The 3D Printed Air Compressor: Will it Work?

Files: drive.google.com/drive/folder...
Today, I 3d printed an air compressor. Lets see if it works. Compressors are useful as they can store potential energy as form of compressed air. This pressure can be later released as kinetic energy to run something like a 3d printed air engine for example. The idea is to create a 3d printed air compressor, the design is very similar to that from my 3d printed gas engine. The biggest differences include a piston with more o-rings to hold greater pressure and heads with check valves to work without the need of timing devices.
#3dprinting #engines

[@jeronimomurruni]

I think most dual cylinder high pressure compressors have different size cylinders to increase compression. The "first" cylinder is bigger and the "second" cylinder is smaller (in volume)

[@CamdenBowen]

I would come to realize this after I had made the final design. I'm thinking of doing a redesign to include this detail

[@joejansen7029]

Thank you! I was struggling with how having two equally sized stages would compress more, since it is still the same volume of air just being re-compressed.

[@orphax1925]

I was about to type this, the second cylinder should have a volume smaller than the first, and the factor between the two should be the compression ratio of the first cylinder

[@element9224]

@@joejansen7029after the the bottle fills up, the second compressor pushes less air in until the first compressor puts compressed air into the second.

[@oleost]

This

[@floridamangonwild]

Interesting

[@BananaSlayer666]

Indeed

[@john_doe668]

Undoubtedly

[@dynxt-_-3243]

very much so

[@domiepotato]

Very

[@thepiratepilot1507]

Quite so

[@Embassy_of_Jupiter]

I love "practical" 3D prints like this

[@Michael-Martell]

Considering I’ve watched many attempts at building similarly scaled milled and CNC’d superchargers and turbochargers out of metal that barely held 4psi, I’d say this is a major major win.

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you!

[@sepharos2759]

Might be a little late to the party but i think it would be interesting to hook it up to an airbrush. Compressors made for airbrushing are often quite expensive so to see how well a 3d printed one could do would be cool

[@rabbitdrink]

needs a air dryer

[@lewidris]

I coupled a single cylinder 2 stroke RC engine with an electric motor and was surprising good at supplying air, obviously in pulses and a little warm but surprisingly good

[@garbageman3992]

really cool video! I thought the bearing less crankshaft had no hope of survival but its cool that it stood up to a drill. I am making air powered engines and I have no luck if it doesn't have a bearing, all of mine melt or explode if they don't have a lubricated bearing but yours held up really well.

[@cenreaper9127]

I suggest you upload videos were you show the most important stuff about making those compressed air engines.

[@CamdenBowen]

I forgot to mention but I did add some grease to the connecting rods and the crank, otherwise I am certain under that sort of force they would have melted apart lol. I used high grit sandpaper to sand the parts down as smooth as I could before assembling as well

[@Jim_One-wl4ke]

Awesome work bro. Thanks ❤for the bb valves & copper sleeves for my other projects.

[@mr.fringeminority5426]

Ya know the truly amazing part of this is the pressure holding abilities of a simple water bottle. I inflated one (actually many.. we were playing with bottle rockets on a slow day at work) with the air compressor at the shop and had it up to approx 150 psi if memory serves me right. Bottle rockets really do rocket when you chuck 150 at em. lol

[@kennethfisher972]

I recently found your videos and love them! I wanted to recommend using some graphite powder on your crank shaft connections or any other parts that rub or spin around each other as a dry lubricant. I have used some on projects in the past and it works wonders.

[@CamdenBowen]

I'll definitely need to look into graphite powder! I've heard it works wonders. I forgot to mention it but after I assembled it I did put some grease on the crank shaft and it certainly helped

[@BlockGod_1832]

You always make really cool things this is awesome

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you so much!!

[@Grillkol]

i love how simple it is

[@quesadilla7760]

Awesome stuff! Keep up the good work!

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you sm man!

[@Lucius.Hercules]

This is so cool! I didn't realise multiple cylinder compressors are a thing haha! I want a V16 fridge compressor just to flex now. Also would have loved to see a vacuum demo by connecting the bottle to the intake. It's kinda funny/crazy to me that engines, compressors and vacuums are all doing the same job of pushing fluids around for us. Another cracking vid Camden you're on fire! Also very nearly at 20K subs, I commented a few days ago that you'd hit 20K soon but I didn't realise how fast the growth rate is. I commented at 17.5K (ish) and now it's 19.2K! insanity!!

