What do you use your compressor for?

[merrill77]

Over on this thread, I asked for advice on buying a compressor. Part of me wants to spend a little more than I had originally planned...but based on what I think I would use it for, I'm having a hard time justifying it. Someone said "once you have it, you'll find a lot more uses for it". Sounds great, but too vague to pry open my wallet so far.

So...what do you use your compressor for in the shop?

 

[Gotcha6]

1. Impact wrenches - 3/8", 1/2", & 3/4" drive
2. Ratchets - 1/2" & 3/8"
3. Tire inflation
4. Air drill - 1/4"
5. Spray painting
6. Spark plug cleaner
7. Sandblasting
8. Air/hydraulic jack & cherry picker/engine hoist
9. Cleaning off brake calipers & spindles
10. Cleaning off pen blanks between sandings
11. Cleaning up the shop - but only sparingly & at the end of the day. This stirs up a lotta fine dust that'll need to settle back out.
12. Winterizing pressure washers
13. Messing with fire ants..........:gar-La;
14. Cleaning off the lawnmower deck
15. Air nailers, brad nailer, stapler
16. Air grinder
17. Body panel saw( like a mini sawzall)
18. Random orbital sander
19. Regular orbital sander
20. Air chisel
21. Plasma cutter
22. Air arc cutter

That's about all that come to mind right now.

 

[Robb Parker]

Guess that depends on what "you" intend for the compressor. In my shop we use it for many of my Stationary tools ie, hinge borer, line borer, edgebander etc. I also sand with dyna brade and 3M ROS air driven 10000+ rpm smooth! running. I also run Sata hvlp spray guns and a spray booth. With what I run I needed no less than 19cfm and more the better. Settled on 2-stage 5hp 80 gal compressor rated 26 cfm.
If you intend to grow the shop you'll probably outgrow a small compressor quickly. If you intend to spray finishes, that and air driven tools will be your biggest cfm eaters.
Robb

 

[bob vaughan]

A better question may be whether or not someone has found having compressed air available somewhat useless and/or a waste of money for the equipment. While with the equipment, you'll get what you pay for, the concept of having compressed air available to the shop is pretty much accepted as a norm these days.

Dennis pegged it: a power supply and a cleaning device.

Inflating tires and kid's toys are handy domestic uses, but not often needed like blowing the sawdust out of a joint to get the best glue adhesion.

 

[scsmith42]

1. Impact wrenches - 3/8", 1/2", & 3/4" drive
2. Ratchets - 1/2" & 3/8"
3. Tire inflation
4. Air drill - 1/4"
5. Spray painting
6. Spark plug cleaner
7. Sandblasting
8. Air/hydraulic jack & cherry picker/engine hoist
9. Cleaning off brake calipers & spindles
10. Cleaning off pen blanks between sandings
11. Cleaning up the shop - but only sparingly & at the end of the day. This stirs up a lotta fine dust that'll need to settle back out.
12. Winterizing pressure washers
13. Messing with fire ants..........:gar-La;
14. Cleaning off the lawnmower deck
15. Air nailers, brad nailer, stapler
16. Air grinder
17. Body panel saw( like a mini sawzall)
18. Random orbital sander
19. Regular orbital sander
20. Air chisel

That's about all that come to mind right now.

Most of the above (excluding #17 and #10)
plus the following:

21: Air supply for plasma torch
22: Air supply for carbon arc torch
23: Blowing off the vertical mill
24: Blowing off the metal lathe
25: Blowing off the drill press
26: Airing up the Doc's horse accessories (exercise ball).
27: Airing up the pressure cylinder in the hay baler
28: Blowing out debris from small tubes (mud dauber nests).
29: Blowing dry firearms after cleaning in the solvent bin
30: Blowing off any part after cleaning in the solvent bin
31: Air supply for the glass bead blasting cabinet
32: Combined with a vacume cleaner - air pressure for the annual gas furnace cleaning
33: Dismantling stuck pistons from brake calipers (pressure forces the piston out).
34: Blowing the sawdust, etc off of the stationary shop equipment
35: Forced air to help start the wood stove in the winter (green or wet wood)
36: Blowing the water out of the garden hoses in winter
37: Seating the bead on new tires (on the tire changer)
38: Operating an air drill (3/8" and 1/2")
39: Keeping over 169 tires aired up on the farm (tractors, equipment, farm implements, motorcycles, vehicles, 4-wheelers, trailers, dolly's, wheelbarrows. Yes, this number is real and I know that I've missed a few...)
40: Air over hydraulic press
41: Air supply for the egg washer (farm organic egg business)
42: Air impact drivers (3/8", 1/2", and 3/4" drive)
43: Air screwdriver for replacing shelix head inserts on the jointer/planer
44: Hand held air belt sander (3/8" wide belt)
45: Die grinders (4)
46: Air grease gun for adjusting feed belt on an elevating scraper
47: Filling air tank for mobile air supply
48: Blowing the fine sanding dust off of boards before finishing\
49: Blowing gunk out of cooling fins on small engines (chainsaws, pumps, weedeaters, etc)

As Dennis stated... "That's about all that come(s) to mind right now.

 

[Gotcha6]

I got one use I'll be nobody's had to do here before...
Before it got cold I decided I needed two drain outlets in my above ground pool. Knowing this would be hazardous with an electric or cordless drill, I used the air drill to cut the holes in the steel liner from the inside. A few more details are involved & I'll start another thread if anyone wants to know how. Not meaning to capture the thread, but I couldn't have done it without it.

 

[JimmyC]

Honestly, I was looking for a larger a/c and realized that my 30 gal. 7.5cfm does everything that I need to do at this point in my life. Which includes air piping to machines, @ 50psi., to blow them clean, running air nailers in the shop, filling tires and running a small sand blaster. I could probably use more for the sandblaster, but for the amount of work that I do with it I can easily give it time to cycle more air.

The 30gal. that I have is an old commercial model taht I bought for $600 about twenty years ago and it still works like a top.

 

[Tar Heel]

Blowing saw/sanding dust off me before going in the house. The wife is most appreciative.

 

[JimmyC]

Blowing saw/sanding dust off me before going in the house. The wife is most appreciative.

:icon_thum I have to agree that this probably is the best reason to own an a/c because as we all know:

"Happy wife, happy life" :gar-La;

 

[Travis Porter]

Air supply for wide belt sander
impact wrenches
air ratchet
Pumping up tires, etc
blowing stuff off including myself
pneumatic nailers and staplers
HVLP conversion sprayer and conventional sprayer
I do some pneumatic sanding, but not a lot. I don't do this one much as my compressor is a single stage and can't keep up with the demands of a sander, plus the noise of the compressor is something I don't care to hear.

 

[Bigdog72]

Nailers
Staplers
Cleaning
Airing tires

 

[Sweetgum]

Blowing up gloves for the kids.:gar-La;

 

[Trent Mason]

Nailers, cleaning off sawdust, inflating tires. Man, I never knew there could be so many uses for this thing. I need to get some more toys....... :eusa_thin

 

[eyekode]

I saw mentioned a couple times blowing off brake assemblies/parts. Sure it is fine for unsticking a caliper piston but it is not recommended for cleaning breaks in general. That dust is not nice stuff and you don't want to kick it up!