Air tools - Are they worth it for the DIYer?

[MrT8064]

I'm considering getting an entry level air compressor and tool set. I'm wondering how many people think air tools are worth it.

I'd want to use an impact wrench for occasional bolt removal.

A spray gun for a couple of bumper resprays (are they better/cheaper than rattle cans?)

A tyre inflator - for the obvious

Then I like the appeal of adding things like sanders, angle grinders, sand blasters and drills at a later stage.

[Andy325i]

If you have the space and will get the use out of it then go for it Been thinking of getting a sand/shot blaster

One thing I would check is parts availability for said compressor before purchase

[gooner1]

Depends on how often you are going to use it, I would have thought.
Can definitely see the appeal.

[harry_p]

Just be aware that air tools use a LOT of air, most smaller compressors aren't going to be happy running sanders and grinders for long periods, but should be ok for occasional use.

The paints and lacquers you can use with a proper gun are a vast improvement over aerosols.

[maxfield]

Cheap air tools are useless. I have a sealey air gun, and struggles with most wheel bolts, and they are over £200 new. And that's being run on a massive compressor.

As Harry says to run grinders/da sanders. You need something with Atleast a 150ltr tank otherwise you will run out of air very quickly.

[MrT8064]

Hmm well I was looking at small compressors, so if it won't be up to the job perhaps i'd start looking on ebay for second hand units.

As for 'cheap tools' if a £200 one is rubbish I hate to imagine what a £40 one would be like!

Are paints for an air gun much cheaper as well as better? - can they be used with a feeble compressor?

[maxfield]

You paint at fairly low pressures.

It's cheaper to paint things with rattle cans but the finish is nowhere near as good. As when will need to buy thinners and hardeners etc too. Paint does go a lot further.

[harry_p]

you should be ok for small parts with a moderate paint gun, but they'll struggle to do a full sweep of the side of a vehicle for example. Paints arent cheaper as such, but you tend to get more coverage for the money and a decent thickness of paint.

I have a £40 machine mart airgun, it just about copes with a correctly torqued wheel nut, but wont do a siezed one. most big bolts i still crack with a breaker bar, but the gun is still handy for buzzing them off once theyre loose, especially where you cant get much of a swing on a ratchet. Great on driveshaft bolts and the like too.

Don't be too put off, you can still build a collection, then upgrade the compressor at a later date. air powered sheet metal nibblers and cut off tool are worth their weight in gold and a moderate compressor should cope with them with ease.

I was planning on getting a random orbit sander, but have heard they guzzle air and dont think my 3hp 50 litre compressor would cope.

[Topblag]

I'm running a small fleet of E30s and got a 50 litre compressor at Xmas. Very handy for tyre inflations, super handy for the rattle gun, especially on suspension components and getting the top nut off a damper without spinning it and also handy for brake caliper mounts etc.

Great for liquid blasting things clean with TFR and lots of other applications. Next use will be with Schultz gun to do underseal.

One of the best things in the garage.

[bab-91]

I got a cordless impact gun. It's excellent, So id recommend one like it and you don't need to take up space with a air compressor.


tyre inflation - do it at tesco's.

[Grrrmachine]

150 quid is nowhere near enough to get started with air tools. I went down this path a few years back, and I'd say you need at least 500 for the most basic setup.

Let's say you want a gun. You don't HAVE to spend 200 on Devilbiss gear, but you don't want Tingtang chinese crap either. A decent Sealey Gold HVLP gun will be in the 30-50 quid bracket.

Then you need air lines - not your plastic cheap rubbish that kinks and splits - you need proper rubber for the job with fittings to match. 1/4" pipe isn't up to the job, so you need 1/2" fittings - 50 quids' worth at least.

Then you need filters. A water trap on the pistol is a must, but you'll need micron-level filters on the compressor to keep out oil, dust and moisture from the air lines, otherwise your paint job will be ruined. Factor in 100 quid for two of those; I use 20 and 0.1 micron filters.

If you value your life, you'll need a paint mask. A full face 3M mask with charcoal filters will be around 30 quid, and you'll need a stock of filters for every time you use it, so 50 for that.

You're now 250 quid in the hole and you haven't even bought a compressor yet, let alone any paint supplies. And if you're not going to wire your garage for 3-phase power, the absolute max power you're going to get from a compressor is 4hp. Looking for 4hp compressor with a 100l or more tank will set you back at least 200 quid second hand, plus delivery or fuel to pick it up (and you will need mates to pick it up, a compressor is a heavy beast.)

So you really have to factor in if you're going to get that much use out of it, or whether it will sit in the corner gathering dust. Mine was awesome for my bare-metal resto, but I don't even bother unpacking the rattle gun when I want to change wheel nuts.

[Andy325i]

EFA

I'm running a small fleet of E30s and got a 50 litre compressor at Xmas. Very handy for tyre inflations, super handy for the rattle gun, especially on suspension components and getting the top nut off a damper without spinning it and also handy for brake caliper mounts etc.

Great for liquid blasting things clean with TFR and lots of other applications. Next use will be with Schultz gun to do WAXOYL.

One of the best things in the garage.

[gooner1]

I got a cordless impact gun. It's excellent, So id recommend one like it and you don't need to take up space with a air compressor.


tyre inflation - do it at tesco's.

