Thinking about finally getting some air tools in my garage and looking for some recommendations.
I’m a casual mechanic working on my 2 car, couple powersports toys fleet with no plans to open a shop or make this a career, so think shade tree mechanic prices, not snap on prices. This will not be used 6 days a week 10 hours a day. More like a few days a month.
Basically want to run an impact, air ratchet, maybe air chisel. I doubt I’ll ever care about being able to run a paint sprayer. My roof will need to be done in a couple years so powering 2-3 air nailers would be nice. Prefer it wouldn’t take too much room in my garage so leaning toward vertical tank. Oil-less seem to be more in my price range but I’ve heard oiled are much quieter. Again, being a casual shop guy noise probably isn’t a big issue since I won’t be using it that much.
I have a US General from Harbor Freight, its a good compressor and powers anything. It is not your typical harbor freight crap. Do you have 220 power available? You cant really get a decent compressor with 110 power. The typical ones the sell at Home depot/sears are oil less which are loud and take forever to fill. I had a craftsman oil less for about 5 years before I got so fed up it.
Another option is just to ditch the compressor idea, you can get a battery powered impacts that are as powerful as air now. I have one and basically have no use for my air impact now. Air ratchets suck IMHO, but I never really used a good one. If you need something for roofing just get a pancake unit thats portable and can fill your tires too.
i got this guy…the website pic doesnt quite match the actual compressor though, it actually has a metal grate guard for the belt.
my cousins friend does maint. for air compressors, including the larger ones in factories like at gm. he said one of the best out there is campbell hausfeld. the ingersolls are not very good. also stick to oil lubricated if you want it to last. i talked to him about this one before i bought it, and its a great compressor for its size. its nice because its only a 120 and not 220, but has all the features you typically see with larger units(oil lubricated, belt driven, cast iron)
i went through 2 loud ass oil less compressors in just a couple years before getting this one. oil lubricated is well worth the money.
This. Believe it or not but I have a 24V elec impact that I got from Pepboys for $70 years ago…curiosity got me and I picked it up as a test. Surprisingly it has taken me through 3 pretty substantial builds, handling everything except for the extremely heavy shit which I just revert to breaker bars. I have air, but never use air tools for automotive use. House use, pancake compressor is all you’ll need…and those are cheap.
However, if you’re dead set on air, spend the extra few bucks for oil…everytime I turn mine on I have to close the garage doors and go outside to just get away from the noise.
I will second this statement. Had a Craftsman 110V 5hp 33 gal oil-less and it was loud as fuck and it shook my whole garage. I used to turn it on and leave while it pressurized.
Surprisingly, a lot of tools that use to be air only are coming out as electric. I would look into that aspect because using things like cut off wheels and what not use alot of air. You need a descent sized compressor to be able to handle it.
My campbel and hausfeld has lasted me probably close to 10 years. Its a 13 gallon oiless unit. It has seens roofs, impact guns, air ratchets, chisels, plastic welders, tires, and the occasional paint gun. For how much that thing has been abused I honestly would be happy with it if it blew up tomorrow. My craftsman oil recip died in less than a year with very light use. Take that for what its worth. My sister in law’s bf has a compressor from Harbor Freight. Has had it for about a year and abused the crap out of it regularly and it s still chugging along as if it just came out the box. It is loud as hell though.
