Shopsmith Forums

I'm looking to buy one. But I am very picky so my search has been hard. I refuse to buy one that is not made in america... and I'm on a tight budget. So it maybe a bit before I find what I want. A good old vintage steel compressor.

I want to build a sand blasting booth for restoring my tools.
also want brad and finishing tools.

maybe i could dry my fiance's hair faster and get out the door quicker?

I'm looking to buy a new compressor. While in the middle of a project, mine caught fire (literally) and burnt up. You would know that this happened about 2 weeks past the extended warranty from Sears. (I had a Craftsman 15 g vertical compressor with only a couple of hours on it) Most of Craftsman's compressors are made by DeVillibus (a good pneumatic tool company in my opinion) and after calling the company I was told that a new compressor engine would be almost $100.00 more than what I paid for it originally. Needless to say, i'm NOT looking for a oil-less compressor. I found one at Lowes, 30 gallon vertical belt driven that leaves about the same foot print but its slightly out of my price range at this time. I was looking into a Ingersoll Rand compressor which was 25 gallons through craigs list but the seller could not provide information, or rather the information he provided did not match any of the pictures of the one he had.

I agree with the earlier posts.......a compressor in the wood shop is too valuable to pass up.

Develbliss was once a premier air tool company, but it got bought by Penair the same company that owned Delta-Porter Cable. Penair has since sold Delta-Porter Cable to Black and Decker who owns Dewalt. B&D had already bought a compressor company (I can't remember the name) but I think they made most of the compressors like Cambell Hausfeld and such.

I'm not sure where Develbliss fell out in all of this.

Ingersol Rand and Thompson to my understanding are perhaps the best compressor manufactures going today. However I think there is a ton of misinformation and misunderstanding about compressors.

Most home owners buy compressors to spray paint yet pressure spraying is quickly becoming a thing of the past. So some companies offer conversion HVLP spray guns that can be connected to older compressors. However this is a compromise at best and at worst can be very upsetting.

Today there are many HVLP turbine units that are being sold targeted at home owner/hobbiest. These usually are superior to HVLP conversions and are also much smaller, less expensive when all costs are figured in.

Most homeowners/hobbiest use a compressor most of the time to inflate things. Then they use them to power air tools, everything from air sockets to jiggerbug sanders to DA Grinders to air nailers. Lastly they use them to spray finishes/paint.

In my opinion the homeowner is further ahead of the game buying a smaller air tool compressor (usually a pancake or something with no more than six gallon tank) and a HVLP spray unit.

The smaller compressors will power everything a homowner/hobbiest do 99% of the time and save space. The HVLP homeowner units will produce a paint finish far superior to anything most homeowners will achieve with a pressure sprayer or conversion gun.

Plus you will save big bucks.

My compressor got stolen I had a 35 year old top of the line Sears 25 gallon compressor that would power and do anything. I went to replace it. To my amazement I found I couldn't come near it for less than twice to three times what I originally paid. Plus the new one would be twice the size which was large to start with. I bought what I though was an exact replacement a 25 gallon unit from Tractor Supply. I brought it home used it a week and took it back. It was noisey (even though it was oil lubed cast iron). I then went looking. I tried everything before I bought. I finally settled on a PorterCable (before they were sold to Dewalt) C3150 unit. So far it has done everything I want even doing some light spray painting and this is a direct drive oilless compressor unit that is very quiet.

However knowing what I know now I would have been better off buying a PC combo that had Framing nailer, finish nailer and brad nailer along with compressor, hoses and fittings for only about $100 more than I paid for mine.
Live in learn!

For serious painting I'm in process of buying a HVLP unit either the one sold by Rockler or Woodcraft for $100 I have used it and it is super. I'm no expert in painting but I have spray painted 5 houses, 3 cars and untold number of furniture so I know a little. This cheap $100 HVLP makes me look like an expert. Incidently I have since learned the only way to paint a house is with high pressure paint pump, No contest!!!!! HD sells a home owner paint pump by Wagner for under $300 and you can rent pro units for $25 a day.

