AirCompressor bike

[Hotfoot]

Old single cylinder air compressor, Really old cast iron wheel, extremely rusted-through bicycle seat, some fenders made from lawnmower scraps, the frame was a garden plow, Meat Grinder intake, piece of Harley Exhaust. I was going to put a cogged Harley drive belt on it, but will either leave it off, or try about four winds of barbed wire....
more to come, like lights, hand and foot controls...to add "texture"...many folks like the old, rusty stuff for garden accent pieces...and I aim to please!

My vehicle piece are 'Impressions"...and it usually takes a few minutes before someone realizes that it never could have run in the first place..always fun watching them!!

[Knowledgeworker]

Looking good so far Mr. Hotfoot.

Jim

[MXtras]

Looking good so far Mr. Hotfoot.

Jim

.....I think he's done.



Nice and creative, as usual!

Scott

[Skwerly]

Hey super cool! I like imaginative works like this - I love the thing! Nice work!

[Hotfoot]

".......I think he's done."..Oh, no! It gets hand levers, headlight, tail light, shifter controls, fender braces etc.

[FormerTankSarge]

HF,

As always, your imagination is working well! Great job!

[Hotfoot]

I just capped it off with a headlight (funnel), tail light (cat food tin), Rear rack (bent from 1/4" rod), hand levers (bolts, with weld rod "cables"). I really want to add a sidecar to it, but its at a gallery now, so I'll wait to see if it sells by Christmas, if not, I'll pull it , and add the sidecar, and probably make it "Old Military" at the same time.

[migwelder05]

very good hot foot. you never seem to run out of these ideas

[DannyK]

The "really old wheel" on the rear is actually a drill press flywheel. They were mainly used on post drills to make it easier to hand crank the drill ....they are highly sought after items.

[Hotfoot]

The "really old wheel" on the rear is actually a drill press flywheel. They were mainly used on post drills to make it easier to hand crank the drill ....they are highly sought after items.

..so why does it have a steel hoop rim?

[DannyK]

No clue. Was it welded on? I noticed what appears to be a flat piece around the outer rim, but it doesn't look like it was originally there. Is there any way you can take a close-up of the wheel area?

Here are a few pics to show how they were used:





And here is the one I bought on Ebay for a Champion Blower and Forge #20 camelback, which got damaged during delivery:



There are several variations on these. I just added these to give you an idea as to how they are designed to function. Also, on a historical note: I talked with a guy who runs a shop full of antique machinery and he told me that the S shaped spokes were designed to offset stress when they were cast.

[Hotfoot]

Interesting! That hoop rim was just bolted on. How much would an old cast iron wheel like that be worth?...I have plenty of alternates I could "send in", and pull that one.

[DannyK]

Not sure. You'd have to get in touch with the right people in order t find out it's value. The problem is that those were used back when hand cranking was the only way to drill, then along came electric motors, and the flywheels were yanked off. Now, many years later, the old presses are being restored and tons of them have no flywheel. American Artifacts or Beautiful Iron may know more about it's worth.