Air Compressor and Tools

[pgilbeau]

Going to take the plunge and get an air compressor and some tools, been going on too long without. The main things I want to get are the compressor, impact wrench, and sockets. I have been doing some shopping around but wanted to know what others are using. Any recommendations on brands? size?

[Justin]

I've been happy with my 60 gallon Home Depot compressor. It's nothing fancy, but meets the need. Most of my air tools come from Harbor Freight. They use a little more are and probably aren't as powerful, but at $9.99 for a die grinder I can't really rationalize more expensive stuff when the cheap stuff has met the need.

[Eck]

I think I have the same compressor as Justin and bought it off of Craigslist. 60 gallon seems to be enough to run most of my tools without having to wait to fill up. Occasionally if I am running a cut off tool or using it to paint, I have to pause every so often to let it fill back up. However, it is a good size to fit in the corner of the garage and I think it is still reasonably priced.

I started with a Kobalt air tool kit - http://www.lowes.com/pd_2174-47120-SGY- ... Id=3316442 . All of the tools have lasted and have been great. I have added a couple Harbor Freight tools to add to my collection. All of my impact sockets are HF as well and I have hammered the living crap out of them and they are still good.

[Gunnibronco]

I have an IR 60 gallon, and like Eck said, they will run out when using a cut off wheel, or die grinder. I haven't tried to paint with it, yet. Great for everything else.

[Digger]

I have 3HP / 60 gallon unit from Lowes. Works great. I finally feel like I have enough capacity for painting, tube bending, blowing out sprinklers etc.

I use to have a 2HP 30 gallon oiless Craftman unit. It worked well and was portable, but LOUD!


I would really recommend an oiled compressor like the 60 gal units described above. It will do wonders for your sanity if you spend much time using it.

Also, but a good quality impact gun with the highest torque rating you can afford.

[cpldavis37]

It all depends on what you plan on doing. I have a 26 gal Craftsman and it meets my needs. It's small enough to move around to do my sprinklers, but still runs my tools. When I use it with my blast cabinet I can only blast for about 2 minutes at 75 psi then it holds at around 60psi.

P.S. If you don't plan on moving it around much go 60+ gallon.

[Jesus_man]

I don't recall what I have for sure, but it's a smaller Sears/Craftsman unit. I actually bought it at a Sears refurb shop in TX, along with some other air tools. Been great, although I do wish it had a larger tank! What was awesome is that they were having some sort of sale where the more you bought, the higher % off the price you got. So in the end, I paid for the air compressor and got 3 or so other tools for next to nothing!

Do yourself a favor and get a quality air hose. Don't cheap out on that plastic crap that doesn't roll up when it's cold. Some rubber ones like to crack too, so perhaps do your research there.

In an ideal situation, I'd put a larger unit outside in a well ventilated shed and plumb it to the garage.

[Dirtheadz]

I agree with Jesus_man... quality rubber air hose!!! 60 gal. min. 220 double lung if you can. compressors= bigger the better!!! screw type are top of the line but $$$$$. you'll want a regulator & air dryer.

[crawlercreations]

As for air hose look at Flex-zilla. Best hose I've ever used and I have used a lot in the various shops I've worked in. I put my Flex-zilla on a really high quality reel from the ceiling and love it. Bright green is the only color they offer.

Get the biggest compressor you can find then get the most cfm in that size you can afford. Mine is only a 60 gallon but puts out something like 13.1 cfm at 90 psi. Most are under 10cfm at that pressure. Cfm is what will allow it to keep up. I can run a DA sander indefinitely along with any die grinder I've come across. The needle scaler probably taxes the compressor the most but will only drop it to around 110 psi where it will maintain.

[Dukietown]

As for air hose look at Flex-zilla. Best hose I've ever used and I have used a lot in the various shops I've worked in. I put my Flex-zilla on a really high quality reel from the ceiling and love it. Bright green is the only color they offer.

Get the biggest compressor you can find then get the most cfm in that size you can afford. Mine is only a 60 gallon but puts out something like 13.1 cfm at 90 psi. Most are under 10cfm at that pressure. Cfm is what will allow it to keep up. I can run a DA sander indefinitely along with any die grinder I've come across. The needle scaler probably taxes the compressor the most but will only drop it to around 110 psi where it will maintain.

Dig that setup, what is the fixed line run across the ceiling?

[crawlercreations]

As for air hose look at Flex-zilla. Best hose I've ever used and I have used a lot in the various shops I've worked in. I put my Flex-zilla on a really high quality reel from the ceiling and love it. Bright green is the only color they offer.

Get the biggest compressor you can find then get the most cfm in that size you can afford. Mine is only a 60 gallon but puts out something like 13.1 cfm at 90 psi. Most are under 10cfm at that pressure. Cfm is what will allow it to keep up. I can run a DA sander indefinitely along with any die grinder I've come across. The needle scaler probably taxes the compressor the most but will only drop it to around 110 psi where it will maintain.

