need recommendations for air tools and accessories

[BTL-A4]

I need to run this by you all and get some feedback.

I have a Craftsman 919.167320 air compressor. Because it's so loud, I don't use it as much. I think I have 2 choices: sell it and use battery and/or corded tools, or use sound deadening techniques and get some more useful accessories and use it more. I hate to get rid of it; it has really good specs. CAT makes some really quiet ones, but they have less airflow. Same with Harbor Freight ones.

SPECS:
8.6 SCFM @40 PSI
6.4 SCFM @90 PSI
33 gallon
150 PSI
I measured 85 dB at 3 feet away and 80 dB at 10 feet away (phone app). It's obnoxiously loud.

ACCESSORIES
I have these accessories (*I use the starred ones all the time):
1. *air hose reel
2. *blow gun
3. *tire inflator
4. DA sander
5. right angle die grinder (1/4" shank)
6. 3/8" reactionless ratchet (I never use this, will probably sell it).
7. 1/2" impact wrench (I use this to rotate my tires).
8. small belt sander
9. paint sprayer
10. Media blaster

Here's is where it lives, in the space for the water heater tank. You can see the tankless water heater on the left:


The only other place I could maybe place this is outside in the garden shed right next to the house, but that's pretty crowded and would make it harder to get the air hose in the garage. Still, it seems like a good idea the more I think about it.

SOUNDPROOFING IDEAS
-Intake muffler. Do these really work?
-Insulate the walls with some sort of acoustic panels. Would the ones available at Home Depot suffice?
-Insulate the feet
-Enclose the compressor. I'm worried about overheating and access to the water heater. I thought a wall to the left of it between the compressor and the water heater, along with a door in front would work. Maybe add some air vents at the top and bottom and some sort of fan?
-Move the compressor to the garden shed. It would take up space, but I think I could make it work.

ACCESSORY IDEAS
-I do a little welding, woodworking, car maintenance, and some painting.
-I have battery or corded tools that I use for all these tasks (except painting) that duplicate what I have in air tools. For painting, I go with rattle cans.
-I thought I might get some die grinder carbide burr bits.
-I have the little 2" discs, but these get used up pretty fast, so I hesitate to use them.
-What else would be useful?

I also have a Makita MAC210Q, 2 gallon, 2 CFM@90 PSI, 60 dB (I measured 71 dB @ 3 feet and 62 dB at 10 feet) air compressor I use all the time for blowing out air filters and general cleaning. It's quiet and gets up to working pressure fast. I've never tried it with any of the air tools.

Thoughts and comments welcome!

 

[Shoreline_]

Plumb the intake outside. Its the most significant thing you can do to quiet the pump.

 

[Jgaz]

Some people, myself included, find the oil less compressor noise especially irritating.

If it were me, I’d put the compressor outside in the shed. How far away from the garage is the shed?

Im not good on CA geography but I’ll bet you don’t have to worry about freezing temps much so you wouldn’t be worried about your airline into the garage freezing if you made it permanent.
You won’t be sorry if you run a hard line into the garage

Battery tools are nice but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get rid of my air tools. You have a good selection of air tools already paid for.
I’ll bet that once you get the noise problem under control you will use your existing air tools a lot more.

Yes, buy the carbide burs no matter what else you do.

 

[RMERR]

I might be tempted to try enclosing it with those rigid insulating panels from HD or Lowes. It might not be the very quietest solution, but would still mitigate the noise some. You already have four of the six sides of the enclosure with that recessed space. Add some venting as you mentioned. Those panels aren't that expensive, it would be easy to try and you could leave your whole set-up exactly as it is.

I also have a Makita 210Q compressor in my washhouse closer to the house just for quick air gun dusting or inflating. I like it for those tasks, but I would never consider using it for most of the tools you listed. It has a two gallon tank, other than something like a stapler or pin nailer, It will never keep up.

 

[GeoBruin]

The shed I built for my compressor cost more than my compressor. That should tell you all you need to know about my feelings on the topic.

