MichelleJD

Matt:
I can't afford to pay that right now. Thanx tho'

Geo:
8.6@40psi and 6.4@90.

Geo

That's about the smallest I would consider. Mine's just barely below that and when the race car is finished I'll be looking for something with more capacity. Mine just has a hard time with the die grinder which is an incredibly useful tool. I cannot run air sanders with mine. I barely have enough air flow to run my HVLP gun (but barely is still enough). I am running my bead blast cabinet with it, but it's really weezing with my compressor.

User 41221

Michelle,

We (the KCWS) just picked up a Craftsman Professional 25 gal. Air Compressor, 3-1/2 hp, 175max psi, Vertical Tank, 2-Stage Oil Free Pump (Sears item #00916778000 Mfr. model #16778) for the shop, and it seems to be doing the job nicely for us. Its not a huge compressor and there's probably no such thing as "too much" compressor, but for a hobbiest garage, this one works very well. It delivers 5.6cfm at 40psi and 5.1cfm at 90psi. It also runs on 110v, which is a concern for extended use, imo, but I can't see us really maxing this thing out any time soon and with a set of Cummins air tools (basically disposable tools but they will get you by for a while), you should still be under $500.

If you want cream of the crop, IR is the way to go.

Regards,

Geo

That compressor will be OK for limited use of an impact wrench or air ratchet, but beyond that I guarantee it will be weezing.

If you want to think in terms of duty cycle like a welder, that kind of airflow would give you less than 50% duty cycle for a die grinder for instance. Yes, the tool will work (so it's not just like duty cycle), but not very efficiently. My compressor deliveres 5.8 cfm @ 90 psi and I spent a great deal of time waiting for my compressor to catch up while using the die grinder while building my cage.

MichelleJD

You guys have been wonderful help. I'm going to do a little more research, but so far the Sears comp is at the top of the list.

ccannon968

We bought my father-in-law a big 2-stage air compressor for Christmas last year, and I did a bunch of reading up to figure out what was needed. He already had a professional-style sandblaster that took a lot of pressure to run.

One of the things that became clear was that while some of the compressors had 5 or even 6HP ratings, if they were using a standard wall socket for power, they could only hit that as at 'peak' power They all ran continously at around 2HP , which I believe is all you can pull from a regular socket.

The important bits are, how much air can it put out at pressure, and how much air can the cannister hold. Also, if noise is a concern, 2-stage compressors are more expensive but much quieter.

User 41221

Canon hit the nail on the head, no compressor running on 110v will put out the kind of power that is necessary to run a massive amount of air tools. Geo is right in saying that we will be waiting for the compressor to catch up, but its still a very good compromise for us. The 110v is attractive to us because it is portable as well as having the ability to cover our needs, which aren't as stringent as a full blown shop. We value the use of finesse of hand tools over the brute power of air tools, but occasionally, its very nice to to crank it off. We can still fill up our tires, run a paint gun, run impact tools, and run sanders/grinders if we don't mind waiting. If it becomes a big problem, we'll just get an extra air storage tank, altho I seriously doubt it will be necessary for our purposes.

If you are doing a lot of extensive fabrication, such as it sounds like Geo is doing, you probably should save up for a big one, but you'll also need to wire up a 220v outlet and will lose the portability. If you are looking for the occasional convenience of air tools, what we got will probably work fine for you.

Regards,

marky522

not true sh, i almost bought a craftsman 2 stage 110V that put out the exact same numbers as my current 1 stage 220V, it ran less doing the same projects with a 20 gal smaller tank.

Mark

User 41221

Well, sounds like this was a good time to be wrong!

Regards,

Geo

You know, I thought I'd use my compressor mostly for the impact wrench followed by the air ratchet. The funny thing is I use my hand tools 99.5% of the time.

marky522

A funny story to go right along with what you two just said is that i dropped $600 on a compressor a couple years ago, i am always working on cars of some sort and i jsut started using the air for the Other features like the rachet, etc. And of course now being the time that i have to drive 7 miles to my dads house to use it when before it was there to use and i used hand tools instead.

Mark

User 41221

Something I have learned over time, and which seems especially true on Porsches, is that you should always start with the smallest tool first and work your way up if you need to. I pretty much always grab my 1/4" drive 10mm and 13mm first when doing most things on th ecar, and then move up to 3/8 drive if I need to. I find I damage less and enjoy wrenching more that way.

Regards,

marky522

Thats grat advise sh, i never though of doing that, i always use 3/8, and very often use 1/2 with a 3/8 adapter.

Mark

Legoland951

To remove stuff, I use the impact 99 percent of the time. With a good impact gun, you can control how much torque you apply and how fast you want the bolt to spin off. You will not damage the bolts you are removing unless you are not careful or don't know what you are doing. I have the IR 2135ti with the "1000 ft lb" torque but it failed to remove a crank pulley at 100 psi with a 6 1/2 hp 220 volt compressor. I agree with Danno in that sometimes it takes much more torque to remove a bolt than what is specified during installation. As for compressors lacking in power, I have never seen anyone use an impact gun so much continuously that even a 3 hp compressor can't keep up unless its a pancake compressor with virtually no tank. I doubt Michelle will have 3 or 4 guns at different stations at her house running at the same time to warrant spending an arm and a leg to buy a shop rate compressor. I believe the sears one that was recommended will probably be enough for running an impact gun, filling up tires, and pushing an air blower to blow off dust/leaves from under the hood. If you are using a dual action sander or 22000 rpm cut off tool to cut through a solid steel weltmeister front sway bar you may run into problems.

User 41221

The key word there is "good" impact wrench, which I haven't been inclined to spend the money on. Lego, do you have any recommendations? My current crop of air tools are the "disposable" Cummins special variety, very cheap but useable when you need an occasional "ooomph" to loosen a stubborn bolt.

I can't say that its been a hinderence to use hand tools, and I prefer the "zen" like quality of wrenching by hand, much like I get a lot more satisfaction out of cutting wood with the old hand saws I got from my grandfather instead of the power circular saw that sits in my closet. Its a personal preference tho, and since I wrench for "therapy" as opposed to doing it professionally, its not a problem. A shop couldn't survive on the speed (or lack thereof) that I wrench. lol

Regards,