Dig that setup, what is the fixed line run across the ceiling?

It is a Max-Air shop air kit. 100 feet of 3/4"id air line. I have 2 other drops on 2 walls. Nice set up but sucks to install. You can see a little more of it in the pic.

[Kinder]

If you are only going to run a impact AND don't need much over 100 ft/lbs of torque I'd suggest an electric setup. It is my go to instead of firing up the compressor. But if you see the need to run other tools like a DA, cutoff, air hammer, etc then go with what crawler is suggesting.

[Eck]

As for air hose look at Flex-zilla. Best hose I've ever used and I have used a lot in the various shops I've worked in. I put my Flex-zilla on a really high quality reel from the ceiling and love it. Bright green is the only color they offer.

Get the biggest compressor you can find then get the most cfm in that size you can afford. Mine is only a 60 gallon but puts out something like 13.1 cfm at 90 psi. Most are under 10cfm at that pressure. Cfm is what will allow it to keep up. I can run a DA sander indefinitely along with any die grinder I've come across. The needle scaler probably taxes the compressor the most but will only drop it to around 110 psi where it will maintain.

Where did you get your reel? I have the same flex-Zila hose but can't find a reel that doesn't already come with a hose...

[crawlercreations]

It was an extra reel we had laying around at my work. We have 40 of them hung up at work. They've been used and abused every day for the last 9 years without fail. This one was loaded with an oil hose that I removed and installed my air hose. The reel retails for something like $500 alone so I am not sure I would actually purchase one. I would recommend keeping an eye on craigslist though. Stay away from the enclosed air hose reels, there isn't usually enough room inside to reel up the hose however you want. Open face reels like the one I have are the way to go. The open face reels won't care if the hose reels up on one side only like the enclosed ones do.

[Eck]

It was an extra reel we had laying around at my work. We have 40 of them hung up at work. They've been used and abused every day for the last 9 years without fail. This one was loaded with an oil hose that I removed and installed my air hose. The reel retails for something like $500 alone so I am not sure I would actually purchase one. I would recommend keeping an eye on craigslist though. Stay away from the enclosed air hose reels, there isn't usually enough room inside to reel up the hose however you want. Open face reels like the one I have are the way to go. The open face reels won't care if the hose reels up on one side only like the enclosed ones do.

Well that doesn't help me!! Lol. Those things are expensive which is why I hadn't gotten one! If you find another laying around unneeded, let me know... (Not holding my breath).

[pgilbeau]

I may have to rethink this some, was only looking at a $500-$600 budget to get it done. Also I am not sure where to put a 60G with my current garage layout. Anyway I can think of at least 4 things I will want to use it for at the moment- general work on the Bronco, painting, blowing out sprinklers and airing up, etc. when I put my bead locks together. Going to try and get out and shop around some today.

[Dukietown]

I may have to rethink this some, was only looking at a $500-$600 budget to get it done. Also I am not sure where to put a 60G with my current garage layout. Anyway I can think of at least 4 things I will want to use it for at the moment- general work on the Bronco, painting, blowing out sprinklers and airing up, etc. when I put my bead locks together. Going to try and get out and shop around some today.

I have one of these and have been really happy with it: http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-D55168-120 ... rds=D55168

Fits the budget/uses but probably isn't up to snuff for big painting jobs. Though one big enough to properly do paint probably isn't portable enough to do the sprinklers etc.

**Edit: Nevermind, folks in the comments/reviews say that it's up to snuff for painting.

[crawlercreations]

It was an extra reel we had laying around at my work. We have 40 of them hung up at work. They've been used and abused every day for the last 9 years without fail. This one was loaded with an oil hose that I removed and installed my air hose. The reel retails for something like $500 alone so I am not sure I would actually purchase one. I would recommend keeping an eye on craigslist though. Stay away from the enclosed air hose reels, there isn't usually enough room inside to reel up the hose however you want. Open face reels like the one I have are the way to go. The open face reels won't care if the hose reels up on one side only like the enclosed ones do.

Well that doesn't help me!! Lol. Those things are expensive which is why I hadn't gotten one! If you find another laying around unneeded, let me know... (Not holding my breath).

This one doesn't seem like too bad of a deal in comparison: https://denver.craigslist.org/tls/5467699955.html

[pgilbeau]

Was thinking something more like this would fit, however almost every compressor of this style seems to have bad reviews about the drain valve.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-30-Gal ... /206695048

[Rox Crusher]

I have a Craftsman 30 gallon oil compressor and while it is relatively quiet it has a hard time keeping up and takes a long time to refill, especially aggravating with sprinkler blow outs.

