Air tool use as a weekend woodworker

[Raymond Fries]

I am evaluating whether to buy a nice compressor and nail gun or rent one or buy junk to re-apply my baseboards after the tile floor is laid.

I do not want to invest in a nice compressor and nail gun for one project. I would rather rent one or buy an el-cheepo if it were only used for the one project. If there is a real advantage to having air tools and a compressor in the shop, I would like to look at what would work well for me. I have never thought about buying air tools for my shop.

What do you guys use for air tools in your shop as a hobbist?

[Jim Terrill]

I have the Bostitch 3 gun and compressor package deal that you can get at Lowes for $250-300. I use it all the time in the shop and around the house, being able to pop a brad or two into a piece to hold it is pretty convenient. The kit is nice since you get a finish nailer, a brad nailer and a narrow crown stapler as well as all the fittings, the compressor and a hose for what I think is a very reasonable price. I'm looking to get a pin nailer, but brads work just fine in the meantime. I have shot ~20,000 fasteners total through the guns between shop use and construction and they have worked very well for me. You can get by without using brads on a lot of things, but it really shortens your assembly time if you can just shoot a few brads in something to hold it until the glue dries and keep assembling instead of clamping and having to let it sit.

[Scott Pearson]

Do you know anyone you could borrow from? That would be the cheapest easiest solution.

Other wise you just have to do the math, how much to rent vs how much to buy and if you would ever use it again. You can get a usable compressor and nailer from Harbor Freight for about $100.

Scott

[fRED mCnEILL]

I have had a regular shop compressor for 40 years. Use it all the time. But a few years ago I bough a small portable pancake compressor on sale for 50 bucks. Works like a charm. Its great for brad nailers because they don't use a lot of air. I also use it for my big 3 1/2 nailer when I only need to shoot a few nails. Prior to that I used to fill an air tank for remote use of the brad nailer.
To me brad nailers are almost indispensable for small trim work.

Fred Mc.

[Neil Brooks]

Big fan of brad nailers and pin nailers.

They WILL get by with a rather inexpensive compressor, too.

[Rob Hough]

I bought one of the PC pancake combo's and love it. Actually wish it had a bit more capacity but with my limited space... don't have anywhere to put a larger unit. I think it was like $99.00 on sale or something like that.

I use mine all the time. In fact I just cleaned out my planer with it.

[Jim Terrill]

One thing I will add, if you decide to buy your own, when buying hoses get polyurethane hoses, they coil more easily, have less memory and are easier to work with than rubber or PVC hoses.

[John Coloccia]

I have the "big" Dewalt compressor (the one on wheels) and find myself using that more and more for wood work. This one runs my die grinders and air drills just fine as far as I can tell. I downgraded from a large, 60gal 13cfm@90psi compressor that I just didn't need anymore. The larger compressor was nice when I was doing almost everything with air tools (back when I was building an aluminum airplane), but for the relatively light use it sees in my shop, the Dewalt seems to serve my needs just fine. I think I picked it up for about $400. I also like that it's oiless BUT is actually pretty quite and not all that annoying like other oiless compressors. The air coming out is much cleaner than a oil lubed compressor. With the oiled one, I had to run two seperate regulator/filter systems. The air tool one, with some filtering, and the "clean" supply with mega filtering for spraying and blowing off, or I'd get a fine mist of oil on everything. This one still needs a filter to make it very clean, but a cheapy filter from the BORG seems to do the job.

[Robert Reece]

One of things I use my compressor for is blowing stuff off. In fact, since I got a big compressor, I open the shop a couple of times a year and just blow everything to death. You can't do that with a smaller compressor, at least not all at once.
I also second all the motions for using a brad nailer or stapler. Use them a lot. Finish nailer too.

[Jason White]

You're a woodworker and think you'll only use your nailer and compressor once for installing trim??

Buy a decent one that you'll have forever. The "oil-less" ones are noisy, but can be had for $200-300. You'll find numerous uses for it in the shop.

Jason

I am evaluating whether to buy a nice compressor and nail gun or rent one or buy junk to re-apply my baseboards after the tile floor is laid.

I do not want to invest in a nice compressor and nail gun for one project. I would rather rent one or buy an el-cheepo if it were only used for the one project. If there is a real advantage to having air tools and a compressor in the shop, I would like to look at what would work well for me. I have never thought about buying air tools for my shop.

What do you guys use for air tools in your shop as a hobbist?

[Jason White]

I think I have to disagree with that one, as least as far as a small woodworking shop is concerned.

I have a polyurethane hose and it gets tangled up constantly in my workshop. I think I actually spend more time untangling the knots than using the thing.

I do, however, like the lighter weight of the polyurethane hose when installing siding or exterior trim when I need a really long hose and I'm up high on a ladder or scaffolding.

For the workshop, I'd go with a slightly heavier hose (vinyl or rubber) that won't get as tangled. Maybe even one on a reel that mounts on a wall or ceiling.

Jason

One thing I will add, if you decide to buy your own, when buying hoses get polyurethane hoses, they coil more easily, have less memory and are easier to work with than rubber or PVC hoses.

[Kurt Cady]

Awesome little set.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...?keyword=evolv

[Jeremy Thompson]

I got the Porter Cable pancake set a couple of years ago and LOVE it. It's easy to lug around and we've found a lot of uses for it around the house and in the shop. I haven't found a reason to go bigger, it does everything I need.

Wife got it for me for my birthday. It was on sale at Lowes I think for $199 w/ the 3 guns.

[Bob Riefer]

I bought a pancake style porter cable with 3 guns, and then bought a framing nailer as well. It will pump kids' bike tires, car tires, blow things off, work with a paint sprayer, frame rooms, tack things together, etc. etc. etc. It's definitely on my "best things I ever bought" list.

I will say though... Finish nails fired through a gun can be mischievous buggers. I've seen them take u-turns that you wouldn't think possible. Just keep your fingers far enough away to account for this.

edit: my little compresor IS noisy though, I will say that. I wear ear muff style ear protection a lot anyways, so it doesn't bother me. And it's easy enough to build a little sound box for it too (be sure to ventilate the box though)

edit 2: a small compressor won't be real useful for high powered air tools though... for example, my neighbor has air tools for working on his truck, my compressor runs out of capacity too quickly to use with his tools (i.e. it refills constantly which is annoying and also not real great for the compressor)

[Ray Newman]

Re-read what Scott Pearson posted, esp. if you are only going to use it for this one job.
　
But don't buy junk as you might replace it sooner than expected or it will not perform well and you've wasted your money.
　
Now, you could just grow into your woodworking and find more uses for an compressor. Only you can figure that out. For a good many years, my shop air compressor mainly filled tires and blew out dust and debris from tools such as sanders, routers, etc. Never sprayed with it as I opted for HVLP and water based coatings.
　
MO: is it is probably better to buy a quality compressor slightly bigger than you might need and carefully look at the duty cycle. Since only used for nails, pins and blowing out tools, my Grainger 25 or 20 gal Dayton suffices. Never felt the need for a bigger unit -- the 40, 60 gal + tanks. But then again, I don't run air tools or spray with it either.