Thanks for all the replies (I got knocked off the internet for a while,
but now I am back on, if only temporarily, and I am overwhelmed at the
responses). I was thinking of centrifugal, I guess, instead of radial.
I meant to distinguish between and axial compressor (like in the modern
multistage jets) and one that just sucks air in near the center and
slings it outward with vanes in one step. I had read somewhere years
ago that this design was called radial and that the highest compression
ratio to be achieved this way was 3:1 (something to do with the
compressibility of air). It would probably look like a squirrel cage
blower (found on window unit air conditioners), but with much closer
tolerences and better shaped vanes. I realize now from the responses
that I am a babe in the woods here and I need a whole lot more research
before I even begin to think about tackling such a project. I was just
trying to make use of this good electric motor and I thought I could
make a high air flow compressor with medium psi (even as low as 25 psi
would be a good deal for me). I didn't envision making pistons nor
cyliners, but just vanes and a close fitting shroud that would hold the
pressure when the vanes are spinning and a jet openning for the output
- something very simple - so I could check out my machining
capabilities and just see how difficult it is to go from idea to
something practical.
Back to the library, for now, I guess. thanks to all, littleberry