Air compressors are electric (well most of em). My advice to the OP and thread title is if you need to ask the question as to which is better, air vs electric well it probably doesn't matter to you either will and have up to this point done what you require. A full time tech don't need to ask such a question, he knows what he needs to make his day as efficient as possible and what's important to him is probably not relevant to someone who needs to ask the question. Get it?...
Air vs Electric tools
- Thread starter u3b3rg33k
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speed bump
Well-known member
My next gamble a decent amount of money purchase will be a bosch 6" DA to see if it can even get close to my Dynabrade. Reason being I can run my electrical bill up $20-40 in a month pretty easily doing a lot of sanding. If I only run it up $5 with the Bosch it pays for itself in a few projects compared to another air sander.
Haven't successfully found a replacement for the sandblaster though.
Haven't successfully found a replacement for the sandblaster though.
Not sure I saw any advice there.
if you're a full-time tech at a shop where the compressor and it's operational expenses are OPM, then go nuts. if he's buying his own tools, and a plug in cut off tool is the same money as an air tool, then other factors are in play - i.e. which version tool is "better" and why. comfort, vibration, control, ease of use all come to mind.
FSrepair&fabrication
Well-known member
It makes perfect sense. If youre not turning wrenches professionally you can probably get by without it. But air is a must have for anyone doing serious work where time is money. When youre working on your own time you can putz around trying this and trying that take a break and post on here to ask questions about how to do it. In the working world you have a boss and/or a customer breathing down your neck as you work so nothing but the best and most efficient way will do. I could probably suffer thru and do 90% of my work without air, but It would take me alot longer to do any given job with a handicap like no air. When I do a job for a customer that is say 6 hours book time, Its hard to bill them for any more time than that without a good reason. So It makes sense that I use the best equipment available for the job to increase my productivity.
You could probably do most mechanical jobs with nothing but a set of combination wrenches and a screwdriver or 2, but it would take forever. How valueable is your time to you? Thats the bottom line really.
You could probably do most mechanical jobs with nothing but a set of combination wrenches and a screwdriver or 2, but it would take forever. How valueable is your time to you? Thats the bottom line really.
I don't think anyone is asking "can it be done". i've seen production work in factories being done with milwaukee & makita battery tools. these same facilities have more than adequate factory air systems, so there must be a reason they chose the battery tools. I imagine the battery wins out in maneuverability by not being tethered. it wasn't what I expected to see.
what I've looked into more often than not the good air tool is about the same price as the good battery tool. where I see air win out is when the good battery tool is on/off while the air tool is variable speed.
as for continuous operation, if you've got a pile of 5AH or bigger 18v batteries, I think you can charge them faster than one man could deplete them.
One of the neatest tools i've used was the 8V dewalt gyroscope screwdriver. after 5 minutes you wonder how you lived without it - it's artfully simple, and it just works. the tech I who let me try it wouldn't let it out of his sight.
what I've looked into more often than not the good air tool is about the same price as the good battery tool. where I see air win out is when the good battery tool is on/off while the air tool is variable speed.
as for continuous operation, if you've got a pile of 5AH or bigger 18v batteries, I think you can charge them faster than one man could deplete them.
One of the neatest tools i've used was the 8V dewalt gyroscope screwdriver. after 5 minutes you wonder how you lived without it - it's artfully simple, and it just works. the tech I who let me try it wouldn't let it out of his sight.
James-W
Well-known member
I have air tools, I have electric corded tools, and I have cordless tools. They all have their place.
When I am working in the garage, I prefer to use air tools when I can. I have an air powered drill and an air powered orbital sander which I use a lot more than I use the electric ones. I have numerous air tools, but the drill and the sander are the two air powered tools that I use the most. The drill is quite small but very powerful and the sander is a bit heavy, but works just great.
When I am working in the garage, I prefer to use air tools when I can. I have an air powered drill and an air powered orbital sander which I use a lot more than I use the electric ones. I have numerous air tools, but the drill and the sander are the two air powered tools that I use the most. The drill is quite small but very powerful and the sander is a bit heavy, but works just great.
danb35
Well-known member
I was working on building a kit airplane at one point, and used a 1/4" air drill in that project. Loved that tool. Compact, lightweight, fairly high RPM--exactly the thing for drilling small holes in Al sheet. Weighed much less than any electric (cordless or corded) drill I've seen. Yes, it's only a 1/4" chuck--but for that application, that wasn't a limitation at all.
An air drill stops instantly when you take your finger off the trigger. An electric slow speed drill will keep going a while. An 1/2" air drill is so much smaller than a heavy duty electric slow speed drill.
I grew up using air drills because that's what Dad had. When I actually used one of his electric drops they always felt heavy and course compared to the air drills.
The fine trigger control is nice as is the low inertia. They are light and don't get hot. Just all around nice to use. Hard to say exactly. I will say that after getting my father a cordless drill about 10 years back he does use a 12V mini Bosch drill. It works when the low RPM isn't an issue. No cord is nice. I think the fastest of his air drills is like 3400 RPM. It's also lighter yet has more power than the Bosch. His actual plug in drills only come out when he needs to mix or hammer drill or put a large hole in steel plate.
rlitman
Well-known member
They're not a good all-around tool like a VSR, but in more limited situations, they shine.
