Who Makes a Good Portable Compressor

[EddieWalker]

Grainger is famous for listing stuff for one price, but selling it for a whole lot cheaper. You have to ask for a lower price, and the more you buy, the better the price.

Eddie

 

[grsthegreat]

Also with Grainger...the more you buy regularly the better your base price will be. Same is true for my wholesale houses. When building is going gangbusters, i can get my electrical items for 30-40% below home depot/lowes prices. As work dries up, my margin decreases and the prices start to level out. I miss the good old days...before gready wall street hosed us all

 

[ultrarunner]

We use to joke it cost more to properly dispose of 4' fluorescent lamps than to buy them...

 

[two_bit_score]

When you look at what Speedaire compressors cost at Graingers, you would expect them to be very good.

I can't afford to buy anything at Graingers.

 

[two_bit_score]

Also with Grainger...the more you buy regularly the better your base price will be. Same is true for my wholesale houses. When building is going gangbusters, i can get my electrical items for 30-40% below home depot/lowes prices. As work dries up, my margin decreases and the prices start to level out. I miss the good old days...before gready wall street hosed us all

I buy from two different supply houses in Corpus Christi and they both know it. One or the other sometimes makes a comment that if I came in more often I could maybe get better pricing and I usually just say give me the best price or I won't come in as often and they usually do drop a little, after some 'discussion'.

 

[grsthegreat]

I buy from two different supply houses in Corpus Christi and they both know it. One or the other sometimes makes a comment that if I came in more often I could maybe get better pricing and I usually just say give me the best price or I won't come in as often and they usually do drop a little, after some 'discussion'.

ya, i get the same thing. But now days (past 2 years) im not buying much from anyone. 4-5 years ago i had $500,000 in business thru them. I dont know if ill ever see that kind of business again.

 

[ultrarunner]

Daily I receive calls from account reps asking if there are any projects in the pipeline...

For the last 3 years I have told them no... business is down and we are cutting back where ever we can...

 

[two_bit_score]

ya, i get the same thing. But now days (past 2 years) im not buying much from anyone. 4-5 years ago i had $500,000 in business thru them. I dont know if ill ever see that kind of business again.

If I was running 500k thru a supply house I'd probably open one. But that's just me. I'm cheap. I got wholesale car dealers license so I could save sales tax.

 

[two_bit_score]

Daily I receive calls from account reps asking if there are any projects in the pipeline...

For the last 3 years I have told them no... business is down and we are cutting back where ever we can...

Things will probably be booming around January 2013.

 

[KubotainNH]

Back to the air compressor question....IMO, it's best to have 2 compressors. An oil-lubed portable one for nail guns and the smaller tools and a bigger one that lives in the garage/basement plumbed to both ends of the house.

I have this one for around the house, it's not super quiet but also not really loud: Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more. I've had it for 7 or 8 years and it's done all I ask it within reason. Works great for nail guns. Like someone else mentioned, it doesn't like to run well in the cold weather so I keep that in mind.

My bigger compressor is also a Craftsman but is really made by someone else. I've had it for 12 or 13 years and before that it was used where I worked running constantly for years. It's a twin with a true 1HP motor and 30 gallon tank if I remember correctly. It will run my high power impact gun with no complaints. The only time it runs allot is with stuff like air grinders and sand blasters but it isn't a huge unit so you can only expect so much.