathe. I have a pulldown hose reel just a few feet behind me, which is the air I use the most for lathe work. Next to the big roll-up door, at the other end of the room, is another hose reel at ceiling level for stuff like filling tires or blowing off my lawnmower deck.

My laser engraver is in a different room in the building, and I ran a dedicated airline to that, which is not initially regulated. The engraver has a regulator for the 10 lbs of air it uses.

Last but not least is an airline going upstairs to the storage area, another hose reel up there to clean up, and whatever. It's all been well thought out.
The copper air lines are tied together electrically, and a #8 ground wire to the grounding rods completes the ground connection in the building. No floating ground, they are all bonded together. My dust collection is made of metal piping, and it's all connected to the ground rods. (go ahead and ask, is the dust barrel grounded? Why Yes, it is!)

Static? We don't have no stinking static!

Just my two cents worth.

I'd say well done using metallic on everything, and grounding it all, to boot! I'm guessing you either are an electrician, or followed the advice of a good one. Buy this man a beer!

 

[Rusty Nesmith]

I use this a lot. It was only like $30 with the battery and charger.