[@julianpiper240]

Lots of my work consists of water chillers with 12 cylinders. Look up carrier/Carlyle 5H120 compressor. Quite a large and old beast

[@0Bariq0]

Great video. Love to see a new face with great ideas and well edited video. You earned a subscriber. Cant wait to see more good videos from you.

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you!

[@vintyprod]

Love this! Instantly subscribed

[@AxelDayton]

I might have to build one for some of my projects 😂, great video bro!

[@CamdenBowen]

Thanks bro!

[@clive3490]

This sounds perfect for degassing resin for casting dice

[@memphsleek]

great stuff! I learned a lot, thank you!

[@TimTamsLOL]

I'd love to see this scaled up. The tolerances in 3D printing aren't great for things like this but as you increase the flow volume the compression losses are a smaller percentage of it overall. If you can use teflon seals and proper bearings for the crank you would be able to run it faster more reliably, plus an air tank with proper fittings would be nice also. Copper tube for the cylinders is a great idea to help with heat which is pretty much going to be the limiting factor on performance for any compressor with plastic parts.

[@Earth_Elemental]

I like the shelf outro continuation, definitely something you should do every time. Also this video is really one of the best ones yet. Maybe include more one piece memes

[@i_think_2_much277]

mate you read my mind i was thinking about designing one myself with air soft bb's, nice job man

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you!

[@thematronsmilitia]

If the valves were the issue, it would be interesting to see different materials tried for the ball valves or forced valves used. It would be pretty cool to have a 3d printable air compressor that can actually be used for air tools. Particularly if it was turned by a 3d printed dc motor run off of solar panels, so that the compressed air acts as a solar battery

[@fss1704]

There's too much dead space in the valves compared to the travel volume.

[@masondamoose7520]

Scrumptious

[@bo4enko]

I would love to see you build an actual hobby/small workshop air compresser with an actual tank several liters in size Seems like a cool idea

[@lucasgondra5725]

Thats what came to my mind as well!

[@swandonovan]

3d printing is not up to that task. At all

[@Tyler.8046]

@@swandonovan I'm sure FDM would struggle quite a bit, but Resin would have a much better fit and finish to help keep friction down. It would likely be more of a prototyping piece than a true workshop compressor though and would almost definitely fail over time.

[@swandonovan]

@@Tyler.8046 right. Can it be done, sure. Is it feasible as an actual usable compressor for more than a demo piece? Absolutely not

[@KevinDC5]

Awesome idea! I think I’m going to give it a try, but I’m going to utilize some TPU for gaskets. I’ve worked as a compressor mechanic in the gas fields here in Texas for about a decade.

[@DragonGunzs]

very cool dude

[@spika5887]

Nice job, now you can power air engine

[@domiepotato]

That’s honestly so cool. I didn’t think this could be done

[@poto_max]

now a vacuum pump !! well done sir !

[@GamesPlayer1337]

A suggestion on what you could do with it? Use it for an airbrush, most dont need a lot of compressed air and i wonder if it can be consistent enough and give out enough for that to work!

[@Lysou]

So cool! I absolutenly need to see a V12 one... Okay i'll also be happy with a V4

[@sparky-jo7dk]

Man your editing is getting really good! I like how you tell the story in the voice over. Keep this up and your channel will grow fast! nice haircut btw

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you so much man! I'm glad you appreciate the editing style as I've been experimenting alot with different things to see what works!

[@Deathbyfartz]

see through cylinders and then turning it into a air brush compressor could be kind a neat conversation piece :P

[@CamdenBowen]

I like the idea of see through stuff, I'll need to get my hands on some acrylic

[@jamesgaither2069]

a fix for your pressure problem is to enlarge the cylinder length or widen it but, you might be able to get away with more pressure if you switch your printing style to resin printing or making a check valve system that uses a heavier spring.

[@jabonet]

To make a proper 2 stage compressor the volume of the first piston should be bigger than on the second. Either with a bigger diameter or a bigger stroke.

[@CamdenBowen]

I'm thinking of revising this later on, Thanks!

