air tools

[lucasd2002]

I am new to air tools.

I just got my 26 gal Dayton compressor.

I do stuff in the garage on weekends but I don't really have too much time for projects - I am by no means a professional. This stuff is more for fun/entertainment/hobby interest for me.

I have a 1/2 impact (IR). My next purchase is a 3/8 ratchet. I'm thinking a used IR, SO, MAC, MATCO, etc

I also need to get something to do some cutting. I don't know how often I will need to cut metal parts but I know I have a project coming up where I will need to do some.

I am considering an angle grinder, cut-off tool, or angle drill. I have an arbor that I can put in a drill to use cutting discs. I feel like I will get more use out of an angle drill - tight spots and backup to my main drill. [My only other drill is a 3/8 Dewalt 18V so I also need a 1/2 corded drill but that is another story - I think I want to go Milwaukee for that.] I don't want to limit the usefulness of the tool for the cutting job so a grinder seems like it would useful for multiple types of jobs also. It just doesn't seem like a cut-off tool will be something I use often enough to justify a dedicated tool.

Thoughts?

 

[WVBrady]

I, like you, just work on my own stuff. Working on my vehicles, I use my 3/8 air ratchet more than any other air tool. If you are going "used", I would try it out before I bought. I have an old Sunex that works ok, but it has a "hair trigger". It goes off unexpectedly when I am trying to maneuver it into a tight place. Sometimes it whacks my knuckles and sometimes it just scares the pants off me. I just got a CP7830Q (Chicago Pneumatic) for that reason. It is quieter and also has a shorter actuating lever that doesn't get it the way so much. I was also surprised to find that I could "feather" the control on it much better for those situations in which you might want to just snug up a fastener before using a torque wrench on it. My Sunex is pretty much just "on" or "off".

I also discussed my 1/4 ratchet in a recent thread.

HTH, Brady

 

[fotoflojoe]

In my mind, cut-off wheels are like crowsfoot wrenches; you may not need them very often, but when you do, there's nothing else that will fill the bill.

 

[lucasd2002]

In my mind, cut-off wheels are like crowsfoot wrenches; you may not need them very often, but when you do, there's nothing else that will fill the bill.

So would you not recommend using a cut off wheel on an angle grinder? Or on an angle drill using an arbor?

 

[eschoendorff]

So would you not recommend using a cut off wheel on an angle grinder? Or on an angle drill using an arbor?

I use cutoff wheels on on my 4.5" angle grinders all the time. Works well.

Aside from my 1/2 impacts, the next most useful air tool is my 3/8" butterfly impact.

I never use air ratchets. The 3/8 impact does get used a lot where others would use an air ratchet. It's quieter and you can turn teh regulator down if you just wan tto buzz things down without making them tight.

 

[blue302stang]

I picked up my mac AR778a 3/8 air ratchet used off of ebay and it hardly ever leave my air hose.

 

[lucasd2002]

I have a feeling I will use a 3/8 ratchet and blow gun the most often here at home.


eschoendorff, I want to look into 4" - 4.5" angle grinders - what brand(s) do you recommend? After looking at a few products online - it looks like this may be one tool where it makes more sense to go electric than pneumatic. A Harbor Freight cheapo is $20-30 and real brands are significantly more while I can walk into Lowes and get a Dewalt 4.5" electric for $50 (15% sale right now).

I am excited about starting an air tool collection but this may not be the right tool to get as a pneumatic...

 

[nissan_crawler]

I use my pistol grip 1/4" blue point impact more than any other air tool I own. It'll drive 3" x 5/16" lag bolts with no problems.

 

[eschoendorff]

eschoendorff, I want to look into 4" - 4.5" angle grinders - what brand(s) do you recommend? After looking at a few products online - it looks like this may be one tool where it makes more sense to go electric than pneumatic. A Harbor Freight cheapo is $20-30 and real brands are significantly more while I can walk into Lowes and get a Dewalt 4.5" electric for $50 (15% sale right now).

You are gonna get a lot of conflicting opinions with this question. i have about 3 or 4 of the Harbor Freight orange 4.5 angle grinders... One with a wire brush, another with a cutoff wheel another with a grinding wheel. I also have a Kobalt soft-start model that I got on clearance...

The cheapies work just fine for me. No problems or complaints. However, if I were to need a name-brand unit, I would look at Bosch first and then Milwaukee. Makita is nice too. And others will go on and on about DeWalt...

As far as the name brand units go, take your pick, they all have a following. I'd go for teh Bosch myself, but that'll have to wait until all of my cheap orange HF units die. And at the rate their holding up... that'll be a long while from now.

Hope this helps...

Ed

 

[nissan_crawler]

It depends on your usage. The HF ones are 4.5-5.5 amps. Me, I have a 9.5 amp Dewalt and it's not enough for what I want. I'm planning on demoting it to wire brush duty and getting the 14 amp Metabo for grinding duty.

For as little as it sounds like you would use one, I would probably go HF. Get two, one for a wire wheel, one for the grinding wheel. If you're going to do a lot of welding and such (which it doesn't sound like), then I would suggest a quality one.

 

[lucasd2002]

So you guys think electric is definitely a better choice than pneumatic for an angle grinder?

 

[johnny1290]

On advice of this board, that's what I did, got 2 x 4.5" HF cheapos, one with grinding wheel and other with cutting wheel. I think they were under $20 each on sale. I was just at HF and saw a shop owner buyijng an entire cart full of them so evidentally some other people think they 're a pretty good deal too.

As far as air tools go I love the 3/8" ratchet, 1/2" impact(don't get the cheapie HF one, its horrible), 3" cutoff wheel, angle die grinder, drill is OK but could live without, sheetmetal cutter is nice but could live without, same iwth die grinder and air hammer(although I use this more and more with penetrant oil and angle iron pressed against a tight nut to vibrate the oil into the threads) and an orbital sander and a DA

that's all I have I think, but I'd like the butterfly that people metnion from HF and the 3/8" impact, and an air nibbler, and maybe air shear and a flanging tool

If I only bought $$$ stuff I'd only have a few tools, but instead I have quite a few and they all work reasonably well(except the $10 impact). Another way to go is good used american made stuff, although I still think you'll pay more than HF and theres no guarantee of functionality(my old SO air ratchet I bought from ebay really stinks-just used up)

 

[johnny1290]

Oh I have an air angle grinder too, come think of it. If you don't have a really good compressor with a lot of tank and constant PSI, it just runs out too fast for grinding larger areas or weld of any size. It's really nice for the small size though occassionally. I'd get the electircs hands down before I'd get the air though.

and betweeen getting one good one and 2 cheapies, I'd def. get the 2 cheapies with diff wheels

my friend has a makita and is always changing those G*@#D*!N wheels between cutoff and grinding. That's the most annoying thing in the world after you do it a few times in one day!!!

from my reasearch here and on other sites, I'm not convinced the high dollar grinders are worth the extra dough for what I do, which is real basic stuff. They all burn out, and I'd have to replace a whole lot of HFs before I'd equal one makita.

 

[PoorOwner]

I have an orange 4.5" grinder from HF and it's on sale all the time for $15 . Surprisingly, it spins true and seems to work just as good as craftsman. Same Chinese stuff anyway. While i don't expect it to be a grinding monster, I just put a flap wheel on it and use it to do finishing work. But a 10 Amp Dewalt will be in my future upgrade.

 

[Jared]

I definitely buy a die grinder and use the arbor and cut off wheel, the angle drill spins to slow to be of much use for cutting.