Help With Air Tools

Anonymous Poster · Mar 3, 2003

Not sure where this post belongs, but this forum seemed the best pick.

Last week I attended an event sponsored by an association we belong to. About 2/3's of the way through they had a raffle for door prizes and the last item was a 27 gallon, 5 hp air compressor on wheels. My ticket had the winning number.

I have a permanent compressor I use in the pole barn, but this new one will allow me to move it around and as such I want to purchase some tools. Here are my questions.

1. The new compressor did not come with hose, fittings, etc. When I went to the local home depot I noticed the fittings come in "I-M" and "T" with I-M being industrial and T being automotive. Does anyone know what is the best kind to get or which will fit more tools?

2. Which is more useful--a brad nailer or a finish nailer? I will be doing the following projects. Put up new paneling in the basement, insulating a section of the barn and putting partical board over the insulation. Finishing the insulation and covering the walls and ceilings of my pole barn. Miscellaneous building projects. I know I can rent these items, but I like having the tools so I can do the work when I want.

Thanks in advance for any feedback. Also, if I missed anything such as brand quality or other items to consider, feel free to let me know.

Bob

Anonymous Poster · Mar 3, 2003

For the usage you are currently describing, small nailers, the type of air connector used isn't all that critical, BUT, if you already have air connectors in the barn, I'd suggest you use the same ones on the portable.
The important thing in air connectors is restriction, more correctly, the lack thereof. A secondary consideration is the number of balls inside the connector, more is better.
You also want to consider restriction in the air hose, air line friction losses are phenominal, so buy at least 3/8 hose if you want to get full use of your machine and tools. More problems are caused by insufficient air line diameter than almost anything else.
For small nailers, you also might want to consider 5 feet of super flexible air whip. The whip won't cause much restriction, and makes tool handling much easier and more pleasurable.
The choice of nailers, you pretty much need to go to a vendor who has demonstration capability and see witch tool serves your purpose better.

Spencer · Mar 3, 2003

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( 1. The new compressor did not come with hose, fittings, etc. When I went to the local home depot I noticed the fittings come in "I-M" and "T" with I-M being industrial and T being automotive. Does anyone know what is the best kind to get or which will fit more tools? )</font>

I believe that the industrial type fitting is the more common. That is the type that I have always used. When you buy a new air tool they rarely come with any quick disconnect fittings, but the few that I've bought that did come with fittings (male) all came with the industrial type.

bgott · Mar 3, 2003

Sears has a brad nailer/ stapler combination that actually works. Most small trim I shoot up with staples but the brads work well. I use the staples because most of my work is in my rent trailers and the staples handle the abuse better. The staples are uglier. I got a heck of a deal on a 15 ga. finish nailer and it's great for the bigger stuff but I wouldn't want to use it on panelling trim. We've used the brads on baseboards and haven't had a problem with them falling off. I think that you'd be better off with screws for particle board. Nails will blow it apart. Actually, I have no use for that stuff. If you have any moisture at all it will fall apart. The biggest expense I've had since I've been renting trailers has been replacing particle board floors. Hamburger wood can be a sore subject with me. I've had pretty good luck with OSB and it's cheap, too. You need a framing nailer for that, you need a head on the nail to secure it. Thinking about it, we've shot up thin OSB with the staples and it held OK.

Anonymous Poster · Mar 3, 2003

Franz--thanks for the tip on the size of the air hose as well as checking what fittings I have on my other comperssor.

bgott--Thanks for the input on the nailers (and using osb vs partical). Sounds like I'm going to have to take a long look at projects and buy the tool I will use most and rent the others. I can see using the stapler a lot so that is a given. Now I just have to decide if the brad or finish nailer will be best for my current needs.

Bob