Outdated compressor needs new reeds

Not sure of the best material. A good while back there was some discussion on making pulse jets. The guy making the reed valves etched them out of sheet stock. Etched because cutting the material left burrs.

You could probably find the post by searching on pulse jet reed valves.

Dan

A mate used to work at a company which designed and built truck air brake systems and this is what he had to say when I asked about making new reed plates for an air compressor.

"

The reeds are usually made of a very high grade of stainless steel with a considerable amount of edge preparation to give a high fatigue life. They are normally made from a Sandvik material (see this site -

). I think the edges are rounded and followed by an extended period of tumbling, The surfaces are usually of a very high quality of surface finish and flatness. There is probably some element compressive stressing to improve fatigue life but not sure. Flatness is important for compressor efficiency. I have not heard of magnetic reeds being used on air compressors before, but this could help with sealing if flatness is not perfect. Magnetic reeds will reduce efficiency due to increase delta p on opening and probably why you would not find it on a truck application.

0.25mm thick seems pretty thin to me, I was more use to around 0.4 to 0.6 thick, but this is a function of size and clamping method. I guess the reeds are made from a type of martensitic stainless as I think these are the most magnetic of the main types."

I can appreciate your wanting to make these... but have you looked through the misc offerings on eBay?

You may find something there close enough to do what you want...