Edited for pictures.

 

[Pinne]

I don't think it makes sense to invest in trying to quiet down that compressor. They are obnoxiously loud short of putting them in a separate building / room. But that is an inconvenient solution, you'll never truly want to use it then either.

IMO, a better compressor is your cheapest solution. Buying all battery tools is expensive (and you'll then be left with a smaller and still annoying compressor for inflating tires and such.

California Air Tools compressors are abundant second hand. $500 at most and you've got yourself a faster, better, cheaper solution than trying to quiet down the Craftsman.

 

[finn]

I might be tempted to try enclosing it with those rigid insulating panels from HD or Lowes. It might not be the very quietest solution, but would still mitigate the noise some. You already have four of the six sides of the enclosure with that recessed space. Add some venting as you mentioned. Those panels aren't that expensive, it would be easy to try and you could leave your whole set-up exactly as it is.

I also have a Makita 210Q compressor in my washhouse closer to the house just for quick air gun dusting or inflating. I like it for those tasks, but I would never consider using it for most of the tools you listed. It has a two gallon tank, other than something like a stapler or pin nailer, It will never keep up.

I wouldn’t add any enclosure to that cubbyhole, considering that there’s a gas water heater in there.

 

[finn]

I need to run this by you all and get some feedback.

I have a Craftsman 919.167320 air compressor. Because it's so loud, I don't use it as much. I think I have 2 choices: sell it and use battery and/or corded tools, or use sound deadening techniques and get some more useful accessories and use it more. I hate to get rid of it; it has really good specs. CAT makes some really quiet ones, but they have less airflow. Same with Harbor Freight ones.

SPECS:
8.6 SCFM @40 PSI
6.4 SCFM @90 PSI
33 gallon
150 PSI
I measured 85 dB at 3 feet away and 80 dB at 10 feet away (phone app). It's obnoxiously loud.

ACCESSORIES
I have these accessories (*I use the starred ones all the time):
1. *air hose reel
2. *blow gun
3. *tire inflator
4. DA sander
5. right angle die grinder (1/4" shank)
6. 3/8" reactionless ratchet (I never use this, will probably sell it).
7. 1/2" impact wrench (I use this to rotate my tires).
8. small belt sander
9. paint sprayer
10. Media blaster

Here's is where it lives, in the space for the water heater tank. You can see the tankless water heater on the left:


The only other place I could maybe place this is outside in the garden shed right next to the house, but that's pretty crowded and would make it harder to get the air hose in the garage. Still, it seems like a good idea the more I think about it.

SOUNDPROOFING IDEAS
-Intake muffler. Do these really work?
-Insulate the walls with some sort of acoustic panels. Would the ones available at Home Depot suffice?
-Insulate the feet
-Enclose the compressor. I'm worried about overheating and access to the water heater. I thought a wall to the left of it between the compressor and the water heater, along with a door in front would work. Maybe add some air vents at the top and bottom and some sort of fan?
-Move the compressor to the garden shed. It would take up space, but I think I could make it work.

ACCESSORY IDEAS
-I do a little welding, woodworking, car maintenance, and some painting.
-I have battery or corded tools that I use for all these tasks (except painting) that duplicate what I have in air tools. For painting, I go with rattle cans.
-I thought I might get some die grinder carbide burr bits.
-I have the little 2" discs, but these get used up pretty fast, so I hesitate to use them.
-What else would be useful?

I also have a Makita MAC210Q, 2 gallon, 2 CFM@90 PSI, 60 dB (I measured 71 dB @ 3 feet and 62 dB at 10 feet) air compressor I use all the time for blowing out air filters and general cleaning. It's quiet and gets up to working pressure fast. I've never tried it with any of the air tools.

Thoughts and comments welcome!

I have one of those direct drive compressors in my shed, across the septic field from the house, and it’s still obnoxiously loud if it cycles while working in the yard because I forgot to turn it off. Fortunately I only use it maybe a half dozen times per year to inflate water floaties inflate bicycle and wheelbarrow tires, and blow sawdust out of chainsaws.