Aircraft mechanics will drill thousands of holes for rivets. Lots of small holes, all the same size, where variable speed buys you nothing.
I keep a countersink permanently chucked in one of my air drills.
hangfirew8
Well-known member
Yes, that's my point. Efficiency is beyond secondary to winning the race. Efficiency is also secondary to getting the job done.
Other efficiencies can be found. A tool motor that doesn't overheat. A smaller , lighter tool. Lighter than a 6AH battery.
What matters is the job gets done.
No one every put on the garage bill "completed at 87% energy transfer efficiency." Nor is the number of cordless battery swaps charged nor how many air tools were used. It's either done (and billed) or it's not.
So at the end of the day, if it fits comfortably within the shop's overhead rate, what matters is the job gets done, the customer gets billed, everyone's happy.
As I've said many times, I use cordless tools, they will continue to improve and encroach on traditional air tool territory. I will continue to buy them just as I continue to buy air tools. Not once have I been noticeably impacted by the electricity bill after a busy day in my garage.
But if I have to spend 3 hours grinding ports, you better believe it's going to be with an air die grinder, and not a Foredom, and certainly not with something cordless.
you just said efficiency doesn't matter, and then said "so long as it's cost efficient". that's the point i'm trying to get with this thread. very few people sit there and think about what it costs to operate X tool while running it. I don't even think about the cost of my 5kW heater in the garage. but I do care about the electric bill when it comes due.
we all choose tools based on cost efficiency. If not, we'd all have the most epic garages of all time, and snap-on would repossess our houses in about a week flat. upfront cost is a major player, and ongoing cost is not far behind.
In my auto business expenses the compressor running cost is trivial .
You either need it or you don't , site worker or mobile guy not really, a capable shop/production setting it has many roles .
I need it as no other options and cost is low enough for equipment/capability it provides .
You either need it or you don't , site worker or mobile guy not really, a capable shop/production setting it has many roles .
I need it as no other options and cost is low enough for equipment/capability it provides .
sberry
Banned
Air won't go away but battery tools are Godsend. They are so convenient and fast. Make so many jobs so easy. I am down a drill, wornout and need to replace it.
hangfirew8
Well-known member
First of all, don't put it in double quotes, and attribute it to me, if I did not say exactly that... which I did not. Very bad forum manners, there.
Most home and garage journal air users will never notice the electric bill difference of a 60 or 80 gallon compressor. Maybe if they run a blast cabinet or sander all day long. That's not most of us and for those of us it is, it's not all day long every day.
The heater comparison is a poor one, even if overall wattage is similar. Heaters run long duty cycles, like 40-100%, from the moment we turn on the garage lights until the moment we turn them off.
If your home garage air compressor runs a 40-100% duty cycle for hours at a time, you're either a worker super-hero, you have a gross air leak, or your compressor is wildly undersized. And if it doesn't run at that duty cycle, chances are good you'll hardly notice it on your electric bill.
Way to nitpick. why don't you quote the whole post where I did attribute your exact words to you? being a whiner isn't "great forum manners" either.
back to the point i was trying to make, is that cost DOES matter, you said it yourself.
we have tons of 25+ hp motors at work that run continuously. most of them now have drives on them to cut costs. ROI on a drive is <2 years.
back to the point i was trying to make, is that cost DOES matter, you said it yourself.
we have tons of 25+ hp motors at work that run continuously. most of them now have drives on them to cut costs. ROI on a drive is <2 years.
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hangfirew8
Well-known member
This is Garage Journal. Not tons of 25+HP electric motors journal.
-HF
-HF
So talking about shop overhead rates was a straw man? why are you even posting in this thread?
hangfirew8
Well-known member
I know of no garages that have tons of 25+HP electric motors. One or two big motors, maybe. Usually a garage has one big air compressor in the 10 to 15HP range. A really big dealer might have two larger compressors. When you talk "tons" you're probably talking industry. When I talk shop overhead I'm not talking about mass production. I'm talking about garages. Places where cars get fixed.
Farmall450
Well-known member
^ This
Battery for pros, too, until they're whaling on it. Most of the time you'll need an air line for tires or a hammer anyhow.
Battery tools have and probably will continue to eat into a number of the areas where air tools have been king (impacts, ratchets, hand held grinders and sanders, to a lesser extent drills - air drills were a specialty, not king). How much they take over is the question. Battery drills are probably the majority of the market. Both pros and amatuers can come up with reasons to like battery impacts (pros - no hose to get in the way or tether you to a station, amateur - the above and no compressor to buy). Some, like me will say they already have the air tools and see no reason to replace them. Others don't have anything and feel they don't need to get a compressor if a battery impact can do the same work. So that's a win for the batteries.
At the other end, I don't think anyone expects batteries to take over the paint gun or air nozzle market. Leakdown testers aren't likely to find much need for batteries.
More options are good.
At the other end, I don't think anyone expects batteries to take over the paint gun or air nozzle market. Leakdown testers aren't likely to find much need for batteries.
More options are good.