Workshop air line and work bench

[grass man]

Building new workshop 20 ft high with 8 ft shuttered walls. Going to run a fixed airline around walls and don't know if it's better to run below floor and bring outlets up the wall or around eves and bring outlets down. Also needing some ideas about how to construct a work bench about 30 ft long against a wall. Any suggestions? Tia

 

[SilliamWhale]

Honestly dont bother. Get some 18v kit instead

 

[Lincs Lass]

Other than using air for blowing out air filter and pumping up tyres ,,air tools are going like the dodo ,,cordless is the way forward.

 

[grass man]

I have cordless but still use air regularly for blowing down stuff and occasional tires

 

[Andrew]

I have cordless but still use air regularly for blowing down stuff and occasional tires

Recoil air line by the door will do that. Move stuff outside to blow down, less mess, then you don’t need air around the shop.
If you insist on it though, I would never put anything below ground. If it goes wrong you have to smash the concrete up, unless you put it in a duct. Then the mice will get in there.

 

[tinman]

Bring the air line down, burying it in concrete is going to be a right pain in the ass if it ever leaked, plus the fact you can add on a drop leg at any time when its above you if you want to rearrange things.
stick in a retractable reel in one or two places thats well situated.

on top of that you'd really want to mount it at a slope so as to have a leg on the low side (closest to compressor) for draining the condensation out of the pipe now and again.

hunt about eBay and pick up a quality secondhand Norgren filtering system or the likes, it will make a good job of filtering the biggest end of the water out, fit it 4-6 foot away from the outlet on the compressor.

As for a bench, i made frames out of 4" angle iron here years ago for a bench, up the wall to the right height, turn it out the depth of the bench you want to have, turn a leg back down to the floor on an angle and turn it back along the floor about 10-12" into the wall leg, kinda like a triangle but with the 10-12" along the floor.
make a few of them across the lth of the bench you want and bolt them to the poured wall.
i infilled the spaces between them with more 4" angle front and back and a few tie straps to support the timber between them, i used four 6x3's of imported timber for the top of the bench or you could use a good thick bit of steel but the timber is cheaper, sheet it with some 5 or 6mm if you like after, if it ever got rough of itself its cheap to change it out for a new piece.
get it folded so it comes down the 3" of timber at the front for a Mc Coy job if you so like.
seriously strong bench i may add, overkill even, but do it once do it right i say.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Other than using air for blowing out air filter and pumping up tyres ,,air tools are going like the dodo ,,cordless is the way forward.

Still a few things that work better with air, like pin scalers, but air is really now for mass / series manufacturing. Workshops as you say can get by better with cordless.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Going to run a fixed airline around walls and don't know if it's better to run below floor and bring outlets up the wall or around eves and bring outlets down.

The reason you will never see airline below floor, other than maintenance, is that condensing water in the air will pool at the lowest point. Your airlines would be continually full of water.

The best way is to mount a perimeter airline “ring“ at high level and have droppers where you want outlets. At the base of each dropper, put a water trap/combo filter regulator and take the air disconnect from there. Put a small fall on the pipework to keep any condensation from pooling inside.

 

[Suckndiesel]

Have done abit of airline in 20mm blue water pipe. Cheap and easy to do and doesn’t rust

 

[glasshouse]

Other than using air for blowing out air filter and pumping up tyres ,,air tools are going like the dodo ,,cordless is the way forward.

Air has s lower carbon footprint

 

[rob h]

Best and cheapest improvement you can make is some high flow couplers.if you haven’t already got some.

 

[Lincs Lass]

Air has s lower carbon footprint

Compressors run on electric continually switching on and of will use as much power if not more than charging a few batteries for cordless tools

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

Air has s lower carbon footprint

Compressors run on electric continually switching on and of will use as much power if not more than charging a few batteries for cordless tools

Big air (no jokes) makes a lot more sense in a ‘factory’ environment where you share the use with lots of users. The tools can be made tougher and it’s a pretty safe way of moving energy around.

Though the compressors are mostly rotary screw type and variable speed to match the load. They’re far quieter and way more efficient than a reciprocating unit. They’ll generally have far bigger upright receivers too.

Everything man does has a carbon footprint.

 

[Hilly]

Alkathene pipe.

 

[Badshot]

So would it be best to take the air outlets out the top of the pipe to allow all condensation to run to the low points purposely put in to drain it off?

 

[TheTallGuy]

Compressors run on electric continually switching on and of will use as much power if not more than charging a few batteries for cordless tools

True, but then consider the environmental costs of the batteries, rare earth magnets & plastics, whereas many air tools are lumps of metal with some seals & lubricant... it's not so straight forward!

 

[TheTallGuy]

So would it be best to take the air outlets out the top of the pipe to allow all condensation to run to the low points purposely put in to drain it off?

The outlets will still need to have water filters/drains so it doesn't make much odds which way you do it. Convention is to take the outlets downwards because you would normally have the main line high up to avoid doorways etc.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

So would it be best to take the air outlets out the top of the pipe to allow all condensation to run to the low points purposely put in to drain it off?

Last time I did it, just took the droppers straight down using plain T’s. At the bottom of the dropper I had a brass drain off valve. I’d fit another T about 6 inches above the drain off valve and then mount a reg/filter unit with outlet to the side of the T

 

[zr105]

So would it be best to take the air outlets out the top of the pipe to allow all condensation to run to the low points purposely put in to drain it off?

Doing air systems in college the recommendation is to have your drop lines t’d off upwards then bending back down to the fittings, and do as suggested above with having the take of points a bit above the bottom of the drop lines. Then the end of the main line should be dropped straight down with a drain off point, that way in theory most moisture coming from the tank should end up at the end of the main line. But no matter what the air flow is still going to pull moisture to whichever take off point is in use, especially with high consumption tools

 

[How much]

As other have said a retractable airline is probably adequate these days as more stuff is cordless and certainly above ground , workbench wise 4 inch angle frames as mentioned would be adequate and cheap enough , personally if you have the option I would fit various types of bench ,on the frames some big heavy wood 6x3 for general use but also a steel faced area for welding and grinding and a kitchen worktop type area in light colour for maybe other intrecciate work so stuff is more visible so you can have various areas set up for different type or work with the relevant tools set up around the specific areas , with 30 ft to go at should be easy enough to arrange