[@DatBlueHusky]

wow thats really good! Legit if you were to make everything on ball bearings, it should last quite a while

[@CamdenBowen]

I added some grease between the con rods and the crankshaft, usually I wouldn't since it creates more resistive forces because of the greases thickness but since this isn't an engine the grease stopped the crank from exploding lol

[@thedude7726]

Oil in the crankcase will help

[@Psrj-ad]

i like this. iv always noticed an annoying lack of diy compressor content.

[@AviAero123]

You could perhaps use it as a DIY compressor for sparkling water or DIY soda drinks this summer

[@stephenvarney334]

That is sO COOL

[@leadbullet1]

thats awesome

[@CamdenBowen]

Thanks!

[@kaihlis]

Cool. I made completely printed hydraulic gear pump that made about 10bar of pressure. And because of the hydraulic oil it even survived continious test of 12hours.

[@HergerTheJoyous]

Very cool! Have you given any thought about a 3d printable pump for a vacuum chamber. I do experiments and the occasional vacuum is required and to be able to just print one would be really cool!

[@CamdenBowen]

With a slight redesign I'm sure it's possible, mostly concerning the inlet and outlet tube but by having both cylinders generate vacuum it could work well. Great for homemade cathode ray tubes

[@VEC7ORlt]

Copper sleeve was actually a really nice solution for a cylinder!

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you! Copper pipes don't have a seam line on the inside and are remarkably smooth too!

[@Cretaal]

You can always use plaster to turn your 3D print into a cast, melt out the plastic and recast them in aluminum. Good use for old soda cans.

[@Onceuponajuan]

Oh yeah, progress

[@satibel]

I think if you want higher pressure you might want actual valves. Also I'd suggest a steel pin and maybe some sort of bearing on the crankshaft with lubrication if you want it to last. Though at some point the cooling becomes the issue. I wonder how well you could seal a compressor like this to make a small ac unit, filling it with a butane lighter recharge. (With a small system you'd want probably something like 3g of butane, which would make it about as safe as an almost empty lighter.)

[@4thfrom7]

This is so cool! Do you think it would work with an airbrush? Could be a a fun use of any spare stepper motors.

[@stephenvarney334]

Suggestion: make a double head in one cylinder. The bottom head is larger with a smaller head attached to the larger head, as one piece. The discharge from the larger head goes into the smaller head suction & that discharge goes to a second set of cylinders set up as in the first set. Your pressure would be increased.

[@neonnerd1364]

I think it'd be cool to see if it'd run an airbrush. You'd need a moisture trap but if it worked that'd be awesome.

[@ameliabuns4058]

I’d use an off the shelf cheap check valve to plug in! Awesome video tho! I want to make a vacuum pump!

[@Houstonruss]

For compound compressors to be more effective, you need a lower displacement on the second cylinder.

[@rockyBalboa6699]

You should use a one way valve between the engine and the tank that way you can prevent leak and store the air in the tank without exploding the engine!

[@jooch_exe]

Could be used in cooling setup for 3D printing. Just needs air treatment.

[@gabrieldragos3908]

You should make a sequence of several compressors hooked up to eachother and see how much psi you can get then find a practical use

[@MakeTeachRepeat]

The drill is likely to cause a heat related failure - keep the temp low with low rpm. The epoxy also isn’t likely to hold onto PTFE tubing for long - recommend pneumatic fittings for that. Cool design though - I really enjoyed it, especially the BB valves.

[@miguelcarunchod.1493]

Just for you know some trivia. In home made fusion reactors the air compression is essential. Keep it up the DIY.

[@CamdenBowen]

Maybe I will 3d print a fusion reactor next

[@Trevor-cohen]

You should make an air powered engine that powers, the air compressor so then the air compressor powers, the air engine, and it infinitely runs.

[@geophrie8272]

Be interesting to see how loud it is and then use it for aquarium for a silent airpump

[@maxwoods286]

I would love to see this connected to a wind turbine storing energy in the outdoors

[@wardus9415]

Add more cylinders to the compounding setup!

[@LukieHZX]

very nice! 👍 what would you think of a tutorial? I would really like to have a 3d-printed air compressor. so if you are bored, that would be pretty nice. I am actually also surprised, how well it worked. I think you are a pretty underrated channel, because your projects are fantastic. Please keep up the good work.

[@CamdenBowen]

Thank you so much! I can surely do a more in depth tutorial on how to assemble it along with a list of parts!

