New Air Tool Recommendations Please.

[scottguehne]

I've been shopping around for awhile now, doing all sorts of price comparisons, as well as quality, power, and weight comparisons. I've been looking into primarily die grinders (both straight and right angle), 3" cut off tools, and impact hammers, or air hammers or air chisels.....whatever you like to call them. I've been thinking about getting an extreme duty Campbell Hausfeld straight die grinder, and an extreme duty cut off wheel. The die grinder is 2/3 horse, and the cut off is 3/4 horse. I've never bought or used anything from campbell hausfeld, but I know it is a name that has been around forever. Both of these tools are around $52. Not a bad price at all, considering a 1/2 horse cut off from Chicago Pneumatic is about $100, and a similar die grinder is the same, about 100 bucks. A 1/3 horse die grinder just aint got the guts for me. I have used a 1/2 horse cut off tool (Ingersoll Rand), but it ran outta 'shmoo' on thicker materials. I cannot find any cfm specs on the campbell hausfeld tools though, and cfm is a definite factor in my purchase. Any thoughts out there? Recommendations?

 

[gofastman]

I've been shopping around for awhile now, doing all sorts of price comparisons, as well as quality, power, and weight comparisons. I've been looking into primarily die grinders (both straight and right angle), 3" cut off tools, and impact hammers, or air hammers or air chisels.....whatever you like to call them. I've been thinking about getting an extreme duty Campbell Hausfeld straight die grinder, and an extreme duty cut off wheel. The die grinder is 2/3 horse, and the cut off is 3/4 horse. I've never bought or used anything from campbell hausfeld, but I know it is a name that has been around forever. Both of these tools are around $52. Not a bad price at all, considering a 1/2 horse cut off from Chicago Pneumatic is about $100, and a similar die grinder is the same, about 100 bucks. A 1/3 horse die grinder just aint got the guts for me. I have used a 1/2 horse cut off tool (Ingersoll Rand), but it ran outta 'shmoo' on thicker materials. I cannot find any cfm specs on the campbell hausfeld tools though, and cfm is a definite factor in my purchase. Any thoughts out there? Recommendations?

Welcome to the board!
I would start with a search on "air tools" the're allot of threads about this allready.
that said, stay away from Campbell Hausfeld unless money is super tight, they arnt very powerfull and waste allot of air.
I really like AirCat tools.

 

[kartracer55]

I doubt the CH tools will outperform an IR or CP.

Im generally not a big fan of CP tools, but the CP861 is a workhorse of a cutoff tool. Yeah, it will bog down but It's the only cut off tool floating around the shop at work and It cuts everything we ask it too. Exhaust hangars, inner races on wheel bearings, bolts etc etc.

You might wanna look at Husky. Some of the stores may still have the 3 year warrantied Florida Pneumatic USA made die grinders that I believe are rated at like 1/2 HP and are around 50$ as well.

If you need more power, why not a 4 1/2 inch angle grinder and a cutoff wheel??

 

[scottguehne]

Angle grinder doesn't fit everywhere, thats my main reason. But the angle grinder makes a larger cut, double the size. I've never found a 1/32" cut off wheel for an angle grinder, 1/16" is the smallest I have found. A friend of mine has a campbell hausfeld pistol sander/grinder that he says has held up just fine, and he likes it. Other than that, I've heard no opinions on CH stuff either way, and I'm just looking for some insight. Thanks guys.

 

[SteveU]

I've been shopping around for awhile now, doing all sorts of price comparisons, as well as quality, power, and weight comparisons. I've been looking into primarily die grinders (both straight and right angle), 3" cut off tools, and impact hammers, or air hammers or air chisels.....whatever you like to call them. I've been thinking about getting an extreme duty Campbell Hausfeld straight die grinder, and an extreme duty cut off wheel. The die grinder is 2/3 horse, and the cut off is 3/4 horse. I've never bought or used anything from campbell hausfeld, but I know it is a name that has been around forever. Both of these tools are around $52. Not a bad price at all, considering a 1/2 horse cut off from Chicago Pneumatic is about $100, and a similar die grinder is the same, about 100 bucks. A 1/3 horse die grinder just aint got the guts for me. I have used a 1/2 horse cut off tool (Ingersoll Rand), but it ran outta 'shmoo' on thicker materials. I cannot find any cfm specs on the campbell hausfeld tools though, and cfm is a definite factor in my purchase. Any thoughts out there? Recommendations?

