Anyone made their own "portable CO2" setup for nailers etc?

[David Epperson]

For one man, small jobs (like pin or finish nailing molding trim around a room) I've often wondered if a little Automobile tire inflating compressor might not do the trick.
like this
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...80&marketID=15

Somewhere on this near infinite web I once saw a DIY portable compressor made from 2 small Harbor Freight inflator compressors, a section of PVC pipe for a tank, all mounted on a re-purposed 18v Flashlight body (the kind that will share the battery for the matching drill). IIRC the guy also had a pressure cutoff switch installed on it. It was cute, in a nifty utilitarian sort of way.

[Josh Reet]

While there are lots of good suggestions and comments, it isn't looking like anyone has actually gone the DIY route themselves. So perhaps I will brainstorm a bit here.

This is the cheapest regulator I can find (assuming you buy it at it's $25 sale price):

http://www.harborfreight.com/regulator-gauge-94841.html

It's a bit overkill for the application with both pressure and flow gauges, so if anyone can find a cheaper single gauge regulator, I'd love to hear about it.

Here's a 20oz paintball tank:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B0020L39Z0

Than I'm assuming I would need an adapter for the regulator to the tank. I may be wrong, but I don't know offhand what the thread pitch and size are of either paintball co2 tanks or that regulator. There has to be a cheaper version out there, but I did find this on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B000VEQZ3G

I think you'd bust that apart and connect the tank adapter to the regulator and then use the hose from the reg to your nailgun.

So with tank, you'd be up around $65, which is a little high for DIY when you consider that the Kobalt is $90 (or $80 with a 10% coupon or even $50 if they make it a black friday deal like they did last year). But then again, if you could find a cheaper reg and didn't actually need the tank adapter, you'd be down closer to $35-40, which is a pretty good deal in my book. Especially considering that the Kobalt kits I have seen come with a 9oz tank and you'd have a 20oz one if you did it DIY.

Just brainstorming though.....

[Ryan Baker]

Sure, you could easily set up a DIY rig. As you noted, getting the fitting to connect to the tank is the hardest part. If you go to the paintball suppliers online you will find much better prices for parts than with the commercial systems. Those tank extensions could be handy if you can figure out a way to connect one to your regulator. Just make sure your regulator can handle the tank presusre. The CO2 tanks are a lot higher pressure than you get out of a typical compressor.

I have the Kobalt system (I got mine on a special price closer to $50). They work well and are very handy for certain jobs. If you remove the regulator from the tank when not in use, you shouldn't have any problem with the tank leaking down. Note that you should pick up extra tank o-rings from a paintball supplier. The CO2 freezes the o-rings and makes them tend to split when removing the tank. Once the ring splits, you will just leak all the CO2.

I also have a mini-compressor that is also great for those little jobs when you don't want to drag around the big compressor. Mine is a rebranded version of the little Senco mentioned. You can regularly get it for under $90. It is very quiet when running, and keeps up just fine with small nailers if you aren't trying to shoot too rapid-fire.

[Karl Brogger]

Wow. Way too complicated.

Buy more hose.

[Scott T Smith]

The air tanks I have seen do not come with a regulator. So yes, you would probably need to add one. However, I'm just speculating here. So if Scott or anyone has used a tank to run a nailer, perhaps they will chime in.

If you do need to add a regulator, then you've probably run the price up to more than what a DIY CO2 solution would probably cost. Though of course you wouldn't have to deal with filling CO2 tanks.

I have used a tank to run a nailer; I have a couple of portable tanks that I use here on the farm. The nice thing about them is that they are multi-purpose; I can use them to air up a tire or as a remote air source (limited CFM though).

If I only need to shoot a few nails, I'll fill the tank up with regulated pressure (typically 90 psi), so it self regulates.

If I'm using the framing nailer, I'll put more pressure in the tank (around 125 or so), and use a regulator on the output. I have an old Sears regulator that I use; (also use it as a remote for paint guns), it has a female quick coupler on one side and a male on the other.

[Josh Reet]

Wow. Way too complicated.

Buy more hose.

Complicated? Ah yes, as opposed to every woodworking project on the site. You can buy chairs at the store you know!

Besides, the hose I would need would cost the same amount, and be far more annoying to deal with.

[Josh Reet]

Sure, you could easily set up a DIY rig. As you noted, getting the fitting to connect to the tank is the hardest part. If you go to the paintball suppliers online you will find much better prices for parts than with the commercial systems. Those tank extensions could be handy if you can figure out a way to connect one to your regulator. Just make sure your regulator can handle the tank presusre. The CO2 tanks are a lot higher pressure than you get out of a typical compressor.

