Thread: Settin up my Garage

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I'm looking to upgrade some of my garage equipment. Right now I'm using a 30 year old home made compressor with no pressure regulator. Anybody got any advice on new ones? I'm only a weekend mechanic so I don't need anything crazy but I need to run tools and such. Do I need a 2 stage? Can I use DA type tools with a single stage? Would I need to go to a much more expensive one if I wanted to spray paint as well? I'd like to find some sort of automotive kit with some new air tools and line if it's out there. Sears has one for around $300 or so but I'm assuming I can only use air ratchets and stuff with it. What's a good brand/dealer? I'm also going to pick up a new floor jack and stands. Should I really bother with anything over 3 ton? Anybody lookin to sell? : } I'm reading through some of the threads on the subject but still have some ?s Thanks for any advice. ---Rich

Finished going through all the posts I could find which the subject seemed to have anything to do with compressors. To tell you the truth all I really got out of em is "don't get an oiless one" look at cfm but mostly it was arguments over 110 vs 220. :} I'm looking at this craftsman one. Craftsman Think it'll be enough for me? 6.4 scfm @ 90 psi, 8.6 scfm @ 40 psi. 33 gal tank. It doesn't specify wether it's oiless or not. And again, is 2 1/2 or 3 ton plenty big for floor jacks and stands?

One thing that comes to mind on the compressor is if it's going to be in your work area your better off with a belt driven than a direct drive...... As the noise will be much less...... Look at Lowes or Home Depot you can get a larger one for about the same price

As far as the floor jack the biggest jack I've ever had was 1 1/2 ton and it's done everything I ever had to do so 2/12 or 3 ton should be fine


MM64

www.rgkustoms.com

If you want to to paint work and using the DA much you will need a good size tank .You will proberly need to spend a little more than 300 bucks .Maybe 500-600.I bought a used one that the guy had paid $1300 ,it was 2 years old, I paid $400. It is much more enjoyable if you build a shed behind or beside the garage to house the compressor to cut back on the noise. Sams Club now sells a pretty good jack and jack stands for a very reasonable price. Unless You have a tractor or heavy piece of equipment 2-3 tons should work nicely.Happy Hunting!

I have the 30 gallon 6HP Craftsman, and I like it.

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/produ...id=00916731000

It is not a good choice if you want to run a DA or a die grinder, but everything I use it for, it works well. It is like mentioned above, loud though.

Greg

Originally posted by JerseyRodder
Finished going through all the posts I could find which the subject seemed to have anything to do with compressors. To tell you the truth all I really got out of em is "don't get an oiless one" look at cfm but mostly it was arguments over 110 vs 220. :} ................ And again, is 2 1/2 or 3 ton plenty big for floor jacks and stands?

Having participated in many of the previous posts I'd say you either missed some of the other points made, or didn't see all the posts tech linked for you.

Just to make a fine point you must have missed. Most DA sanders will eat more than 6 cfm, so just the specs alone will tell you that a 6.4 (likely optimistic) compressor won't keep up. You'll be able to sand for a short time, wait for some more, over and over and over................Forget spraying very much HVLP. There are many more caveats in the previous posts that are pertinent.

The compressor you've linked is in fact an oiless, and as mentioned above noisy as all get out. The jack you've inquired is fine, and while a 3 ton jack stand will handle the weight, they're typlically pretty short, making working under the vehicle uncomfortable (not that laying on a cold floor will ever be other than unfortable, it's just a matter of degree). If you want decent working room get at least 6 ton stands, again, less for weight capacity, but rather for safer height capacity.

I'll be doing mostly mechanical work with it. Impact wrench, air ratchet and such. Maybe I'll do away with the DA and sprayer requirement until I can justify the added expense. I saw a couple of DAs say they require 16cfm. Is this realistic or can you get away with less without too much waiting for the tank to fill? I mean that's a really serious compressor. I would like to able to use a cutoff wheel here and there and do minimal die grinding. I would like to do some pocket porting. What do you think the real world cfm requirements for them would be. As long as it's not painting I suppose I can live with some interrupting wait time. I can live with $500-$600 but $1200 and up is too pricey for me. I'm working on buying a new house. Again I appreciate everyone’s input. ---Rich

I've got that same 33 Gallon 6 hp Craftsman compressor. Err... it's ok but IMO not good enough to fit the bill. Noisy as hell and is oil-less which is part the reason why it's so noisy. (Oil-less ones are by nature) Cfm flow is also pathedic and spraying paint is a PITA.

I reccomend going to Home Depot and check out their selection. If you want to run high constant cfm air tools like cutoff wheels, DA's, air files, etc... I definately recommend seering clear of single stage compressors and getting a two stage and at least a 60 gallon tank. The old man's 60 gallon single stage compressor he had for almost 20 years did fine and had lotsa grunt but had a little bit of a tough time keeping up with constant cutoff wheel or DA usage. But by comparison, it really did a great job and we did paint alot of cars and used tons of air tools with it with little or no trouble at all. This is probably more ideal to what you'd be looking for in your usages and probably better in a tighter budget.

With his new 80 gallon two stage compressor, it provides all the air needed and rarely turns on, even when running the nuts outta the cutoff wheel or other similar too. I believe he paid $900 new for it a few years back at Home Depot. This may be a little more extreme than you really need. His new one is a Campus-Housfield (sp?) brand.

As far as brands go, prices usually dictate the quality. You buy cheap, you get cheap. Definately pay attention to the cfm ratings, cheap ones just don't flow.

Floor jacks- lotsa good brands out there. If you have a harbor Freigt tool dealer, they sell great stands and fair jacks at really reasonable prices. Again, you get what you pay for when dealing with floorjacks. I have a Harbor Freight 2.5 Ton and I really don't care for it, but it's not a bad unit. Big difference between the 2.5 and 3T jacks is their lift height too. Most 3T jacks lift just a little bit taller than the 2.5 T jacks and some tend to actually sit lower allowing better clearances under a lowered car. Also the more expensive jacks have less pumps to raise the saddle and less pumping to lift in most cases.

As for the 33 gallon Craftsman compressor, the biggest painting job I have done with it is painting and clearcoating 50 little league football helmets. The compressor ran quite often, but it sprayed them beautifully. Painting a whole car, especially with a HVLP, forget about it.

Also, on the jackstands- I wanted to get some nice ones, but in a "spur of the moment" purchase, I got 4 from Meijer (place like WallyWorld). I opted for the SUV jackstands, as they looked a little beefier, and extend to like 21"; a good three inches or so higher than the "regular" jackstands. At the same time, the minumum height was not too much different. I cant remember the exact specs, but they work fine, and was like $36 for 4 of them (2 for $18). I dont think they would work any better if they were painted shiny red with Craftsman or something on them.

HTH
Greg