dwacker Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 I didnt know where to put this so "jig &fixtures" sounded about right. I sold my Lamello glue system and started using bottles, I regretted the decision right away. Rather than spend another $1000 to buy another Lamello I decided I could just make my own. A pressurized glue system is nothing more than a pressure tank, hoses and a needle valve nozzle with tips. You can make these things as fancy as you want. You can buy nozzles for as cheap as $100 from CAT the makers of finish spray guns. Lamello will sell you theirs for $200 and GMC will sell you one for about $150. The idea was to do this on the CHEAP. Nothing will be fancy in any way not even the gun. I don't intend to have more than $75 into the whole thing. Starting off with the tank. Every commercially made system is made with either a paint pot or a corny keg. Yes a corny keg, just a soda keg. Most use 3 gallon pots and or kegs. 3 gallon kegs cost $90 so keeping with the CHEAP theme i'm going 5 gallons. You can only fill the systems 2/3 the way with glue so the 3 gallon is 2 gallons of glue. So a 5 is about 3.5 gallons of glue full, you don't have to fill the system. A half a gallon is enough if thats what you want. There are two types of tanks. Tanks that have regulators that get their pressure from your compressor. Meaning if your compressor isn't connected they don't work. The other gets filled with air and the compressor is disconnected. A 3 gallon system will dispense about 3 quarts on a single air charge, that quite a bit of glue. Here is the tank. Its five gallon, not because anyone needs 3.5 gallons of glue but because the 5 gallon tanks can be had used for $40. I got this at a beer making supply store. It came as is with a new set of seals. When you buy these just make sure they are pressure tested. Some will be pretty beat up but that is just looks and doesn't affect the service. I'm just faking this so i'll post the pieces as I move along. Top down photo. First we need to be able to get air into the tank. You could use a pressure regulator and a direct compressor connection. You could use a pressure gauge with air fitting setup. Keeping with the cheap theme, I'm doing it for $2 A metal tire valve stem $1 and $1 for a tire pressure gauge. Drill a hole in the lid for the valve stem. Thats it the tank can be pressure tested. Pump in about 60 PSI and let it set. 5 minutes and $42 bucks so far and the tank is ready to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 Cleaned the tank up and cut myself a fancy little sticker. Removed factory sticker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatworks Today Posted February 7, 2013 Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 Pretty creative Don! Have you had a chance to use it yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 7, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2013 Pretty creative Don! Have you had a chance to use it yet? I still need to make the gun and connect the lines. I'll finish up the post as I move along. Ive got to make a run to lowes to get the last few parts. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Got a little more done after a trip to Lowes and not finding everything. They didn't have any hose that wasn't to stiff so I'll look at Home Depot. You need three parts for the gun. A garden hose sprayer with threads. I would have preferred an all plastic one but Lowes didn't have them. Gilmour make an all nylon one that I think would have been a better option. A hose threaded cap and a old glue bottle lid or replacement tip for a glu-bot. I just used a TB lid to get by until I can get to Rockler to try out the glu-bot tips. That trip was $10 so I think were up to $42 so far. So this. Makes this. Pretty self explanitory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jHop Posted February 8, 2013 Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 What about the "el cheapo" garden sprayers from the knock-off dollar stores? I haven't purchased one, so I don't know if they have threads, but the ones I've picked up appeared to be all plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 What about the "el cheapo" garden sprayers from the knock-off dollar stores? I haven't purchased one, so I don't know if they have threads, but the ones I've picked up appeared to be all plastic. I dont think it really matters other than staying with the "cheap" theme. I really just didnt want to get to fancy and put the project out of reach for hobby folks on a budget. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 Before heading out to get hose I drilled out the fitting. Both the fitting on the tank are just screwed on. There is a little popet valve in the fitting. The valve come right out and then the fitting hole can be expanded. The tank can be used for one or two guns. For two guns you just need a dip tube for the other side. They only come with one but a secont is $2. You can see how small the valve is next to my frankenfinger so dont drop it, they bounce and get lost eaisily. You dont need the valve for anything more than a plug for the unused side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2013 There it is. Works perfectly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted February 9, 2013 Report Share Posted February 9, 2013 If you needed to clean out the nozzle would an inline shut off vaulve be a good idea ? That way you wouldn't have to bleed off the tank, I'm just thinking out loud it looks like it works well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2013 If you needed to clean out the nozzle would an inline shut off vaulve be a good idea ? That way you wouldn't have to bleed off the tank, I'm just thinking out loud it looks like it works well. I added one of those cheap plastic hose shut off valves. It works great and makes adjusting the flow real easy. Thanks for mentioning it. Don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tpt life Posted February 17, 2013 Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 Please help the less experienced:-) How much glue volume do you need to use for this to be valuable. To explain further, if you are compressing air in your reservoir and are using air cure glues, is there a threshold at which this type of device is impractical? I honor your ingenuity. For sixty psi schedule 40 can be capped drilled and tapped as well potentially helping those with no keg source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted February 17, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2013 The more air the longer the charge. Any amount that covers the dip tube is fine. Glue cant cure under pos. pressure. Please help the less experienced:-) How much glue volume do you need to use for this to be valuable. To explain further, if you are compressing air in your reservoir and are using air cure glues, is there a threshold at which this type of device is impractical? I honor your ingenuity. For sixty psi schedule 40 can be capped drilled and tapped as well potentially helping those with no keg source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pbmaster11 Posted March 6, 2013 Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Where can you get one of these tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwacker Posted March 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2013 Any beer making supply store. All over the internet. Just search corny keg. Don 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMill Posted March 7, 2013 Report Share Posted March 7, 2013 Don, What was the total cost then? So the glue can sit in the keg indefinitely as long as it is under pressure? This is way cool. Thanks so much! If someone tries Shafer's suggestion of using Schedule 40 please post the results. That would drop the cost dramatically! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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