For whatever it's worth, that reg I linked to is a CO2 reg for homebrew kegs or MIG welding. So in theory, it should be fine. If you trust HF stuff that is.

[Wayne Morley]

This is another option. It's not DIY, but the cost is more in line.

Link at Northern Tool and Equipment

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I've been using a small tank I paid about $25 for 15 years ago. I've never bothered with a regulator for it and my Bostitch framing and finish nailers work fine. I also use it for filling tires so I don't have to get the vehicle to the compressor or vice versa.

[Rich Engelhardt]

I have and use an aux tank.
It's one of the reasons I bought the little portable compressor & nixed the CO2 idea.

It always seemed I was just shy of finishing something when the tank ran out.
I could see the same thing happening all over again w/the CO2 setup.

Edit to add:
There was a similar topic here @ SMC a while ago. Someone was asking about refilling the CO2 tanks by using their compressor.
The was a bit of discussion about the pressures involved.

I'm not so sure I'd trust a home brew valve at the pressures the CO2 tanks use.

That was another reason I nixed the CO2 idea.

[Curt Harms]

The air tanks I have seen do not come with a regulator. So yes, you would probably need to add one. However, I'm just speculating here. So if Scott or anyone has used a tank to run a nailer, perhaps they will chime in.

If you do need to add a regulator, then you've probably run the price up to more than what a DIY CO2 solution would probably cost. Though of course you wouldn't have to deal with filling CO2 tanks.

I used a 5 gal. air tank to run a brad nailer and narrow crown stapler. I didn't have a regulator, just kept the pressure in the tank 80-90 psi. I could drive 15-20 brads or staples before the pressure dropped significantly. I had a tire inflater like Cliff referred to and had it plumbed into the tank with a pressure switch. Talk about LOUD!!! and took a long time to pressurize the tank from empty. It did work, however. Right now I'm using a little Sears compressor for portable use, had a gift card. It weights 37 lbs., is oil lubed though direct drive so not too bad for noisy. It's adequate for nail guns and inflating tires. I doubt it'd work with air tools like impact guns though. I did try it with a PSH1 HVLP conversion gun just to see. It would maintain pressure with the gun trigger held open but did not shut off. I guess it'd work to spray small items where I'm only spraying for a few seconds at a time.
aircompressor.jpg

[Dave Wagner]

I just use an 8 gallon portable air tank, fill to about 80-90#'s, it will drive my finish nailer and/or stapler for quite a while doing trim around the house....

[rick carpenter]

Can anyone provide "recipes" for both a DIY CO2 setup and a small aux tank setup please? I do disaster relief work and sometimes the power will be out or waaaaay far away yet I need the oomph and ease of air nailers. Interesting about CO2 canisters discharging, I wonder if there's a way to keep them in a semi-sealed cooler for longest term storage.

An expensive alternative is the new cordless Senco unit that re-uses nitrogen, it's like $beaucoup though.

[Eric DeSilva]

Can anyone provide "recipes" for both a DIY CO2 setup and a small aux tank setup please? I do disaster relief work and sometimes the power will be out or waaaaay far away yet I need the oomph and ease of air nailers. Interesting about CO2 canisters discharging, I wonder if there's a way to keep them in a semi-sealed cooler for longest term storage.

An expensive alternative is the new cordless Senco unit that re-uses nitrogen, it's like $beaucoup though.

I use a small C02 system--actually a Jacpac, I think. If you were talking large volumes/high use, the thing to do might be to small commercial tank that you could use to refill smaller cannisters. No leakage issue there. The nice thing about C02 versus air is that C02 is a heckuva lot more compressable, and therefore you can have a smaller tank of C02 drive way more nails than a similar air tank.

If you are doing relief work, you might see if you can get Jacpac or Kobalt to donate some... Seems like good press.

[Josh Reet]

Can anyone provide "recipes" for both a DIY CO2 setup and a small aux tank setup please? I do disaster relief work and sometimes the power will be out or waaaaay far away yet I need the oomph and ease of air nailers. Interesting about CO2 canisters discharging, I wonder if there's a way to keep them in a semi-sealed cooler for longest term storage.

An expensive alternative is the new cordless Senco unit that re-uses nitrogen, it's like $beaucoup though.

I agree with Erik. See if you can get Kobalt to flow you one for your work.

That having been said, I posted what would be a theoretical "recipe" for a CO2 version above. The "aux tank" solution just involves buying a tank, switching the "tire fill" fitting for a female NPT and then getting a male to male hose for filling the tank from a compressor.