Air Compressor - Eureka, MT
Posted by: 
T0SHEA
N 48° 52.605 W 115° 03.111
11U E 642840 N 5415584
Eureka, for a relatively small town, has a really nice museum, with lots of interesting old buildings and machinery. The outdoor part is open continuously and free to view, while there is a nominal charge to view the inside museum.
Waymark Code: WMM160
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 06/30/2014
Views: 2
One really interesting machine in the museum is this. After some rumination, I've decided that it must be a low RPM compressor. First, note the high gear ratio on the driving shaft. This couldn't be a steam engine because of that high gear ratio. Next, note the oil cups on the connecting rod big ends. They tell us that the machine is correctly oriented as it sits and that it must be a slow running machine as, otherwise, the oil would be thrown from the cups.
Now, what its use might have been is also a matter of conjecture, but the vast majority of century old compressors found in western Montana were, at one time, used to power rock drills in mines. This one's capacity, too, would be hard to estimate without knowing something about the speed at which it ran. 300 to 600 cfm, maybe.
Note the Lovejoy coupler on the end of the driving shaft. They've either been around longer than I suspected or this one has been added much later.
Type of Machine: Air Compressor
Year the machine was built: ca 1910
Year the machine was put on display: Not listed
Is there online documentation for this machine: Not listed
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