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Should I or shouldn't I?
It's only like $59.00, including some fittings and a 2" brad gun.
My itty bitty Coleman a gal. is making those horrid "I'm not long for this Earth" type of sounds.
I swore I'd never get another Sears tool again - but - since this isn't a Craftsman, maybe it's decent quality. LOL! ;).
I thought Evolve was the cheaper line of tools that Sears is selling. If so, I wouldn't expect it to be better than Craftsman.
Plus, Craftsman is a brand name only, made by many different manufacturers. That brand covers everything from the use it once and throw it away, all the way up to commercial/industrial tools. The brand got hurt mostly (IMHO) because folks bought the $19.99 drill and when it gave out they replaced it with a $179 Milwaukee. Then they went on to praise Milwaukee compared to the POS Craftsman. Maybe had he bought the $179 Craftsman drill, he would still be using it.
Black and Decker recognized this years ago when they renamed their commercial line, "DeWalt" and put the same tools in a new yellow housing. While you seldom saw B&D on a job site, yellow tools became quite common.
Bottom line, if you buy a $59 compressor, that's what you'll be getting, even if you put a Cadillac label on it.
If you're looking that cheap, just as well look at Harbor Freight. I've actually heard good things about some of their compressors, and it's likely from the same factory as well.
Here's a perfect example from Sears. I think it was on this board, but someone was complaining recently about the HF hammer they sell often for cheap ($1.99 coupon), and that the head is epoxied on. A couple of years ago I bought one of those yellow-handled hammers. I use it for little things around the house, like hanging pictures and stuff. It works fine, I've had no issues with it, but I doubt I would try and build a house with it.
Well, recently they had another $1.99 coupon, so I bought the framing version (my original one is a claw hammer). Despite my original only being a couple years old and very similar in appearance, the newer one actually appears to be of less quality!
Here's what really caught me off guard. I was getting some socket rails from Sears the other day, when I walked past the hammers. I saw the EXACT same hammer as my recent yellow-handle HF model on the rack, except with a red handle and a Craftsman sticker. Same lesser quality as my newer one as well.
The worst part is, if I remember correctly, they wanted $15 for it!!
So, just as well check HF for cheap Chinese stuff. I was actually interested in buying their new Craftsman multi combination wrench things, until I found it was made in China. If I'm stuck with buying cheaply built Chinese junk, I just as well get the best price for it. My mechanic tools are mostly Craftsman, but future purchases I may start to look elsewhere.
You're right about that. I've bought both from Sears and knowing better.:rolleyes: But I do have a Craftsman grinder that I used yesterday that is 30 yrs old. I'm handing down a 1939 Sears jointer to my son that will adjust on the money and stay there. Why am I doing that.:confused: But I'm afraid the $59 compressor will be like the $19.99 drills I bought there. Not for daily or continuous work.Quote:
Originally Posted by Will Overton
I have one. It's ok. Fortunately, it is not my only compressor (I also own a 30 gal/5hp Craftsman). However, I haved used the smaller one a few times and it does it's job.
I guess it depends on what you want to use it for. Basically, I use it to put air in my tires...but I wouldn't want to try and run my impact gun with it. :D
Have you looked at reconditioned? I just bought a 60 gallon and sold my 15 gallon since it was too beig to be portable. I am looking for a pancake or hot dog cpmpressor. It will probably be HF or reconditioned.
Update - -
Well, I pulled the trigger and bought one.
$59.00 on sale @ Sears.
First impressions are good.
3 gal tank, 1 SCFM@40psi, approx 3 min to fill the tank to 100psi from empty, fairly quiet - which surprised me - for an oiless - quieter than my 4 gal IR, weighs in about 30# give or take - which fits my idea of an ultra portable, came with a full 2" 18ga brad nailer and a 10 piece fittings set.
And a two year warranty.
The brad nailer is of course low quality, however, I'm very impressed with the brass quick connects. The brass fittings in the 10 piece kit are a notch above what the Borg sells, and well above what HF sells.
All told, I figure the "freebies" total up to about 20/25 $, which makes the $59.00 sale price of the set a good value.
This is a 4th compressor - I currently have a 4 gal IR twin "hot dog" as my production compressorm an aging 3.5HP (rated) Coleman Powermate, the tiny 1 gal Coleman - and now the 3 gal Evolve.
It should fit the niche of an ultra portable/won't cry too hard if it's stolen from a job site/small & light enough to toss in the van "just in case"/for those times when a little squirt of air or a pin or brad or staple is needed, machine.