Air-Powered Tools - Where to begin?

[Aerowood]

Originally Posted by vswingfield

Well, not air powered, but a good, solid, quality tool. Craftsman Capwrench Bottle Opener, 80th Anniversary - Model 44400 at Sears.com Mine isn’t an 80th anniversary version, and I paid full price rather than the current $10.97. It’s truly a pleasure to take the cap off a St. Pauli Girl Dark with one of these.

Definitely a must for the good micro brews and imported. We call brews hydraulic sandwiches or barley pop at work

[malconium]

I also already had a compressor when I bought my airstream. I think the only airtools that I had at that time were a brad nailer which I find invaluable for lots of things and a pnuematic sander. My compressor has trouble keeping up with the sander though. When I bought the airstream I went out to look for some inexpensive air tools. I found that there are a lot of combination kits out there that have anywhere from 4 to 6 different tools in them. I bought such a kit for just under $100. So far they have worked fine for what I need them for. My kit has an impact wrench which worked find for removing my Airstream wheels. It has a 3/8" socket drive with sockets which I used with good sucess on removing my axles. I snapped off an elevetor bolt when I was putting my floor back in so I did those by hand. There also is a cuttoff wheel that was a real life saver for getting the old subfloor out.

I bought a pop-rivet gun at Harbor Freight that is probably my most favorite Airstream related air tool. I also bought a small spray gun with a top mounted cup that I was able to use for spray painting my frame. I also may use for other things in the interior when I get to that point in my remodeling. I also bought a sand blasting gun at Harbor Freight that was supposed to work with my compressor but there just did not seem to be enough air flow to handle it. I have a second, larger compressor now so I will have to give that a try again. A sand blaster would be usefull for cleaning up your frame before painting.

For drilling I had an old Makita cordless drill/driver that bit the dust. I went out and bought a Black and Decker corded drill/driver for less than $40 that has been great. I like it becase the chuck for the drill bit pops off and exposes the screw driver bit. I have used it for all sorts of things besides my Airstream and would have to say that it was a very good buy. It has plenty of torque.

I still need a sheet metal shear but I am torn as to whether to go electric or air on this one. I have to shop around a bit and see when the time comes.

It is also pretty useful to have an air nozzel to blow things off with after you work on them. That and a shop vacuum cleaner have been very useful to me in my Airstream work.

[klattu]

All the above is good stuff.
Never thought of the chrome coming off a socket while impacting...ouch.
Have had it come off, just not used in a air tool, luckly.

One surprize I had with a air rachet was how it can hammer your hand at beginnig of a tight bolt, or at end of tightening one.
It bam bam bam before you know it.
And they are very loud.

My order, based on size of your compressor...
Air Gun/nozzle with various tips
Die Grinder
Nailers/rivetor
Impact

About the time you use many of these, you will be wanting to move up in compressor size.

Lowes/Depot has a Air Tool set that come with many of these in one package.
For starting out, would be a good deal.

[crowbar68]

boy an air compressor will make you want to buy a whole lot more tools. a nibbler, shears, rivet gun, impact, drill, nailer, sand blaster, pressure blaster, bead blasting cabinet, air sprayer and an air dryer. when you get all that you might as well get a welder too.

you can never have enough tools.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by crowbar68

boy an air compressor will make you want to buy a whole lot more tools. a nibbler, shears, rivet gun, impact, drill, nailer, sand blaster, pressure blaster, bead blasting cabinet, air sprayer and an air dryer. when you get all that you might as well get a welder too.

you can never have enough tools.

Ain't it FUN.........

[Jim Foster]

I was a Snap-On Tool dealer for seventeen years. During that time I learned a lot about air tools. I much prefer them over electric. They run cooler and are usually lighter than the same tool in electric.
You must know, however, that spinning tools such as grinders and buffers will use much more air volume than air hammers, chisels and even drills, as they are used for short periods, unlike buffers, sanders and spray equipment which are used continuously. A pretty high volume compressor is needed for those tools.
90 degree air drills are very handy and do fit into odd places easier than regular air drills. I use both.
As far as impact tools go, you should always use the black impact sockets on your impact wrench rather than chrome sockets. Chrome sockets are much harder and therefore brittle. The chrome can crack and peal causing injury, but the most failure comes from the socket breaking, sometimes with nearly explosive force. Also, the chrome sockets will cause premature wear on the impact mandrel, the part of the tool that you insert into the square in the socket. It is very easy to tell an impact wrench that has been used with chrome sockets, as the square part of the mandrel will have the corners worn off and become nearly round. Impact sockets will help prevent wear. The sockets are much cheaper than replacement mandrels.

A fun thing about air drills......they can be used under water. A customer of mine installed custom "swim steps" on large boats. He did it with the boat in the water. No haul out charge.

[Frank's Trailer Works]

I love tools battery, corded and air... the one thing I have not heard is anything about hearing protection. I guess I assume that everyone knows how incredibly damaging the hiss of the air seeping from a loose fitting is. That high pitched air leak is kind if like a drill to your ear drums, so if the hose or fitting leaks, fix it. That annoying hiss will quickly become more and more difficult for you to hear.
I also would like to point out eye protection. I wear safety glasses all day. I sometimes forget I am wearing them and go places... I look more foolish than I already am wearing safety glasses to the liquor store or to lunch. I even wore them to an appointment once. Anyway, they suck. Safety glasses will allow chunks of things to bounce off your forehead and cheek and into your eyes. If one of those chunks sits in there overnight, well your eye might decide to grow around it. If that chunk happens to be a part of your frame, well it might start to oxidize and then you will need eye surgery. It gets tiring to explain how it happened to every nurse and every orderly and every doctor wants to know how you did that, most hospital people have no idea they still make "those". I now wear safety goggles and look ten times more geeky.

[doorgunner]

I have a lot of Ingersol Rand air tools.I admire them

All the satety issues that surround them are real.Keeping them lubed is important,
having said that, when using air tools around anything that you will soon be painting, varnishing. Make sure to clean up well.It's amazing how a little air tool oil will "fish eye" your nice finish.Wipe down prior to paint is important.
And the other problem with them is they seem to grow legs, I've tried using mine with miniature "ball and chain" attachments but when working overhead I always seem to get whacked in the head.
my faves are, mini drill,90 die grinder, nibbler,3/8 impact,1/4 ratchet.
I had a electric angle like that milwaukee, best drill I've ever owned it was a Sioux I think, it walked away also.

[safari57]

doorgunner

I love your avatar. It's hilarious. Is that a shoulder patch?

Barry

[empresley]

and now I’ve got to have one.

First photo is the old kitchen cabinet with dead space between it and the dinette. We are installing a new cabinet that will fill the empty space but the dinette bench was never “square”. Almost 1/2" needed to be removed from the back rest and shelf.
I used this neat vibrating saw that cut the 1/4” ply in place and in just a few minutes. Nice straight line and no tearing.

This one is elec. but they are available in air.

http://www.coastaltool.com/cgi-bin/welcome.pl?ref=froogle+page=/a/fein/mox6-25.htm