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Compressor Recommendations

S

SafetyHelmet

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I am thinking it will be cheaper to buy a compressor and blasting/painting setup and do all the bodywork I need myself and get the truck in primer.

That being said, what do you guys recommend brand/model wise for the compressor? I'll use a blaster and a paint gun for a ton of other small projects (bike frames, motorcycle parts, etc), but I don't expect heavy use.

How big do I realistically need to go? MN gets pretty humid in the summer, the little 6 gal compressor I have today basically constantly shoots a mist of water.
 
It has been said before and I will say it again. As big as you can possible afford. Cant go wrong with a Quincy
 
I bought the exact same compressor Zim linked from Northern Tool when they had an additional $100 rebate, and I used the $100 to buy a filter/regulator combo. It was free shipping.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200350475_200350475

The next step up gets expensive quick...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451863_200451863

This was on sale too at the time...

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_41031_41031

Also, just as a warning, if you buy the maintenance kit they recommend to extend the warranty, it's not the proper one, you need the EWK kit to extend the warranty. And I am not talking about the warranty NT sells, I'm talking about the extended factory warranty.

To be honest I will probably just switch over to synthetic oil here soon before winter hits because my compressor is in an unheated area of the shop and I don't want to change the oil twice a year for weather changes since its just for personal use. The manual says to change the breakin oil after 40 hours of use, but us home shop guys don't use them that much. If you compare the pump life to the other brands quincy will outlast them all and is made in the USA, (Even the motor and pump)

Also, I didn't' pay for the liftgate service, I just backed my truck up to the semi and slid it into my truck bed with the truck driver and a couple wooden blocks. Then I used a strap around a beam loaded across 4 ceiling trusses to get it out of my truck. (very carefully)

You can get $20 off any order over $100 with this code " 184522 " (I've split one order up into 4 different orders and got $80 off instead).

Also, if you are doing painting at a minimum you will want to drain your tank immediately before and often, and put a inline dryer right before your paint gun. Or buy one of those fancy refrigerated dryers, those are big bucks.
 
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2 stage Quincy here....






quincy.jpg
 
You might want to check out this company too.
http://www.eatoncompressor.com/index.html
I bought a 15 HP 3 phase compressor from him and ran it for almost three years.
The pump went bad and he sent me a brand new one free.

I ran it about 8 more years, the pump went out again.
This time I scrapped it and went for this one

25HP rotary screw compressor with built in refrigerated dryer.
066.JPG

I own a machine shop, so I use a lot of air, plus I wanted to be able to sandblast as well.


If you plan on using a lot of air like for blasting, a piston compressor will not keep up. Also if you plan on painting, the air must be dry...period. A coalesing filter will trap a great deal of oil and water, but the only sure way to have it totally dry is by using a dryer with enough capacity to remove 100% of the condensed water vapor.

066.JPG
 
[hijack] Lowe's has Kobalt brand 60gal 220v compressors for $500. Tempting. Should I even bother?[/hijack]
 
Not if you really want to run a DA or decent sand blaster. IMO, those 7-ish (Chinese) HP 60 gallon oil bath compressors are basically the minimum level for general air tool use. I've got the Husky version, and it's a good all around machine that has served me well for the cost. But I *NEED* more. The sand blaster is completely unusable, a DA or air grinder will just run it to death (and me to deaf). A real 7 HP compressor with higher cfm at sustained pressure (usually 2 stage) on an 80 gallon tank is really where the "real shop work" becomes a reality rather than a hassle kicking at a dream. But even then a sand blaster is going to make it earn it's keep. These machines start at around $1k and rise to around $2k depending on name and quality. I've been looking at 10 HP machines, but haven't found one that was a good enough deal to pull the trigger yet. Like I said, the ~$500 Husky (with cast iron "industrial" oil bath compressor) does everything I want 360 days a year (or more), so the motivation is not huge. But there are those few days out of the year when I get so aggravated with it that I would almost just get out the credit card and buy a new one. So far I've come to my senses before committing, but maybe next time.

On a side note, I've also considered adding another 5-7 hp staged (lower pressure switch) second pump (same tank, so no wasted room) to provide the extra capacity when needed. Might be enough to finish out those few days where more is needed.
 
Learn from my lesson, i bought the husky 60 gallon for the price and cfm rating to run a sand blaster, it worked goodfor about 20 minutes then i got moisture in the line and the sandblaster stopped. i then bought a refridgerated dryer (thankfully i found one for 150) it did a good job until the air going in got way too hot for it and ran into more water. the husky creates more water in the tank than i have ever seen. i wound up picking up a speedaire 80 gallon ($150 from a government auction) with the cylinders being seperate rather than in the same block. it actually puts out more cfm and i have not had a drop of water come out of it so far. with the two compressors running i now have enough air to run the sand blasters fairly well.

if i were to do it again i'd pick one up from the government auction they have had a lot of high end compressors sell for not much, and for the most part have nothing wrong with them. i have no affliation with the site and i have purchased a lot of items from it with a lot of success but the link is www.publicsurplus.com (mods please remove link if not appropriate)
 
Thanks for the great responses, everyone!

So, it seems like I should shoot for an 80 gallon. I am leaning towards saving up for a Quincy (unless something awesome pops up on surplus!), since I need some time to run 230v service to my garage. I'm also planning on a dryer, hopefully the refrigerated type.

In relation to the compressor, I am thinking I will build a temporary blasting booth inside my garage- using thick plastic for walls and ceiling, and PVC or other piping for the frame, with some kind of box fan ventilation setup. Then for paint, I'd do a larger temporary booth using the same types of materials out on my patio in the back yard. Will that do "pretty good" for painting and blasting?

I will rent a real booth when the time comes to put new paint on my truck, but for now I'm hoping to earn some truck money on the side by doing smaller blasting and painting jobs- bicycle frames, fixing up and cleaning motorcycle parts, and so on. So for that, I'll need some kind of low-cost setup.
 
Safety you must be in outer burbs there cause never heard of anyone doing Stuff your talking about in inner city less a business. Alot to learn about MN still but wife has large family in ST cloud/Foley area and I wanna move up that way!
 
I wish, then I'd have room for all of this. It's technically a suburb, I guess. I live about 5 miles from downtown. I make what I have work though, and so far the neighbors haven't come over to complain! :waytogo:
 
ryoken said:
2 stage Quincy here....






quincy.jpg
Click to expand...
Ryoken, is yours the 60 or 80 gallon? Just wondering how well it keeps up with your blasting booth and other operations? I let the one compressor I had go, due to money issues, but my wife has told me I can get a new compressor after the new year. Thinking it would be nice to have a small blasting booth and a few other toys around the garage, now that I can actually work in there.
 
Remember when looking at compressor s look at SCFM not just cfm gives you alot more realworld number. Hopefully whatevef tools you want are rated in SCFM
 
blazinzuk said:
Remember when looking at compressor s look at SCFM not just cfm gives you alot more realworld number. Hopefully whatevef tools you want are rated in SCFM
Click to expand...
I guess some clarification is in order, as Quincy doesn't list the SCFM, only CFM and ACFM are listed anywhere that I can find for this Quincy 2 stage listed here. So, what is the difference so I can make sure I understand.
 
I inherited a Quincy. My FIL has owned this one for years before giving it to me. He used it for running a small machine shop and painting hot rods he was building. I know he has replaced the head gasket once.

 
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