Compressor advice

[freeridenick]

Anyone use a compressor and air tools? If so do you rate them and what would you recommend re tank size and quality.

The bike's in serious need of a paint job so I'm thinking of investing in a compressor rather than using rattle cans. The initial outlay will be more but I'm trying to work out if there are other benefits (not just a better paint job) to off-set.

[mike.kir]

I had a need to buy one for sanding and painting some stuff around the house like fence, scratches on car, bike parts. I went trough some opinions online but they just said stuff like "you want to paint a fence? you have to buy a compressor for loads of $$$, you need 400l/min, everything cheaper is crap".. So I decided to buy something that should be good because of brand and in my budget. I went for Metabo 350-100 D. It wasn't very cheap but it works for me. You can check specs online. It gives me 30sec of constant sanding @7bar then 35sec of waiting. During painting @2bar with some generic air pistol (not HVLP) it gives you sufficient time to paint bigger elements before it will start to pump.

[Varastorm]

I bought a Lidl Parkside PKO 400 A1

http://www.lidl-service.com/static/9090166/64577_EN.pdf

Must of had it about 6 years now. No problems at all.

This is my setup & some of the tools It runs.

Sealey Air Die Grinder 90° Angle GSA674. (Porting/polishing heads & other hard to reach areas)

Sealey SA70 Air Orbital Sander. (Still have the old sash windows..)

Ingersoll Rand 1/2" impact gun. 1/4" drive butterfly gun. 1/4" drill. Air chisel. (Wheel nuts/strip downs/ removing concrete lintels etc.)

Old Sealey needle gun. (Rust removal from the gates)

Usual tyre inflator & air gun bits.

I do have paint spray guns but never painted with it as I don't run a water separator.

The compressor itself is large & heavy so it lives under the bench in the shed.

I use 5 lengths of Silverline 10m air hose joined with bits of 4" Copper micro bore & jubilee clips. This allows me to use it all around the house & reach cars/bikes to inflate tyres etc.

I would recommend using new Sealey tools as a minimum, they're cheap & use quality bearings.

I have some old used tools, but tbh high quality but worn out big brands might struggle (car boot sale finds..)

[Wicky]

Yes - very handy for blowing up things!; balloons, frogs, tyres (pushbike and MC) & brake pistons etc.

Also useful for cleaning out fag ash from 'puter keyboards. Plus air powered dremel type tools + spray painting.

My Airmaster 4EPA (240v 110psi) must be at least 25 years old and still chunders away like a good 'un. (Must check oil one day...)



So good to have but be careful what you buy (see sellers description here > http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Clarke-air-co ... rmvSB=true

[Varastorm]

(Must check oil one day...)

I also was thinking the same thing whilst typing mine out too Wicky

[hallie]

You are going to need a 3hp or bigger machine with a high cfm rating, ideally 12cfm or higher. And also a gun to match the cfm rating. If you are using tools and paint I would advise having a set of hoses for each. As you don't want your paint contaminated with oil from the tools

[freeridenick]

Cheers for the advice.

Time for some research and trawling ebay, looks like it's going to be more expensive than I thought though.

[hallie]

This might be in your budget

http://www.screwfix.com/p/scheppach-hc1 ... _container

[bigtwinthing]

buy at least a 15cfm one with a 50litre tank. Also make sure you have one with an oil sump. Machine Mart are good. Or Halfords when they have offers with a 5 yr guarantee.

[mike.kir]

C'mon guys.. 15cmf is great but it is surely not necessary for painting stuff around the household. Mine metabo has effective delivery of 7.8cmf at 80% pressure. It is just a matter of using the right tools and knowing the limitations. I know that I can't use HVLP paint gun with mine but I can use HP gun. Similarly I won't be able to work continuously on 50m of hose with some more air demanding tools but I don't do it for living so it's o.k. Btw the Lidl one has 5.6cmf