[@loko5307]

@@CamdenBowen ​ @Camden Bowen Yes! that would be great! I already downloaded the files and now I'm taking a closer look to identify what I'll need, but a tutorial with parts and 'how it works for Dummies' would be awsome! Just foud you channel and I'm loving it! good Work!

[@MethelinaPills]

Wow, awesome! And what about the vacuum pump? They r pretty expensive, and possibility to have a 3d-printed one in a lab or in a chem-class will be outstanding! 🎉

[@HindkyrikoTheDegenerate]

I could be wrong and am in no way even a novice, but I would think you'd be able to attach a hose to the intake and create a vacuum to some degree that way(?)

[@whatelseison8970]

If you are looking for a reasonable vacuum pump on the cheap (or free) you may consider salvaging a compressor from a fridge or AC unit. The high pressure side can also be up to several hundred PSI on them too. This thing would pull a modest vacuum but it would be limited by the headspace above the cylinder and the volume of the inlet valve body. It also might overheat if run continuously due to lack of gas flow.

[@modelrc9500]

I think you need to make 4 more v twin compressors and link all the inputs and outputs together and see how high of a pressure you can achieve!

[@bikepacker9850]

Gotta get me some of that JB weld stuff.

[@CamdenBowen]

Brilliant stuff, can't get enough

[@BartJBols]

There is no way the second cylinder would add any substantial performance, you probably had a leak and fixed it during reassembly of the 2 cylinder assemblage. When you compress the air in the first cylinder, as soon as you exhaust it into the second, it not just has enough room to expand in the blue line, it also decompresses again 1:1 in the expanded piston of piston nr 2 because the total volume of the first cylinder is the same as the second one. In other words, since the second cylinder can only draw in as much air in an open piston as the first one exhausts in a closed piston, you are in essence compressing it, decompressing it, then compressing it the same. What you need is a smaller piston as piston nr 2 but with a higher leverage advantage to compress pre-compressed air even more. Due to compressor 2 then being able to move less air in 1 cycle, the air between the compressors will get pressurised, making it so piston 2 starts with already pressurised air, and compresses it some more with its increased leverage. Love to be proven wrong.

[@cenreaper9127]

There is a tip making this way better and it's a simple law of pressure: greater the surface, better the pressure. Make another cylinder have 2 times greater diameter.

[@swirlingbrain]

I would like to see you turn it into an air conditioner! That would be cool... so to speak!

[@Lakapush]

v12 3d printed air compressor would be an excellent idea

[@TheMapleDaily]

What type of background do you have school wise? I would love to know what got you on this awesome path of ingenuity and self creation!

[@CamdenBowen]

I haven't finished my first year of mechatonrics engineering yet, too be honest. This is all stuff I learned prior or outside of school lol

[@francishosey551]

I was looking for a small pneumatic vain pump to compress air and push them through a filter that is attached to a helmet. I have a beard so a gas mask doesn’t make a great deal. Instead of shaving I wanted a positive pressure helmet JUST in case we have another pandemic. Thank you for the leg work.

[@1NIGHTMAREGAMER]

id love to see you send both the 3d printed designs to a 3d printing metal fab see if 3d printed made of metal is strong enough the v twin design id love to see how durable and strong it would be made of 3d printed metal

[@adamreynolds3863]

What is the flow rate? Could you make the cylinders smaller and have more stages to achieve ultra high psi?

[@aarliann]

I would consider resin printing to get more precise tolerances and maybe increase maximum PSI output. also maybe redesigning slightly to accommodate more or different cylinders (bore and stroke): hitting 40 psi could prove useful in making a printable car tyre filler (if prolonged runtime is possible!) I enjoy the concept

[@CamdenBowen]

I've been thinking about getting into resin printing, what turns me off is all the added stages to print a part

[@no99]

@@CamdenBowen The post processing is definitely annoying, at lease compared to fdm, however the extra work is worth it when you need the precision. I only use my resin printer about once every other month, and it’s still been worth the time, effort, and money.

[@dbfusion]

I think it can be even more useful if it can vacume air and work as a vacume chamber

[@pablotharpalo5685]

I was watching this thinking "Damn, this fella reminds me of the VinWiki guy Ed..."

[@programmathew4765]

plz chain multiple of these together and see how high a pressure you can get

[@mantisgaming]

A V4 or V8 compressor could be interesting to see if you get even more pressure, though idk if that's doable with 3d printing

[@oaktree0511]

Print many of them and hook them up in series to create the most unimaginable pressure possible.