I have & would recommend the aircat 90* die grinder, Dynabrade long neck cutoff, and IR 121 super duty air hammer. One thing you will find is the cheaper air tools are not as efficient & use more air ( and have less power) than the higher quality ones. My 5 hp Eaton compressor will keep up with the aircat die grinder where it will slowly lose ground with the cheap die grinder I have. Buying the better grade of tool is more expensive in the short term but cheaper & less frustrating in the long run because it does the job it is designed for & you don't have to re-buy the good one when the cheap one lets you down.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

ingersoll is pretty reasonable

 

[Merkava_4]

A 1/3 horse die grinder just aint got the guts for me.

The Sioux 1954HP with the silencer removed is a brute. It'll twist your arm when you press the trigger.

 

[LoneGunman]

I was not too impressed with the CH air tools I have had. I refuse to buy air tools new, theres just so many used on Fleabay to choose from. I'd stay away from ARO though, great tools but repair parts are not easy. I concentrate on buying Dotco, Sioux, Dynabrade, IR. Perfect example is an air drill, Dotco with a Jacobs chuck, great feedback and a BIN of $40.

 

[billymade]

I wouln't even considor CH stuff... if you want something that will last and work well! For a die grinder/cut off tool; I love my Mac badged Florida Pneumatic FPT3801A; not bad @ $50... I have had it since the mid 90s still going strong!
Good deal here, check it out:
http://www.google.com/products?q=florida+pneumatic+cut+off+tool&oe=UTF-8&scoring=p
http://www.florida-pneumatic.com/

Don't discount used stuff too; I don't think I have purchased any of my air tools new! Buy used pro tools; at cheap prices! Many used air tools are essentially new that just sat in someone's toolbox and didn't get much use or the other extreme beat and don't work. My pawn shop will let me buy and take to the shop to try 'em out and give me a refund if they don't work. Good luck!

 

[scottguehne]

I agree with you Steve, I would much prefer to buy a more expensive tool right off the bat, than just get by with a cheapie that will end up letting me down. The IR 121 super duty air hammer I'm afraid may not have enough nuts to it. I had the 132 air hammer from IR, and I found that it ran outta gas doing certain frame work, as well as bushing removal, and the 132 is their baddest hammer. I've been looking at a CP 717, seems to be the baddest out there, and the cfm requirement aint rediculous.
Like I said earlier, I can find no specs on CH tools as far as CFM requirements go, and a low cfm is important to me.
As far as ebay goes, I've been on there a lot, watching like a hawk. I'm not above buying a nice used tool.

 

[Merkava_4]

Why don't we talk about one type of air tool at a time? These air tool threads are already complicated enough without throwing in all kinds of air tools into the mix; that's why I normally stay out of these air tool threads.

 

[scottguehne]

Something I dont understand is how can 2 similar tools have such different specs. This is kinda gonna go against common sense here. Generally, you pay a higher price, you get a higher quality. Well, a Chicago Pneumatic 861 cut off has 1/2 horse, but with an avg. CFM consumption of 8.5, while a cheap harbor freight unit consumes about 4 cfm. Ok, so maybe the HF unit is 1/3 horse, or maybe 1/4. The HF tool may need half the cfm, but it may also be half the power. The HF unit is 1/5 the price of the CP, 20$ to 100$. Craftsman has a cut off tool, 1/2 horse and 6.5 cfm. 2 cubic feet less, thats a lot. The craftsman also only costs about 65 bucks. Jet makes a similar tool. .5 horsepower, with only 4 CFM consumption! The Jet is about 45 dollars, even cheaper than the craftsman, or the campbell hausfeld, with a cfm lower than them all, except for the HF unit. What can be determined from all this? Do some manufacturers cheat a little bit? fudge the numbers? How can similar tools have such different prices as well as specs? This is where I get lost. After comparing so many tools, and getting these kinds of results, how do you decide which is better? Which tool do you trust to get the job done?
Thanks to all who've tried to shed some light here though, I appreciate everyone's opinions, as it is slowly helping me make up my own mind.

 

[scottguehne]

While I was typing all that, I read your message Merkava. If it makes you feel any better, we can just stick to a cut off tool at this point. I'll agree with ya, lets build one bridge at a time.

 

[billymade]

I think it is like anything that is marketed and sold; there is all the specs that can drive you nuts and then there is "real world usage". When you actually use the tools; the good ones shake out quickly; they are powerful enough to do the job, are durable and get the job done. You can get sucked into a black hole checking specs for ever... thats one really good thing about this board, people can tell you from actually using the tool, what is good out there... Specs can only tell you so much! good luck!