Looking at a compressor and air tools

Dom DiCara

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For a while now, I have wanted to get a compressor along with some nailers and sprayers. Anyone make some recommendations? I have little to no knowledge on the differences.

Basically it will be used for finish nailing, and spraying finishes.

Thanks so much in advance!
 
you are in luck because some compressors stick a label on the tank that tell what equipment the compressor will power
 
Dom, shooting nails and spraying finishes are kind of at the two ends of compressor spectrum. Nail and brad guns can be driven easily by the little portable compressors, and although you can spray with the little compressors, if you're doing much of it, a bigger compressor is better.

Although a lot of the stickers on the compressors at the home improvement stores will be advertising horsepower or the tank size, the primary measurement to look at is the cubic feet per minute (CFM) rating of the compressor and the CFM rating needed by the tools you want to use. Here's some good reading about CFM requirements of spray guns:

http://www.spraygunworld.com/Information2/CFM.htm

I don't drive a lot of nails or brads, and when I do spray finishes it's typically only on smaller pieces, but I use a pneumatic sander (a lot) that eats a lot of air. I did have a small portable compressor from Auto Zone, but got tired if having it run constantly while trying to keep up with my sander. A couple years ago I bit the bullet and bought real compressor (19+ CFM with a true 5 hp motor) and have thanked myself for that decision many, many times.
 
Dom, shooting nails and spraying finishes are kind of at the two ends of compressor spectrum. Nail and brad guns can be driven easily by the little portable compressors, and although you can spray with the little compressors, if you're doing much of it, a bigger compressor is better.

Although a lot of the stickers on the compressors at the home improvement stores will be advertising horsepower or the tank size, the primary measurement to look at is the cubic feet per minute (CFM) rating of the compressor and the CFM rating needed by the tools you want to use. Here's some good reading about CFM requirements of spray guns:

http://www.spraygunworld.com/Information2/CFM.htm

I don't drive a lot of nails or brads, and when I do spray finishes it's typically only on smaller pieces, but I use a pneumatic sander (a lot) that eats a lot of air. I did have a small portable compressor from Auto Zone, but got tired if having it run constantly while trying to keep up with my sander. A couple years ago I bit the bullet and bought real compressor (19+ CFM with a true 5 hp motor) and have thanked myself for that decision many, many times.

This help you just gave me is fantastic. Now I know what to look for. How do you like spraying?....and do you spray Urethane, stain, paint????
 
For a while now, I have wanted to get a compressor along with some nailers and sprayers. Anyone make some recommendations? I have little to no knowledge on the differences.

Basically it will be used for finish nailing, and spraying finishes.

Thanks so much in advance!

Top end of both budget and quality would probably be Ingersol-Rand.

For home shop use, probably Porter Cable or Campbell Hausfield (actually, both pretty much the same, since they're both owned by the same parent company).

If you go the Sears (Craftsman) route, stay away from the oilless models and get a belt driven oil sump model.

You'll need a fairly large compressor & tank to do much paint spraying, although you can still do a fair amount with a 1.5 hp model with a 20 gallon tank. That's what I have, and I use mostly an HVLP 'touch-up' gun for most of my spraying, with good results.

For nailers, you don't need a big compressor. One of the 'pancakes' or 'hot dog' models is plenty. Senco, Paslode, and Hitachi all make high quality nailers, but for home use, Porter Cable, or even the (cheap!) Harbor Freight models work well.

If you intend to use air sanders, then you'll really need a big compressor. Sanders reallu use a lot of air - most are in the range of 9~12 CFM @ 90psi, and it taks a big compressor to keep up.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but there ya go! :D
 
Top end of both budget and quality would probably be Ingersol-Rand.

For home shop use, probably Porter Cable or Campbell Hausfield (actually, both pretty much the same, since they're both owned by the same parent company).

If you go the Sears (Craftsman) route, stay away from the oilless models and get a belt driven oil sump model.

You'll need a fairly large compressor & tank to do much paint spraying, although you can still do a fair amount with a 1.5 hp model with a 20 gallon tank. That's what I have, and I use mostly an HVLP 'touch-up' gun for most of my spraying, with good results.

