Pancake air compressors

[carhouse]

My dad is looking for a cheap air compressor that will work for a finishing nailer.

He isn't going to need it for any other air tool but wanted to know if you guys think it would be OK for a finishing nailer in cheap wood (not hard wood)

He don't care if you can get only a small hand full of nails in at a time until pressure builds up again.

Any thoughts at a 100 PSI 3 Gallon compressor will it work?

Thanks

 

[Chadwilliam1]

anything will work even a 1 gallon with 1/4 hose.a harbor freight model will be fine

 

[F-117HWK]

Porter Cable Kit

This is the compressor both my friend and I have and its been stellar. It gets used almost every weekend with staple/brad/finish/pin/framing,etc guns and hasnt missed a beat for either of us. It can be purchased by itself or with multiple different kits I believe.

 

[Regnar]

The small ones will make it so your dad will never want to use a brad nailer. If that is all he is going to use it for then I would have a look at CO2 canister. I know lowes use to sell one but I have heard that it might leak. I know that it only cost about 5.00 to refill at any paintball refill station and a small bottle that clips onto your belt will shoot in over 1,000 brad nails.

Have a look at Powertank.com

 

[F-117HWK]

The small ones will make it so your dad will never want to use a brad nailer. If that is all he is going to use it for then I would have a look at CO2 canister. I know lowes use to sell one but I have heard that it might leak. I know that it only cost about 5.00 to refill at any paintball refill station and a small bottle that clips onto your belt will shoot in over 1,000 brad nails.

Have a look at Powertank.com

Why exactly is that? I constantly use my brad nailer with mine. Why would you want to switch to something that runs out of air and you have to pay to refill? I just flip a switch and Im ready to go.

Plus he said "finish nailer" not brad nailer.

 

[cburnscrx]

Porter Cable Kit

This is the compressor both my friend and I have and its been stellar. It gets used almost every weekend with staple/brad/finish/pin/framing,etc guns and hasnt missed a beat for either of us. It can be purchased by itself or with multiple different kits I believe.

I bought this from my Home Depot, it was on clearance/sale for $49.99

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-Cable-3-5-Gal-135-psi-Pancake-Compressor-PCFP02003/203254365

Can't go wrong for $50

 

[F-117HWK]

I bought this from my Home Depot, it was on clearance/sale for $49.99

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-Cable-3-5-Gal-135-psi-Pancake-Compressor-PCFP02003/203254365

Can't go wrong for $50

Yep, basically the same as I have but at 3.5gal. I opted for the larger one as I needed it on some jobs and having two outlets was a plus so we can run multiple guns at the same time.

Grabbing that for $50 was a steal!

 

[carhouse]

I bought this from my Home Depot, it was on clearance/sale for $49.99

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Porter-Cable-3-5-Gal-135-psi-Pancake-Compressor-PCFP02003/203254365

Can't go wrong for $50

do they ever go on sale that low again?

seems a lot better than the HF one

 

[Chadwilliam1]

I have a 6 gallon porter cable. It works great, loud as hell but no issues.

 

[Holt]

Porter Cable here, Just finished some wainscoting and 1/4 round. Worked flawlessly. Came with Pancake compressor, brad nailer, finish nailer. Paid 260 at home depot. I would buy this again. The bradnailer is what I used the most and it worked fine. Compressor was a little loud buy when your doing construction work who cares.

 

[Regnar]

Why exactly is that? .

I find them extremely loud. They are not enjoyable to have in the same room.

My father has a CO2 system and to be honest I would love to have it. I talked to him today and he said he absolutely will not go back to a compressor. He said he enjoys just grabbing the small cylinder and curly hose and going. He mentioned he will not fill his tires with it as he thinks it will deteriorate the tire from the inside

Both of us had Oil-less Pancakes by Porter Cable. Will the shoot in nails, Sure. Will you want to be in different room when the go off, Hell yeah.

I know the system is expensive, I was just offering it up as another option for the application the OP is needing. 750 finish Nails is alot of nails to put in before charging again. Much better than the Paslode system and much cheaper. I believe the Lowes system is similar to their Propane Program.

 

[cburnscrx]

do they ever go on sale that low again?

seems a lot better than the HF one

I think mine was a clearance situation, but just a couple of months ago? Go check out the store, as they weren't exactly advertising it when I bought mine. There were 3 of them, tucked in a corner underneath the displays, with no display of the actual unit.

I think the spring is the time for new air compressor models. I bought an 8 gallon Husky the year before for $50 too. I wanted the pancake to do trim.

 

[#1SomeGuy]

My only recommendation is make sure it's a 125psi (or higher max psi). The 100psi ones will fall down to around 80psi before they refill and at 80psi line pressure some nail guns won't have the guts to sink the nails flush with the surface.

 

[jjjrmx5]

I find them extremely loud. They are not enjoyable to have in the same room.

Sounds like a lot of my ex-girlfriends.

Hmmmm..

LOLZ.

It's a tool. You wnat quiet, write a check, hire a contractor and spend the day away from the house.

My lawnmower is loud. But yet i seem to have to use it every week. Well, unless I write the check and head out to lunch.



A Porter Cable or DeWalt pancake will suit the OP's needs just fine.
BTDT.
CraigsList is one area I;d check for just this once for something like that.
I've seen folks move up in compressor size and sell off the pancakes pretty cheap.