Sorry Busta, Charles' recommendation is a tough act to follow with a one word answer. Thanks though. I'll keep watching the comp on ebay. My wife doesn't understand why my 33-gallon oilless craftsman compressor isn't good enough for some reason.
I bought mine new. I was using a "4 hp" 20 gal Sears compressor with a aluminum oil filled pump with iron cylinders. It worked great, just not enough compressor to run a TP Tools blast cabinet and now that I had a big shop, I wanted an equally big compressor. I figured out that the 5 hp models, the real 5 hp ones, two stage, 80 gal, would be marginal with the blast cabinet. I looked at expensive ones (7.5hp), such as the Curtis, the Saylor-Beal, Quincy, Champion and others, but it was more money than I could afford. I looked at some of the cheaper 7.5 hp models such as the one made up in the Carolinas that Harbor Freight sells, but decided it was on the too cheap end of the spectrum (though I now really think it is a good unit). I looked at the C-H units, always figuring it was a cheap consumer grade, and finally decided it was somewhere between consumer grade and commercial/industrial grade such as Champion or Quincy. Knowing that Home Depot sold the same unit with different paint on it, I bought it when H-D offered the free year, no interest card deal. I signed up for the card, bought the compressor, put the card in the desk drawer, paid it off about a month before the deadline, called and canceled the card.
I haven't had a minutes trouble from the compressor, and it does move a lot of air.
Charles
