Big Lie....

[john_bud]

I bought a new Harbor Freight needle scaler. Pretty neat tool. The hardened steel 3 mm diameter needles are smacked and whacked by the tool and they do a real nice job getting off old paint, rust, pounding welds, knocking out weld slag and such. If you don't have one, it's a decent way to spend $50. Do get the extra set of needles for 10 bucks. I have broken 2 and worn 2 others in half. That's with about 10 hours of total use time.

So, what's the "Big Lie"?

Well, it's supposed to only use 4 cfm. I have a 7.5 hp compressor on a 60 gal tank that does 11 cfm at 100 psi. It can't keep up. I also have my old compressor mounted in parallel feeding the air lines. It is a 3.5 hp unit that can do about 4-5 cfm at 90 psi. With both units running, I can keep it at 90 psi. That means it is using air at about 15 cfm. Yikes!

Anyone else have one of these little gems? Any idea what air draw for you is on continuous use?

jb

 

[mjarrels]

I have a 6" disk sander and my 5 HP compressor can't keep up with it either.

mark

 

[Mgray]

Here's a shot in the dark but do you oil it before you use it? I know my air tools seem to use less air after I've oiled them. Of course after I have oiled the air chisel, it also blows alot of oil out onto whatever I am working on too.

Have fun with the new tool
Mark

 

[bx23barry]

That is one of the big problems with cheap air tools.

 

[cp1969]

We have one at work. We also have a Dayton--same thing; more money.

I have no idea of the flow rate. We just plug them in and the plant air compressor (which I've never seen but it must truly be a whopper) runs any and all air equipment the plant uses.

At home, I find DA sanders and die grinders overwhelm my little air compressor fastest.

 

[Fjord]

I remember reading somewhere ( maybe in a catalogue) that the "average" air consumption that is always quoted is 25% of the continuous air consumption. I too was surprised that that my 7 cfm compressor wouldn't keep up to my 4 cfm cutoff tool for more than about 45 seconds. Now I've got a 5 hp 18 cfm compressor but havn't got it piped in yet. 5 hp to run a 3" cutoff tool doesn't seem like an efficient use of energy, but it gets the job done faster than electric, and it's just a hobby to me so it doesn't get that much use. I got one of those needle scalers a couple of years ago and found it was great for cleaning up irregular surfaces .

 

[mjarrels]

Needle guns remind me too much of Navy ship days... I'll never own one.

"Working parties are not what you think"

mark

 

[john_bud]

Here's a shot in the dark but do you oil it before you use it? I know my air tools seem to use less air after I've oiled them. Of course after I have oiled the air chisel, it also blows alot of oil out onto whatever I am working on too.

Have fun with the new tool
Mark

Yeah, air supply at the hose is a filter/dryer, regulator, oiler set for 1 drip every 10 seconds. As it was (is) a new tool, it gets 7 drops in the connector at each use. Might be overkill, but I "think" it helps flush out crap from the manufacturing process.

It actually has been overwhelming my air dryer. If you think oil is bad, a mix of oily water splattering out is nasty. My line has a T with a blow valve on the down leg then the filter,etc. I am adding an additional T with blow on the down and an additional dryer. Got it ready to install and realised that I forgot the valve just before the new dryer. (I like to be able to turn off every leg with a ball valve.)

Getting the "bugs" out of the new iron supply system. One thing I noticed is that the large diameter PVC pipe allowed the water to separate out sooner and to a greater degree. At least it looks that way.
jb

 

[SPYDERLK]

JB, I have one and just bought another cuz the 1st one has broken for the 2nd time in 20 yrs and the new one was on sale at HF for $30. My use is intermittent for cleaning and strain relieving welds by the surface peening effect..

If yours is HF # 01108 you can get back the difference in what you paid and the $29.99 price good thru 4/1/07. Call cust serv and ask for price match to identical item 01108-6BDB.
The needles are on sale for $4.99, #01109-5BDB. Same Cat [#881C]
larry

 

[CDsdad]

Needleguns are common here on offshore rigs. About the only way to keep one running out here is to spray WD-40 or miracle oil in it. They run off 120 psi rig air pressure. Equipment needing dry air will have an inline dryer, but the deck outlets don't have any dryers and that's mainly where the hands use the needleguns. Most rigs have 10-12 needleguns and twice that in rebuild kits for them. Of course most folks can't abuse equipment like a bunch of roughnecks can.