I said all this to say. I'm convinced that for someone doing homeowner/hobbist type work a "pancake compressor" with suitable capacity and a nice HVLP is the way to go. They both take less space than a tank compressor, cost far less and both excel at the jobs they were designed for.
Ed

Air nailers, sanders, drills, tools for cars, etc.

If you can, buy a compressor that uses oil. Do not buy an oil-less compressor. The ones with oil last longer, and a big plus is they are much quieter when they are running.

I used to sell tools, and still know people in that trade, wholesale. My current information on compressors is that most problems that consumers have with air compressors is with the oil-less variety. My source says that he very seldom has to deal with warranty issues with the oil type, but he wood NEVER purchase an oil-less one.

One other thing to consider is the volume of air that your tools will use. If you are only inflating tires or using a brad nailer, or using a cup gun to paint a small area of your car, a small compressor will do; however, if you use air for long periods of time, say to blow out the sawdust in your shop, or to feed air to air tools like impact wrenches and air ratchets, or to use a cup gun to paint your whole car, these tools may use more volume of air then those small compressors will generate. You then have to wait for your compressor to catch-up; something that you will tire of.

[quote="If you can, buy a compressor that uses oil. Do not buy an oil-less compressor. The ones with oil last longer, and a big plus is they are much quieter when they are running.[/QUOTE"]

Great, I just bought a craftsman 26 gal, oil-free a couple of months ago.

shydragon wrote:Great, I just bought a craftsman 26 gal, oil-free a couple of months ago.

That's O.K. Pat! The little oil free compressor I have has been performing since 1995 when I bought our motorhome. If I painted with compressed air or used air power tool (other than an 18ga brad nailer) I would have a larger, maybe oil lubricated. One thing I like about the smaller ones is the portability.

If you going to debate oiled versus oil less you have to include everything in the mix.

First it is said they are quieter. Not true I can show you oiless machines that are far quieter than oil lubed.

Durability ask your Dentist what type he is using. I will bet it is oilless and it is running all day and the Dentist can't afford a break down. By the way do you ever hear your dentist's compressor running? Probably not because oilless can be very very quiet.

Maintaince oiled compressors must have their oil checked regularily and changed fairly often. Also they must be ran on fairly level surface to insure proper lube. Oh by the way they are about twice as loud as they were 30 years ago. I think the compressor built today is built sloppy, the tolerances are greater and I think the compressor is turned faster to make the compressor performance more in line with oil less units.

Here in Florida we use a contraption called a Hooka to dive with. Basically it is an oil less compressor hooked to a Briggs and Stanton motor, that allows you to dive to about 30 feet (deep as you can go without much worry about decompression on surfacing) on a hose. The whole mess sits in a inner tube and you either throw it in the water or on the dive platform behind the boat. My buddy has one and we run through tanks full of gas during lobster season with the compressor sitting in the water (salt environment) and have never had a compressor failure. Although we have had to replace the oil lubed gas engine a few times. The engine are the good B&S engines with balancers and iron cylinders so I think it is good comparsion.

At one time oilless compressors were noisey, and failure prone but that time has long passed. When I bought my compressor I went to the Porter Cable factory store where my friends worked. I could buy oil lubed or oilless. I could buy big tank or smaller more manageble tank. They had them all. My friends recommended the one I bought and when I walked back into the repair section I looked at what they were using. Guess what it was an quiet oiless machine that had never been unplugged for 10 years and was running like it was new.

Go to any construction site and see what they are using. I have seen those machines used, thrown in the sand piles, dragged up on sloping roofs, dropped back to the ground and othewise abused. Everyone I have seen in the last 5 years was oilless.

I can not tell you how much I enjoy my compressor, how much room I gained, and how nice it is to be able to lift it up (although it was a pull handle and wheels) and take it where ever I needed. I can throw in my truck myself, (something I would like to see you do with a 20 gallon plus oil lubed compressor. I ahve had it in the master bath air chiseling tile floor up and rebuilding the whole room, up on my roof replacing some sheeting and shingling, up to my daugthers to have air for my air tools for her projects.