At 20P per time, are you insane?

[Topblag]

I got a cordless impact gun. It's excellent, So id recommend one like it and you don't need to take up space with a air compressor.


tyre inflation - do it at tesco's.

At 20P per time, are you insane?

Also, when you find your E30 has a flat tyre at home, 20p tesco option isn't a whole lot of help.

[harry_p]

i fit my own tyres. tesco might not like me seating the beads in their petrol station

[bab-91]

What a bunch of insufferable Coonts you lot are.

[Fastroad]

Take the wheel off and roll it to tesco and how often are those tyres going flat? If too often means you got a puncher, so go buy a tyre or maybe the wrong size, still go buy a new one. If you like pumping up the tyre and want a home option best stick to the £5 foot pump

[Topblag]

Take the wheel off and roll it to tesco and how often are those tyres going flat? If too often means you got a puncher, so go buy a tyre or maybe the wrong size, still go buy a new one. If you like pumping up the tyre and want a home option best stick to the £5 foot pump

Man, thanks for that, that's where I've been going wrong all this time....

Foot pump my arse, this is 2013.

[gooner1]

I find Sainsbury's air keeps the tyre inflated much longer, and you
meet a much nicer class of wheel pusher.

[MrT8064]

Waitrose does free air!
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Thanks so much for the responses though, It sounds like I should save up a bit and buy a big compressor rather than something which will only do tyres.

Is there a minimum spec for something that will power air tools well? Like tank capacity, pressure, bhp etc etc?

[Topblag]

all air tools will specify the operating pressures required, and compressors list the outputs so it's easy to get the right tools and the right compressor.

I'm running a sealey rattle gun, cost about £40 and is used occassionally. I think the trick is to make sure the air tools are properly lubricated.

[MrT8064]

Ahh I see, well thats encouraging then!

Just out of interest, I take it you can't dial in a torque setting to a £40 rattle gun. Do you use it for doing nuts up again or only removing? I'd be worried about stripping anything I tried to tighten!

[Grrrmachine]

The most important rating for air tools is CFM - the Free Air Consumption. This is a measurement of how much air flow the unit requires or provides per minute.

The trouble is, compressor manufacturers overrate their machines to sell them, and tool manufacturers underrate theirs for the same reason. So a cheap compressor claiming 14 CFM might be telling the truth in the sense that that's what comes out of the actual pump, but what you get at the nozzle will be a lot more like 10-11 CFM. Correspondingly an orbital sander or air gun may "only" claim 7 CFM, but that will be if it's in perfect condition and plugged directly to the compressor with no filters or even hoses to impede the airflow - 10 CFM, or even 20, will be a much more likely requirement. It's an industry mired in bullshit, which is what makes the cheap tools so cheap.

My rattle gun is a Stanley unit that cost about 50 quid (can't remember now). It has four torque settings, with setting 1 stopping the gun at the slightest resistance from the bolt. Even setting 4 isn't really strong enough to undo wheel bolts if I've tightened them with my half-metre breaker bar.

[bab-91]

I find Sainsbury's air keeps the tyre inflated much longer, and you
meet a much nicer class of wheel pusher.

I believe it's free range air as well.

[MrT8064]

Thats very helpful Grrrmachine! So basically I want a compressor thats easily powerful enough. Does the CFM number generally relate to tank capacity or power of the engine/motor? - or both?

Well I like the idea of zapping in wheel nuts quickly then using a torque wrench to get them correct. So it's nice to know they don't just work for undoing.

[harry_p]

you usually get three ratings, a max working pressure, a cfm, and a tank capacity

the cfm is the amount of air flow it can produce (cubic feet per minute) the pressure is the pressure in the tank, and that the compressor can provide, and the tank capacity is how much air it can store.

and theyre all kind of interlinked.

there's no point having a massive tank, and a compressor rated to 12bar if it'll only flow 1cfm as the tank will drain quicker than the motor can top it up.

likewise, there's no point having a massive flow figure but a tiny tank.

the pressure will affect how much air the compressor can 'squash' into the tank. most tools only run at 6 bar (ish) but a 50litre tank compressed to 10bar will physically contain more air than one the same size at 8bar, so will give a longer flow before the compressor needs to kick in again.

generally though, the bigger the numbers, the better!

When i was looking, i was also advised that belt driven units were quieter, run cooler are more reliable and easier to maintain because the belt itself provides some isolation between motor and pump, compared to direct drive which have the pump bolted striaght to the end of the motor.

I bought mine brand new for around £400, and it's been great with everything i've used it for, but going in with fresh eyes i think i'd be looking at good condition secondhand first.

Also worth checking what power supply you need. I kind of blundered into mine, then realised i needed a 16amp supply to power it

[Topblag]

Ahh I see, well thats encouraging then!

Just out of interest, I take it you can't dial in a torque setting to a £40 rattle gun. Do you use it for doing nuts up again or only removing? I'd be worried about stripping anything I tried to tighten!

Most nuts it'll take off first time. Usual principles apply for rusty ones or ones that are likely to seize (WD40, hot spanner etc.).

If the rattle gun struggles, get the breaker bar out to crack it loose then rattle the rest. For replacing them, I put them on by hand until I'm sure they are properly seated then on with the rattle gun.

My device does not have torque settings, use the torque wrench after they are seated to get them spot on.