Air Compressors

[jgra1]

hi all, after many years with my trusty little oil-free 6L SIP (used for many engine rebuilds and so on) i have upgraded somewhat to a 50L SIP.

Apart from spraying, and using blown-air, what do you use your compressor for? In this time of cordless, what air tools couldn't/wouldn't you do without?

John

[Steve Walsh]

Use mine for Tyre's, I am very OCD with pressures, Once a week I check both cars, both motorbikes, 2 wheelbarrows, 1 sack truck and a trailer.
But also I have 3 air impact guns, 3/8, 1/2'' and 3/4 drive, a 1/4'' and 3/8'' air ratchets, Air die grinder. Polisher, and all sorts of adapters to make jobs easier.
I wouldn't like to be without them.

Steve

[jgra1]

thanks Steve, yes sorry should have mentioned tyres! most common use for mine these days.. (have a similar inventory to you!)

I have a cheap cordless impact, seems to work ok. (I do have an air impact but this hasn't had much use due to previous compressor size!)

I suppose I could ask, what tools do you use air for, that would be impractical/impossibe using battery or mains? One example may be a drill, the air tool is a lot smaller/lighter without the motor and magnets.. but how often do you need to drill in an enclosed space - I cant think of that many times over the last few years

Die grinder, polisher are both good shouts.

Is a large compressor also a case that you can have lots of tools running off one source, like modern cordless tools using one battery - instead of loads of 240V tools clogging up the workshop

[Steve Walsh]

I do also have a drill, but dont use it that often, I prefer my DeWalt cordless, I do have a decent mains drill and an SDS they get plenty of use on my old house.
I use my air stuff on all sorts of stuff these days, I am an ex Marine Engineer, Pleasure boats, outboards etc. But now it's mechanic ing for my own stuff, and friends and neighbours. Tractors, garden machinery, cars, bikes and everything inbetween, Just off to look at a mini digger for a mate, Yesterday it was putting a set of cam belts on a 1500 Goldwing. Also serviced wife's Citroen C4 last week.
Back to work next Monday for a rest !

[Paul-R]

Our compressor is actually my wife's and was used for many years to power her air stapler (used for furniture restoration). Now that she's retired, and only runs one adult day furniture restoration course a month, it's a lot less used. Nowadays it's mostly used just to pump tyres up!

I bought a cordless 1/2" AEG rattle gun a few years ago for use in the car to change wheels. A fantastic bit of kit and makes wheel changing almost a pleasure!

[jgra1]

thanks both, I did my GL1500 cambelts Steve easy compared to a car!

Paul, I guess that's my fear.. we all need one, we all use one, but they are not quite as important as 20 years ago - with so many cordless and electric tools now..

[CitroJim]

A compressor is one thing I'd never be without I mainly use mine for blowing things out, dusting and drying after washing stuff in solvent.

Totally indispensable

I also have a rattle gun but rarely use it.

I used to use it for tyres but my bicycle track pump is a lot easier, convenient and very efficient for topping up car tyres...

One thing my compressor has done once, before I acquired the proper kit for the job, was to seat a new set of tubeless bicycle tyres on their rims...

[white exec]

Paint sprayer, rattle gun, tyre-inflator, short- and long-nozzles for cleaning up, and a Sealey SG18 cavity/underbody waxing gun.
The last is just magic...

[jgra1]

thanks Chris and Jim

Have an underbody gun (dont think a sealey but useful) have some spray guns (just repainted van using landlords 50L compressor!) hence decided I wanted one

I have found my baby one invaluable over the years for all that everyone has mentioned.. will buy some more tools for the new one

[jgra1]

just thought of one more use... sandblasting?!

[mickthemaverick]

just thought of one more use... sandblasting?!

Don't forget blowing up footballs, inflatable boats, lilos etc. not to mention balloons for the kid's parties!!

[jgra1]

those roadside recovery airbags could be a useful tool.. easier than faffing around with the jack (just when you want to check wheel bearing, swap wheels etc) ?

[white exec]

Ours here is 50L, which seems an adequate size for all the jobs done so far.
Paint spraying and rattle-gun use a lot of air (both usually at 3 and 6 bar respectively). I have around 10-12m of 6mm-bore feeding the tool most of the time, which might not be ideal, but works just fine. A similar (buried) length runs from the workshop (where the compressor is) to the garage, handy for work on the car and tyre checks.

[bobins]

Sustained sandblasting with a domestic 240v compressor might be asking a bit much - both with pump displacement and duty cycle.

[jgra1]

good point Bobins.. I am thinking small things, motorbike bits (anything that may fit into the cabinet)