Since it is so small and light it can be taken camping if your are going camping with motorcycles or 4 wheelers, connected to a generator you can use any tool you need and inflate tires, swimming rafts and blow junk out of the tents and campers.

Ed

I am glad that you like your oil-less compressor, Ed! I am glad that you have had no problems with it! May that always be!:D

Tim
I didn't mean to contradict you on this. I just think there are many factors that must be considered. After my first attempt to replace my stolen compressor ended in such failure I began studying and talking to industry "experts" and I think I learned a lot. By the way I'm told warrantee/factory repair reports does not support the claim oil lubed have less problems than oilless. Also the industry expects to be total oilless shortly.

I think the main thing is to learn the rating of any compressor you buy.
You have maxium pressure and a thing called CFM at various pressure setting.

Maxium pressure is just that, how much pressure the compressor is able to generate. Older units were usually in the 100-120 PSI range. Today some of the newer unit are capable of 150-250+ PSI. Obviously the higher the pressure the more air that can be stored in the same size container.

Then there is this thing called CFM (Cubic Feet Per Minute) within a range.
Most ratings are at 40 PSI and 90PSI
I have seen compressors that are able to produce .5 to 27+ CFM at 40 PSI.
Also they are rated a 90 PSI and show again a wide range most falling within .5 to 15+ CFM at 90 lbs.

You need to buy a compressor that supplies the right CFM for your tool at the correct pressure. For instance if your tool requires 3CFM at 40 PSI you must have a compressor that can produce at least 3 CFM at 40 PSI. Likewise a tool that requires 6 CFM at 40PSI will not function well on a compressor that only produces 4 CFM at 40PSI.

There are two other things you need to look for that most people don't.

First is how much drop off is there between 40PSI and 90PSI. If you have two compressors one rated at 6CFM at 40 psi and 1.7 CFM at 90PSI
and the other rated at 6CFm at 40 PSI and 5CFM at 90 PSI the latter is the better compressor. The first one either is rated at the very edge, has no check valves (built cheap) or is being turned faster (which causes the most wear and heat) or has so much slop it leaks air on compression. Many of the newer oil lubed compressors that I have seen have huge drop offs.

The other thing you need to look for and nobody does is run time. Most compressors do have a run time rating. Some are as low a 20% which means the compressor is built to run on about 20% each hour of the time it being used. Therefore if you need a 4CFM at 40PSI and you buy a compressor that supplies 40 CFM at 40PSI with a run time of 20% you better only use the tool less than 12 minutes every hour or you will burn the compressor up. In fact I believe the correct formula is the compressor should only be on 20% or less of the time air is being drawn off.

Likewise some compressors are rated at 50%-100% run time meaning they can run 30 minutes each hour of use up to 60minutes for each hour of use.

Most people buy a compressor to that is too small, has too short of a run time but big impressive numbers like 60 gallon tanks and 250 max PSI. Then they wonder why it burns up when they are using a tool that requires 4CFM at 90PSI and their compressor has a 50% run time but only produces 4 CFM at 90 causing it to run almost continuously until the heat gets too high and something happens.

My oiless PC is rated at 6 CFM at 90 psi with a run time of 50%. When the compressor turns on it takes 15 seconds for it to build pressure back up from the low pressure kick on setting. I have tested my compressor by letting it get up to full pressure then setting the discharge PSI to 90 and opening the hose. It takes 35 seconds for the pressure to drop to where the compressor turns on and after 15 seconds it turns off again. So it rests 20 seconds of every cycle. This is a with a open hose nothing connected just blowing air at 90PSI Therefore if I keep the pressure at 90PSI or below I'm well within the 50% run time number and machine runs cools.
Ed
Edited to change my mistake I said I set the compressor for 60 PSI it should read I set it for 90PSI in the last paragraph.