Roger, Andy, Fellow listers
I have to agree with the statement on SCFM at pressure, HP ratings are
meaningless.
My compressor is rated at 12 SCFM (at) 100 psi and is very marginal for sand
blasting (I admit I have a large blast cabinet but the small ones just
aren't worth the effort). Buy the highest SCFM rating you can afford.
Someone had previously commented on small portable air compressors vs large
stationary compressors and sounded like they preferred the small ones.
Having owned both types I have found that a stationary one is more
conveinient. The portable ones always seem to be in the way and you must
have an electrical outlet near were you want to use them. With a stationary
air compressor you can locate it out of the way and it is cheap and easy to
run a hard line around your shop with quick disconnects every 10 feet so
that air is always available where you need it. If you need to do
sandblasting out behind the shop, air hoses are very affordable way to
extend your reach.
Just my opinion.
Bob
> ----------
> From: Roger Gibbs[SMTP:rgibbs(at)pacbell.net]
> Reply To: Roger Gibbs
> Sent: Thursday, January 21, 1999 12:08 PM
> To: Andy Boetticher
> Cc: Alpines
> Subject: Re: Non Alpine Related - Air Compressors
>
> Andy,
>
> A few suggesstions:
>
> 1. The one important spec is air flow at a specific pressure (OK, that's
> TWO spec's in
> one). Mine reads 5.8 scfm (at) 90 psi. Ignore the hp ratings, they are very
> nearly
> meaningless on most air compressors.
>
> 2. "Oil-less" a/c are quite noisy and will not last nearly as long as a
> more
> conventional iron compressor with oil bath. But they do produce more cfm
> for a given
> purchase price and they are easily and inexpensively rebuilt. Me ? I
> don't like the
> noise.
>
> 3. Determine your needs for air flow. I would rate common tools as
> follows:
>
> Impact wrenchs: low air flow requirements. They don't draw all that much
> air and you
> don't use them continuously. Include butterfly and ratchet impact wrenchs
> in this
> category.
>
> Air chisels: same as above
>
> Paint guns, depends on the model, use moderate to large air flow. Unlike
> wrenchs these
> tend to get used for longer continuous time periods.
>
> Die grinders, air sanders: use moderate to large air flow rates.
> Sometimes the
> application is for a quick use, sometimes for a longer period.
>
> Sand blasters: use a LOT of air. Even the small ones. If the job is
> small you can wait
> for the compressor to catch up. If not, this gets frustrating quickly.
> Also, using a
> small compressor for blasting means that the compressor heats up , this
> means more
> moisture in the air and you don't want wet blasting media.
>
> I hope this helps, it is a very useful addition to a shop.
>
> -Roger
>
>
>
> Andy Boetticher wrote:
> >
> > As the Alpine project progresses, its becoming more and more
> > apparent that the home shop is in need of an air compressor.
> > >From what I've been able to figure out, the critical specs are
> > HP, volume, pressure, and flow. I was wondering if there are any
> > recommendations out there as to what a good combination of the
> > four would be and/or specific models that would be worth looking
> > at. I'm looking for a decent unit that can handle most hand held
> > pneumatic tools (and possibly a small sand blasting setup) but
> > won't deplete the Alpine budget in the process.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > Andy Boetticher
> > Series IV
>
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