Air compressors and attachments

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I bought what I thought was a higher quality Kobalt air impact wrench rated 750 lb.-ft. torque. It's not. it's about actual 120 lb.-ft. same as the '250' lb.-ft. rated basic HF units. But better than the actual 90 lb.-ft. that you get out of the '230' lb.-ft. rated units... which usually won't even break car lug nuts loose...
 
I'm going to use my air compressor, with the brad nailer tool, for the first time today. I'll let you all know how it goes.
 
I'm going to use my air compressor, with the brad nailer tool, for the first time today. I'll let you all know how it goes.

You'll prolly like that... but need to adjust supplied air pressure to get nails driven in the desired amount...

Someone must have knocked over a DeWalt truck a few years ago as all the Democrat junkies around here were offering brand new $180 DeWalt finishing nailers for $30 !!!
https://www.dewalt.com/products/pow...nailers/16-gauge-1--212-finish-nailer/d51257k
 
@BuzzLOL Don't say the Dems never did anything to lower your cost of living!
 
I'm not going to help derail another thread. I'll send a private message to you, @BuzzLOL.

My compressor and nailer worked great, once I removed the wrong-sized brads a previous owner had apparently gotten jammed in the magazine. I'm really excited to have this new "toy"!
 
I lived without air tools for most of my life while wrenching on the car, truck...motorcycle. Then, last year, I felt my age when laying on cardboard over concrete floor.

I bought a deWalt pancake compressor and it was pretty nice and gave me a chance to learn its limits. Then I picked up nailers, grinders and such at an estate sale which revealed the deficiencies of the deWalt.

Now I am deciding between a Harbor Freight and a Kobalt vertical intermediate unit which will supply 9 cfm in the 120 ft lb range. That should work well for basic home jobs, auto as well as the CNC plasma cutter I have in the plans. The pancake still is great due to its portability for smaller chores

I was thrilled to finally operate the nailer for the first time a couple months back. The fun project only took a fraction of the time I would have spent had I used hand tools.

so, all that just to echo what the others have suggested, buy the compressor *after* you’ve identified the tools you are going to power.
 

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That little squirrel picnic table is exactly what my wife wants me to build and install on one of the large maples in our back yard!
so, all that just to echo what the others have suggested, buy the compressor *after* you’ve identified the tools you are going to power.
My compressor came with three tools, and I already knew one of them (the finishing nailer) was what I needed for the project at hand, so the whole decision kind of got made at once.
 
I was a bit apprehensive since the only thing I knew about air nailers was from a scene
in Lethal Weapons where Danny Glover shot a bad guy through the head. I didn't know
how to load it and fumbled around a bit. I am now proficient in LOADING brads, nails,
and staples and walk with a swagger.

this is what I got from the estate sale. I was particularly thrilled to learn what a palm nailer
was. that is SWEET ! I feel like rip van winkle waking up and learning about the new tools
out there.
 

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One problem I have with tools is where do I store them? I might add that I am not good on organization in my garage. But one of the most rewarding things is being able to have the right tool to build or repair something for your soul mate (as a side benefit it justifies your purchase).

I essentially had one significant tool, a 9" radial arm saw. With that saw and a few other tools I built us a 2400 ft² house over a period of three years enabling us to live our lives debt free.
 
One problem I have with tools is where do I store them? I might add that I am not good on organization in my garage. But one of the most rewarding things is being able to have the right tool to build or repair something for your soul mate (as a side benefit it justifies your purchase).

I essentially had one significant tool, a 9" radial arm saw. With that saw and a few other tools I built us a 2400 ft² house over a period of three years enabling us to live our lives debt free.

Guess you should have built a bit bigger garage/man cave... currently my old Monkey Wards 10" radial arm saw resides in my kitchen... a benefit of being a bachelor now... LOL!
My 2 ton engine cherry picker is in the garage but I want to swap it for a folding one for more room...
 
A friend of mine bought the Wards 10" i twas noisy due to gearing but had an incredible depth of cut (useful in resawing)..
 
A friend of mine bought the Wards 10" i twas noisy due to gearing but had an incredible depth of cut (useful in resawing)..

Yeah, my Dad had the 10" Sears but I noticed the Wards did the deeper cuts I planned on doing... Wards has a universal motor with brushes but they haven't worn out yet. Has a 22,000 RPMs spindle for router cuts. I've had it 40 - 50 years... can't remember just when I got it...
 
Oil questions!

I don't have any oil specifically labeled for air tools. Are there any other types of oil that are OK? I have a bottle of machine oil; will that work or is it too heavy? Is it a big deal if I use an "acceptable but not ideal" kind of oil once or twice and then switch to air tool oil later once I've bought some?
 
Oil questions!

I don't have any oil specifically labeled for air tools. Are there any other types of oil that are OK? I have a bottle of machine oil; will that work or is it too heavy? Is it a big deal if I use an "acceptable but not ideal" kind of oil once or twice and then switch to air tool oil later once I've bought some?
As far as I know, air tool oil is mineral based, and better for the seals in your air tools than petroleum based oil. An 8 oz. bottle is less than 5 bucks and will last a long time.
 
@NeilG Yup, I plan to pick some up, just don't often get the chance to do ad hoc hardware store runs on account of work/kids/etc. Was trying to see if a few drops of machine oil will get me by temporarily without actively being bad.
 
I've always used whatever oil I had lying around... usually a few drops of 10W-30 motor oil...

In the vehicles, Walmart now has 'full synthetic' motor oil for only $1 more for a 5 quart container than conventional oil so switching to synthetic since it's supposed to cause much less sludge build up inside the engine. (it used to be priced 3 - 5 times higher) Also supposed to be slipperier. But conventional oil is to be used for engine first breakin.

Most demanding thing I've seen is British cars used to, maybe still do, use LMA brake fluid. Using American DOT 3 brake fluid will kill all the seals in the braking system within about 2 weeks. Don't ask how I know that...
 
Well, I'm glad to see that.you guys kept this thread alive and well in my absence. I still haven't bought an air compressor. I do have a nail gun that came a couple of days ago, so now I need to get the compressor. These past 18ish months have been difficult and not because of covid. My mom has been in the ICU twice and was on the vent a few days this last time, then in a nursing home for rehab for 7 weeks.... and my body is falling apart, bit I am damn determined to do some of the things I want to do on days that I can and an air compressor would help with that. I dont need it urgently (obviously) but I don't need it for quite as many reasons. I painted the inside of most of my house including ceilings, while she was in rehab.
So... my question now, and it is a dumb question, what type of nail gun would I need to hang new t1-11 siding. It's not a project I am doing currently and I hope that I can. But I'd like to know how best to prepare for it and that project would be the biggest project that I would use it for. The house is 28x50, single story ranch.
Also... appt in April to hopefully get to the root of whatever is wrong with me, but i refuse to give up whatever it is.
 
What kind of nailer did you buy? A framing nailer would be appropriate for hanging plywood siding.
 
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