I ended up buying a belt driven compressor that size for another house from Lowes, but they were on clearance. I don’t know if anyone is marketing anything but the Cal Air type of compressors now. The belt driven compressor isn’t exactly quiet, despite the name, but at least it’s not the annoying high frequency noise of the direct drives.

Not sure if the improvement is worth scrapping what you have.

 

[AC-WC]

My old Craftsman oil fed, belt drive compressor (220v) is around the same CFM at 90 and it has never been able to keep up with a DA. Can't use my air reciprocating saw. Those are on another level of noise. For the die grinder I have to run it in bursts. Runs the impact but it always seems weak. I have both 1/2" and 3/8" ratchets and it runs both of those very well. Your only real choice is another larger CFM. Those will be loud but not like yours. If the noise is really obnoxious another option is a separate/mini building. You might be able to build 2" foam walls just around the compressor and help with some noise, maybe add acoustic/soft foam to the 2" foam?
I have mine in the attic of the garage but it's all open with steel panels and it's louder than I care for. Maybe when I retire I will build something off the garage and put in a bigger 60-80 gal with 12+CFM

 

[msharley]

 

[Jswain]

The shed I built for my compressor cost more than my compressor. That should tell you all you need to know about my feelings on the topic.

Edited for pictures.

That you should have spent twice as much for a bigger, quieter compressor?

 

[GeoBruin]

That you should have spent twice as much for a bigger, quieter compressor?

I've had the compressor for a long time. It was $400 on Craigslist and lived in my shop before I kicked it out. I originally just subdivided another shed I had already built (picture below) but recently relocated that shed so I built one just for the compressor. It's intentionally built large enough to accomodate a larger future compressor if needed, but I can't imagine when/why that would be necessary.

 

[BTL-A4]

Plumb the intake outside. Its the most significant thing you can do to quiet the pump.

It's about 12' to the outside. Not sure I want to poke a hole in the house. I've seen a few mufflers fitted to intakes, maybe I'll go that route.

Some people, myself included, find the oil less compressor noise especially irritating.

If it were me, I’d put the compressor outside in the shed. How far away from the garage is the shed?

Im not good on CA geography but I’ll bet you don’t have to worry about freezing temps much so you wouldn’t be worried about your airline into the garage freezing if you made it permanent.
You won’t be sorry if you run a hard line into the garage

Battery tools are nice but I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get rid of my air tools. You have a good selection of air tools already paid for.
I’ll bet that once you get the noise problem under control you will use your existing air tools a lot more.

Yes, buy the carbide burs no matter what else you do.

Shed is about 12' away. I took another look at the shed and it's really tight in there. I'd have to rearrange some shelving and hangers to try and fit it in there.

It's gets cold here, but usually not less than in the 30's, maybe the 20's rarely. It's the heat we need to worry about here; it gets to 120º in the summer.

All the air tools, with the exception of paint sprayers, I have in either a battery-powered tool or corded electric.

I have some carbide burrs for my cordless rotary tool. I need to use them more and see if I like them.

I don't think it makes sense to invest in trying to quiet down that compressor. They are obnoxiously loud short of putting them in a separate building / room. But that is an inconvenient solution, you'll never truly want to use it then either.

IMO, a better compressor is your cheapest solution. Buying all battery tools is expensive (and you'll then be left with a smaller and still annoying compressor for inflating tires and such.

California Air Tools compressors are abundant second hand. $500 at most and you've got yourself a faster, better, cheaper solution than trying to quiet down the Craftsman.

I think you are right; I was thinking of the logistics of putting it out in the shed and I'd have to go out there and run the hose into the garage all the time. From time to time, I do use the air tools on that side of the house, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

I think you are right. But, my smaller compressor inflates car tires just fine. I don't think it will run any of my tools , though.