For nailers, you don't need a big compressor. One of the 'pancakes' or 'hot dog' models is plenty. Senco, Paslode, and Hitachi all make high quality nailers, but for home use, Porter Cable, or even the (cheap!) Harbor Freight models work well.

If you intend to use air sanders, then you'll really need a big compressor. Sanders reallu use a lot of air - most are in the range of 9~12 CFM @ 90psi, and it taks a big compressor to keep up.

Probably more than you wanted to know, but there ya go! :D

Thanks Jim....appreciate it!
 
Top end of both budget and quality would probably be Ingersol-Rand.

...

If you go the Sears (Craftsman) route, stay away from the oilless models and

I use a pneumatic sander (a lot) that eats a lot of air.

+1 on what Jim and Vaughn have said. I started off with an oiless 20 gallon? or something Craftsman compressor that they rated at 5hp. It was a joke. That thing was LOUD And couldn't keep up with much. But at least it took up a lot of space in the garage when I wasn't using it and it was relatively portable... :rolleyes:

So then I went big and got a 15.8cfm 80 gallon 2 stage 175 psi 5hp Ingersoll Rand. It's not bad, but like vaughn says, those sanders and polishers can really suck a lot of wind and even those will wind up my IR. I was using it to polish a concrete counter top and I could keep it running constantly.

I've used it for spraying finishes and such and it really is nice to have something big.

That being said, I missed having something portable, so I did buy a little 99$ compressor. It works great for driving brads and nails when I want to use them away from the shop and don't want to have to run hundreds of feet of hose. It's also a great little tire pumperupper...

So, I guess my advice is go big, but you might just want to get a little portable one as well, but I'd stay away from anything in-between...
 
+1 on what Jim and Vaughn have said. I started off with an oiless 20 gallon? or something Craftsman compressor that they rated at 5hp. It was a joke. That thing was LOUD And couldn't keep up with much. But at least it took up a lot of space in the garage when I wasn't using it and it was relatively portable... :rolleyes:

So then I went big and got a 15.8cfm 80 gallon 2 stage 175 psi 5hp Ingersoll Rand. It's not bad, but like vaughn says, those sanders and polishers can really suck a lot of wind and even those will wind up my IR. I was using it to polish a concrete counter top and I could keep it running constantly.

I've used it for spraying finishes and such and it really is nice to have something big.

That being said, I missed having something portable, so I did buy a little 99$ compressor. It works great for driving brads and nails when I want to use them away from the shop and don't want to have to run hundreds of feet of hose. It's also a great little tire pumperupper...

So, I guess my advice is go big, but you might just want to get a little portable one as well, but I'd stay away from anything in-between...


Thanks Brent!
 
...It's not bad, but like vaughn says, those sanders and polishers can really suck a lot of wind and even those will wind up my IR. I was using it to polish a concrete counter top and I could keep it running constantly...

My compressor pumps more air than my sander uses, so if I'm doing long, uninterrupted sanding, the compressor actually gets ahead of the sander and has to wait occasionally. I smile bigtime every time that happens. :D
 
My compressor pumps more air than my sander uses, so if I'm doing long, uninterrupted sanding, the compressor actually gets ahead of the sander and has to wait occasionally. I smile bigtime every time that happens. :D

I need to get better sanders! But actually, my DA sander is an IR as well. I should probably look up it's CFM to see what it really needs.... Yours is 19cfm? At 15.8@90, mine is ok. Compressors are one of those things where bigger is definitely better. :thumb:

Can't wait till I get to do the camo paint job on the '87 Pathfinder....
 
I need to get better sanders! But actually, my DA sander is an IR as well. I should probably look up it's CFM to see what it really needs.... Yours is 19cfm? At 15.8@90, mine is ok. Compressors are one of those things where bigger is definitely better. :thumb:

Can't wait till I get to do the camo paint job on the '87 Pathfinder....