[@johnettipio]

V8!

[@Iowa599]

Probly needs a metal crankshaft, to reduce friction with the main bearings & connecting rod.

[@hayden3928]

dude, with this kind of setup, you can build a compressed air engine that rivals the efficiency of Tom Stanton's! Great work once again!

[@CamdenBowen]

Thanks! I'm working on a new engine with some interesting properties I'm sure you'll think is cool!

[@hayden3928]

@@CamdenBowen Can't wait to see! My engine finally runs (kinda). I can run it off of my breath, but on the compressor, it takes about 12psi to force the piston down, but anything above 10psi makes the valves leak. I have already made some fixes, and I haven't tested it off of the compressor for some days, so hoping it works tomorrow!

[@hayden3928]

@@CamdenBowen How do you get your poppet valves to seal against high preassure? Mine are leaking like crazy. Even after using much stronger springs, they leak after around 15psi

[@CamdenBowen]

@@hayden3928 Is this regarding the gas engine or the compressor? Silicone was used to glue the O-rings down to the head, and I made sure the surface of the O-ring that will be contacting the BB was clean so it could seal tightly. Hope this helps!

[@hayden3928]

@@CamdenBowen Im thinking of your most recent air engine, but the gas engine has poppets too. Thanks for your quick response!

[@chriscoatman9611]

Try to run an airbrush with it. That would be a good test for a compressor that size

[@nathanwest2304]

2 suggestions a V8 compound with 4 pairs of 2 stage cylinders, I would suggest to make the second cylinder smaller so you actually get much higher compression or a inline 4 cylinder version, but all 4 connected in series, but decreasing piston diameter by 20% each step for the last 2 stages you may need an alternative to O-rings tho, maybe a combined compressor with 2 O-ring pistons and 2 membrane style pistons or something

[@randomuser6597]

last week I printed a O-ring with tpu and its still holding up. it can resist at least 6 bar

[@Mildly_patriotic]

You should connect this to your air powered engine

[@gabrielv.4358]

There are a lot of tiny air pumps with pistons, very nice design Edit: Tire pumps

[@antongunther3977]

I wonder if you can modify this a bit and make a 3d printed airbrushing compressor.

[@Andrew_Custodes]

Its NOT doubling anything! You need to make a second stage with less volume to make it work properly

[@rorybaker5799]

When you say you apply silicon, are you just applying JB weld, if not, what product are you using?

[@billybooster9302]

I guess make the pistong cover a longer distance would make it be able to do higher preasure, but idk :p

[@sashajack3899]

Make it so u can put oil in the crank case and then make the compressor water cooled so u can get more rotation and make it 4 cylinder I have never seen one like that that has four cylinders I don’t know if it’s going to be better but it’s worth a try

[@mxsem02]

Very cool Maybe make it in to a real air compressor with a air tank from a paint bal gun and a small motor with a case around it to make it look like an industry motor

[@CamdenBowen]

I'd need to iron out a few kinks first, but eventually a little 3d printed shop compressor could be a good idea!

[@gabrielv.4358]

How I wish 3d printing was mainstream

[@shahabazboss2]

Is it possible to build a air brush using this? I think it would be really cool to build a air brush also with a 3d printed model around this and use it

[@CamdenBowen]

Likely, by having the compressor pressurize a bottle with the paint in it I'm sure it could work

[@shahabazboss2]

@@CamdenBowen perhaps i was thinking to connect a 3D modeled airbrush module at the end of the bottle, this bottle ofcourse can be changed in future with better option.

[@thegeekintheschool]

This could be used to launch a series of bottle rockets. If a manifold was designed with pressure gages that would release at the appropriate pressure and then seal and move to the next rocket

[@YouTubeStat]

Can you attach a motor and use it on an airbrush... just to see how it does with providing continuous flow?

[@zoruko3713]

Are the files/ build plans for this hosted anywhere? I'm looking to use this in a diy project.

[@CamdenBowen]

My apologies, I forgot to include the files in the description. I may make a short tutorial on how to assemble it, but it's simple enough that following the video closely you may get an idea as to how it comes together!

[@zoruko3713]

@@CamdenBowen Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate it dude!

[@ctdcgaming2440]

you could hook this up to a slotted disk siren and it would scream

[@coledavidson5630]

Would a membrane based one be an option?