Starter Air Compressor - Makita MAC700

[mtd240]

Considering picking up a Makita MAC700 during the Zoro sale today.

I am an automotive DIY-er, and have been using an electric impact (works fine), but could easily find a lot of use for a couple simple air-powered "tools" (air gun for caliper rebuilds and general use, die grinder, tire inflator, etc). Would the Makita be able to handle it?

I know nothing about air compressors. I'm guessing I would need to buy the compressor, a hose (1/4" coupling in the case of the lil' Makita), and then the tools?

Just want to make sure there is nothing I am missing - any/all advice would be helpful.

If there is already a thread on this subject, please direct me to it!

 

[RKA]

I have this compressor and wouldn't advise it for the purposes you stated. It will work fine for filling tires, blowing dust, nail guns, however it will fall short operating an impact wrench or a die grinder. Someone will tell you they do it and it works fine. It all depends on what you need that impact wrench to do. I have a cordless impact driver good for about 100 ft-lbs. For light duty stuff, I'll use that. When I pick up the impact gun, I need it to have some oomph, and with a compressor like the MAC700, it will have a had time exceeding what that cordless driver can do. The minimum I'd want is their twin stack compressor for the impact wrench and even that won't allow you to get the most out of the impact wrench. Ideally, get a 15-30 gallon 110v compressor for impact wrenches. The 15-30 gallon will work a die grinder in a pinch, but you'll frequently need to stop to let the compressor catch up.

For automotive DIY, I have an IR 20 gallon garage-mate. It's not a big boy compressor, I can get enough torque out of my impact guns to do suspension work without breaking a sweat, and I can get 10-15 seconds out of the cut off wheel before the tank runs out of steam. And I can also roll it out of the garage when needed, which is handy.