Brent
You know the bigger is better is true and great, but I'll go out on a limb and say most any air compressor is much better than none. I wish I had a bigger one but the one I have has driven sprayers, nailers, grinders, air chisels and aired up more tires, basketballs, footballs and air mattresses than I can count. The worst that happens when it runs to low on air is we both get a break. Oh and it blows dust, cleans and (well you get the picture).

Now I want a 60-80 gallon compressor and may have one some day but for 30 years I have had "a" compressor that I could use. I have commented before that I think its the best tool I ever bought for the shop. And it is really limited, a so called 4 horse power motor and a single cylinder oil bath compressor. But its biggest limitation is the small tank of I believe 12 gallon. I think if I had a 40 gallon or so tank I would really be pretty satisfied with this. As it is it has served me very well. It does run on 220 volts...

I bought my son one of the screaming scroll compressors at HF with a 20 gallon tank and it is really noisy runs really fast and I doubt if it lasts long. That said its still a pretty good deal compared to no compressor.

Now if you have a real high volume item you use a lot like Vaughn then you need a big compressor and tank. Otherwise you can do pretty well with the 2-3 hundred dollar set ups.

The little 2 gallon tank 60 dollar Wall Mart units are near useless...the best I can tell.

Garry
 
I need to get better sanders! But actually, my DA sander is an IR as well. I should probably look up it's CFM to see what it really needs.... Yours is 19cfm? At 15.8@90, mine is ok. Compressors are one of those things where bigger is definitely better. :thumb:

Can't wait till I get to do the camo paint job on the '87 Pathfinder....

Yeah, I'm using a little Grex 2" ROS, so it doesn't suck the air as fast as a typical DA sander. Here's the specs on mine...except I ordered mine with a vertical 60 gallon tank. It's essentially a pump designed for a 7.5 hp motor, slowed down and hooked up to a 5 hp motor. Nice and quiet compared to a lot of other 5 hp rigs.

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/catalog/item/504747/6474775.htm

Of course mine is purple, since it's widely known that purple has more gigahertz and is more ecologically diagonal. :rofl:

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/page/page/536574.htm

In fact, Sharon has told me she's leaning toward a pink and purple camo job on the Pathfinder. :D

Brent
You know the bigger is better is true and great, but I'll go out on a limb and say most any air compressor is much better than none. I wish I had a bigger one but the one I have has driven sprayers, nailers, grinders, air chisels and aired up more tires, basketballs, footballs and air mattresses than I can count. The worst that happens when it runs to low on air is we both get a break. Oh and it blows dust, cleans and (well you get the picture).

Now I want a 60-80 gallon compressor and may have one some day but for 30 years I have had "a" compressor that I could use. I have commented before that I think its the best tool I ever bought for the shop. And it is really limited, a so called 4 horse power motor and a single cylinder oil bath compressor. But its biggest limitation is the small tank of I believe 12 gallon. I think if I had a 40 gallon or so tank I would really be pretty satisfied with this. As it is it has served me very well. It does run on 220 volts...

I bought my son one of the screaming scroll compressors at HF with a 20 gallon tank and it is really noisy runs really fast and I doubt if it lasts long. That said its still a pretty good deal compared to no compressor.

Now if you have a real high volume item you use a lot like Vaughn then you need a big compressor and tank. Otherwise you can do pretty well with the 2-3 hundred dollar set ups.

The little 2 gallon tank 60 dollar Wall Mart units are near useless...the best I can tell.

Garry

I agree wholeheartedly with what Garry's saying. Even a noisy buzz-bomb from Harbor Freight is better than no compressor at all. I got a number of years of hard, noisy work out of my previous $120-ish compressor. I'd hate to work in a shop without a compressor again. :thumb:
 
So, I guess my advice is go big, but you might just want to get a little portable one as well, but I'd stay away from anything in-between...