[Justin]

Drain valves are easy to replace. I'd still go with the 60. The footprint isn't much bigger than my old 28 gallon. Shop around and look on craigslist. I got my 60 for something like $300 at Home Depot as a closeout. When you figure the cost is only about $20, it's a no-brainer. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-60-Gal ... /205389936

Also, I really dig the PVC hoses from Harbor Freight. Way lighter than rubber, easier to manipulate the tool they're attached to, and I have yet to destroy one. I've killed 2 rubber hoses in the last year by having hot things melt through them.

[pgilbeau]

Drain valves are easy to replace. I'd still go with the 60. The footprint isn't much bigger than my old 28 gallon. Shop around and look on craigslist. I got my 60 for something like $300 at Home Depot as a closeout. When you figure the cost is only about $20, it's a no-brainer. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-60-Gal ... /205389936

Also, I really dig the PVC hoses from Harbor Freight. Way lighter than rubber, easier to manipulate the tool they're attached to, and I have yet to destroy one. I've killed 2 rubber hoses in the last year by having hot things melt through them.

I was looking at that earlier and I see a few issues for me.

1. I don't have 220/240 in the garage so I would need to get a line run.

2. What are you doing for jobs outside the garage? I need to do some things like paint the back yard fence or blow out the sprinklers. Is it feasible to just run long hoses or?

[Justin]

Lack of 220v should be fixed, as you want a welder too. Trust me, you do. Yes, long hoses are the solution. They're cheap and ive found very few things around my house that a 100 footer wasn't good enough for.

[pgilbeau]

Lack of 220v should be fixed, as you want a welder too. Trust me, you do. Yes, long hoses are the solution. They're cheap and ive found very few things around my house that a 100 footer wasn't good enough for.

100ft won't cut it for my painting, maybe 200ft. Funny you mention the welding because I would like to learn how in the future. I had some money set aside for garage lighting, maybe it will have to go for 220v instead.

[phyler]

Lack of 220v should be fixed, as you want a welder too. Trust me, you do. Yes, long hoses are the solution. They're cheap and ive found very few things around my house that a 100 footer wasn't good enough for.

There you go enabling again. This is how I ended up with a welder and dismantled Bronco. :-)

[Justin]

Hey, I can't be the only one.

[landshark]

I picked up a 35 gallon 110v compressor off Craigslist with all the tools. Impact, ratchet, air gun, orbital, nibbler, air grinder and more for $100. It's been great but lacks the umph for sand blasting, air grinding/cutting, orbital sanding and sprinklers. I would seriously look at a 60 gallon that is 220v and run the 220drop or make a 220v extension cord if your 50 feet or less from the main box. You will quickly utilize that compressor for everything and it will make your life allot easier (and move projects along faster).

I have been looking at replacing my 110 unit for a while now. Will pull the trigger sometime this spring. Iam using a 220 extension cord for my welder with no issues. Made it myself

[kbank6]

I do not have good power or better yet enough outlets to my garage yet so I had to go with 120V. I picked up one from HF 29 gal, 2 hp but I also was given a 60 gallon tank so that set up works for me. I plugged it in once I checked the oil and Oh how nice it was not to listen to that oil-less air compressor..

[ZOSO]

Lack of 220v should be fixed, as you want a welder too. Trust me, you do. Yes, long hoses are the solution. They're cheap and ive found very few things around my house that a 100 footer wasn't good enough for.

100ft won't cut it for my painting, maybe 200ft. Funny you mention the welding because I would like to learn how in the future. I had some money set aside for garage lighting, maybe it will have to go for 220v instead.

If your main panel is 150 amps or more and has room I'd recommend just getting a sub panel installed into the garage. That way you can have as many outlets, lights, welders, and air compressors you want. I added a 100 amp panel to my garage and it was one of the best things I could have done.

[crawlercreations]

Lack of 220v should be fixed, as you want a welder too. Trust me, you do. Yes, long hoses are the solution. They're cheap and ive found very few things around my house that a 100 footer wasn't good enough for.

100ft won't cut it for my painting, maybe 200ft. Funny you mention the welding because I would like to learn how in the future. I had some money set aside for garage lighting, maybe it will have to go for 220v instead.

If your main panel is 150 amps or more and has room I'd recommend just getting a sub panel installed into the garage. That way you can have as many outlets, lights, welders, and air compressors you want. I added a 100 amp panel to my garage and it was one of the best things I could have done.

Agreed. I have 4 20 amp 120v walls, 5 240v outlets and 3 15 amp dedicated lighting circuits in my detached shop. I have 16 120v outlets per wall and 24 120v outlets in the ceiling. I feel that the 120v outlet situation is sufficient. I do wish I had installed one more 240v outlet on the wall with the lift still. I only have one 240v outlet on that wall and it is dedicated to my compressor. I have to run an extension cord to run my welder under cars. Not a huge deal but would be nice to just have the outlet right there.