Sears - Evolve compressor?

[Rich Engelhardt]

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! .

[Will Overton]

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.

[ben grossman]

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.

[Ernie Nyvall]

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.

You're right about that. I've bought both from Sears and knowing better. 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. But I'm afraid the $59 compressor will be like the $19.99 drills I bought there. Not for daily or continuous work.

[Harold Burrell]

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.

[Cary Falk]

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.

[Rich Engelhardt]

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.