teach me about air compressors

[upalot]

Look for a 2 stage over a single stage compressor, it will last a whole lot longer and will provide all the air you need for spray painting, running tools etc.

 

[Butch627]

Your compressor is only the tip of the iceberg. If I understand things correctly you will need to purchase several pneumatic tools, impact sockets, and some other goodies in order to do this project. Thats a big hunk of dough to shell out at once. Quality air tools aren't cheap, cheap air tools aren't very good. Off the bat Id say you would need a 1/2 inch impact, and a 3/8 air ratchet. You can buy them at HF, but for good quality stuff you are easily going to spend 300 on the 2 of them. A shallow and deep 1/2 inch impact set is probably another hundred. A good 3/8 socket set is another 50 bucks.

My .02 is to spend a lot of time on Craigslist. Id recommend a real 5hp compressor, meaning one that draws about 25 amps at 220v. Make sure your airhose and connections have the proper flow, meaning at least 3/8 hose and 3/8 hose connections.

 

[Dirtebiker]

Any Real man has at least 1.

What's it say that I have three?

 

[spirit390]

Don't judge someone by the size of their compressor

 

[PX4me]

Like Butch said it isn't just the compressor you're gonna need. It's the tools that will make or break (literally) the job, and good ones aren't cheap.

Snap-On, Matco or Mac would be my first three choices. Craftsman after that and then it tails off from there.

Don't even think about Harbor Freight.

 

[Wdsman11]

This is typically only an issue for heavy use compressors. If you are using it in your garage for some auto repairs, and No one else is tapping into the air supply then the air compressor will most likely get the rest it requires.

This is true. Although the original post did not mention sandblasting, I sandblast quite often and use enourous amounts of air. If the person ever thinks they want to add sandblasting to their general use items they may want to think about a large compressor upfront. Not knocking your comment, just wish I would have done additional research upfront and had a compressor that keeps up instead of me worrying about burning it up.