CAT compressors seem to not be as readily available, or they go quick. They make a 10-gallon one that might suit my needs. I'll keep an eye out on FB and CL and see if anything pops up.

 

[fourjeepin]

I had one like that for years except horizontal and it was terrible. I won a door prize at a Home Depot corp event for a similar one plus some air tools. I exchanged them for an oil free vertical and couldn’t believe how much quieter it was. But I still plumbed it as far away from my shop as possible.

so my advice - sell that one and get something quieter.

 

[Aaron_W]

I bought a 30 gal Dewalt at Tractor Supply a couple of years ago, when they had it with a good mark down for Black Friday. Prices have gone up a lot, they were $499, and I got it at least 25% off with the sale. Currently $649 but I guess that is just how things are these days.

Specs are not quite what yours claims 5.3 @ 90, but only 75db, and it is an oil filled compressor, which I find not only quieter, but the sound seems softer, less harsh in my experience. By no means quiet, but it is like standing near an idling diesel rather than a jack hammer.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dewalt-30-gallon-air-compressor-155-psi-dxcm301


They do sell a similar compressor with a 2hp motor which oddly is a little cheaper, despite having some better stats, so maybe they cut some corners somewhere.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/dewalt-30-gal-175-psi-air-compressor-dxcm303

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I have a drill, Brad nailer, stapler, chisel that come in handy that are not on your list. I may consider buying a construction stapler and a scaler which might come in handy.
In my utility room where the power, boiler and belt drive 220v
compressor are located. Where I generally leave the door open anyway to remember to turn off the power to the compressor as a precaution. i also have a oiless horizontal 30 gallon and a couple of smaller ones.
The noise never really bothered me but again they are generally used outdoors. The horizontal compressor I rebuilt due to GJ.
I would probably place an insulated wall/door where your compressor is located and simply leave the door open when not using the compressor. If the noise is unbearable and where you live for longer durations of use I‘d simply wheel it outside for the day.

 

[theoldwizard1]

I have a 30 yo, 2 cylinder, 2 HP portable Craftsman compressor. Never could justify running 240V to the garage, so it sits in the back of the garage, which means I have to move a lot of stuff to get it out. I have an old Chicago Pneumatic 1/2" impact and an air hammer. Also Astro Pneumatic straight and angle die grinders.

A couple of years ago I bought a 3/8" Milwaukee M12 drill for "light" usage (I have a heavy duty 1/2" corded "wrist breaker"). That broke the dam ! Replaced my corded Dremel with an M12 one. I have a 3/8" M12 impact (I work on outdoor power equipment). Now, my most used power tool is an M12 right angle grinder. Lots of different grinding/sanding attachments !

This year, I finally broke down and went M18 with a mid-torque 1/2" impact. My air compressor has not been out for over a year !

 

[theoldwizard1]

Sanders, grinders and blaster take a lot of air ! Probably need 5 HP 2 stage.

 

[john.k]

RPM is what makes piston compressors noisy ...cut the rpm down to 150 and all you get is a bit of suction noise...sssh-sssh--sssh.

 

[Jswain]

I've had the compressor for a long time. It was $400 on Craigslist and lived in my shop before I kicked it out. I originally just subdivided another shed I had already built (picture below) but recently relocated that shed so I built one just for the compressor. It's intentionally built large enough to accomodate a larger future compressor if needed, but I can't imagine when/why that would be necessary.

I was just busting your balls

 

[GeoBruin]

I was just busting your balls

I know, but I still felt the need to explain what could seem like lopsided priorities. In my case, it was 50% about noise, and 50% about space. My solution solved both.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

I have the Makita compressor mac2400 using IR ratchet and IR 1/2 drive impact wrench. Paired with Dewalt cordless mid range able to do most home gamer repairs and maintenance on HD vehicles in rust belt.

 

[BTL-A4]

A buddy of mine bought everything except the impact wrench. I put it up on FB for $25 and have had only a few inquiries and flaky buyers thar never showed. If it works with my Makita compressor I may just keep it.