Got to disagree with that one Brent.:rofl::rofl:
My no name small one is just the ticket for running a nail gun. My big IR is great in the shop. But the small one is to small to frame a house and my IR is to big to take to the job so my Dewalt in the middle one get's all of that work.:thumb:
It can keep up with 3 or 4 guns framing and sheathing.
The little one is in the trailer or I would have taken a pic of it too.
Either one of these 2 will run a spray gun just fine:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 

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This was an interesting thread... I'll be in the market for a compressor soon, but have limited space... I want to install it permanently and will probably put it in the same shed with my DC... I'll have to build a raised platform above the DC motor for it to sit... I didn't leave enough room in there when I built it for the compressor. I don't do any spray work, and haven't had occasion to use the nail guns yet.... I did want to run some air tools for sanding.. it's good to know that I'll need a bigger compress than I was thinking about...
 
Just food for thought Chuck My big one is in the attic of my shop. A friend used to have a shelf in the corner up near the ceiling in his shop for his compressor.:thumb:
 
Well, Guess I got TOLD! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The most true statement is that "Any aircompressor is better than none"...

I've actually run my hvlp spray gun off my little guy, but if you want to drive the buffers/sanders/polishers, the little and medium guys will have a hard time keeping up...

So, For a hobbyist who wants to do painting, polishing, sanding, and nail driving, and tire filleruppering, I stand by what I said...

But whatever you do..., Get a compressor for cryin out loud! :thumb:



I agree wholeheartedly with what Garry's saying. Even a noisy buzz-bomb from Harbor Freight is better than no compressor at all. I got a number of years of hard, noisy work out of my previous $120-ish compressor. I'd hate to work in a shop without a compressor again. :thumb:

Brent
You know the bigger is better is true and great, but I'll go out on a limb and say most any air compressor is much better than none.

Got to disagree with that one Brent.:rofl::rofl:
My no name small one is just the ticket for running a nail gun. My big IR is great in the shop. But the small one is to small to frame a house and my IR is to big to take to the job so my Dewalt in the middle one get's all of that work.:thumb:
It can keep up with 3 or 4 guns framing and sheathing.
The little one is in the trailer or I would have taken a pic of it too.
Either one of these 2 will run a spray gun just fine:thumb::rofl::rofl:
 
Well, Guess I got TOLD! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

The most true statement is that "Any aircompressor is better than none"...

I've actually run my hvlp spray gun off my little guy, but if you want to drive the buffers/sanders/polishers, the little and medium guys will have a hard time keeping up...

So, For a hobbyist who wants to do painting, polishing, sanding, and nail driving, and tire filleruppering, I stand by what I said...

But whatever you do..., Get a compressor for cryin out loud! :thumb:

BBM

I think this is the best advice!!....I will have one by the weekend.....then I can take about a week to learn how to use it and the sprayers! Time to go back to school.

Thanks to all that answered. You guys and gals are great!
 
The size of the tank is not really important, in fact, save yourself some workshop space and get a small tank, with a big pump, that is where the money is anyways.

If you are using sprayers and sanders, you will be using a lot of air, so a larger tank just means it takes the pump longer to fill it up to get back to pressure.

Here in Japan, you see big honking 3 phase 10 Hp motor compressors that have HUGE CFM and these skinny little hot dog tanks, saves a lot of space :dunno:

Buy the best on you can afford, trust us, it is worth the money :wave:
 
Just food for thought Chuck My big one is in the attic of my shop. A friend used to have a shelf in the corner up near the ceiling in his shop for his compressor.:thumb:

Would be nice, but don't have an attic... but the DC shed is outside the shop so the noise would be limited and I'm pretty sure there's enough room - if I don't go too big on the compressor.
 
Okay.....I bit the bullet and it will be delivered tomorrow.

I have had great luck dealing with CPO out of Amazon.com. Their reconditioned tools almost seem like new and I have NEVER had an issue with them.

Here is my new baby!!

51WkP7fqS0L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

The unit comes with 3 different guns and although the unit is small. I do not intend to use it too heavily, so even if I have to wait for the unit to "catch up with the tool", I should be good to go.

The reconditioned price was $219 complete with hoses, etc.

I will let y'all know how it works out!

Wish me luck!....I have a 2 bookcases to assemble
 
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