-> Why think about it at all? PVC is a dime a foot, iron is 50 cents.
-> Fittings are a quarter vs. a dollar. So what. We are talking about
-> saving $50-100 on piping here.
The price difference is a bit larger than that when you step up to 1"
pipe. The price differential on the fittings is considerably larger.
Toss in $50 or so for rental of that threading machine you'll need,
unless you're a masochist. Your prices may vary somewhat regionally.
Cost really wasn't a factor when I did my piping - over 100 feet, with
ten risers and air chucks. The deciding factor was rust. Here in the
swamplands it's common enough to see scale and rust coming out of iron
air lines, plus I've seen 3/8" iron air pipes rupture after they'd
rusted paper-thin.
Iron pipe does fine as long as it's full of water. It's not intended
to hold damp air.
I never gave any serious consideration to copper. The bare pipe wasn't
that expensive and the tube-to-tube fittings were okay, but the boxful
of tube-to-NPT adapters required was horrendously expensive.
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