That, and you really do need a lot of compressor (and a lot of tank) if you want to get any reasonable use out of a big impact wrench. While I had a couple of 'em (3/8 and 1/2), they gathered dust most of the time.

If I really wanted an impact wrench today, I'd probably get an electric one.

 

I love my electric impact from HF. It has been going great for about 6 years now. I would never consider replacing it with a pneumatic impact in a home garage. Hell I can't find a compressor for less then $500 that is not loud as ****.

 

Thats why the compressor goes outside.

 

I agree, anything at HF with moving parts inside is questionable. I did get the torque wrench, impact sockets, regular 6 point sockets, gear wrenches, and a couple ratchets and have no complaints there.

Yeah I don't expect continuous use out of the little compressor, I'm guessing I'm going to be waiting on it a lot to get the pressure back up with a big impact like that, but it should get by for the small things I do occasionally.

What I want eventually is a nice cordless impact. The torque of an air impact (sometimes more) and no cords, can take it to the track. The Milwaukee line kicks *** right now https://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-...rdless/2764-22

 

I have the compressor below. It is loud as **** and can't keep up with my die grinder. The whole experience has turned me off the pneumatic tools. I am not in the mood to drop $1000 on a compressor or build an enclosure outside.

 

my experience with air tools is you need an awesome compressor, and then they are amazing. Otherwise they arent.

 

I've been sorta disappointed with my impact. I can loosen bolts much easier with a standard breaker bar (no extension). Maybe it's because my compressor is tiny and shitty.

 

Ftfy

 

Nope, you want the HF ones that have a belt between the motor and the compressor. Those are the good ones. You could buy the "same thing" from HD or lowes for less but those compressors suck donkey *****.

 

This way my experience as well.

I'm sure that if I had a 220v compressor with a massive tank, then it would be awesome. Well, relatively awesome...

On the other hand, that kind of setup represents a very large investment in both money and space for something that, in >90% of home-hobbyist use, can easily be equaled or outperformed by electrically-powered tools which cost far less, consume vastly less space, and can be used instantaneously and continuously without having to air up the tank.

I owned a cheap 5 gal HF compressor for about 12 years. It operated reliably and never gave me any trouble, but nearly every tool I bought for it wound up gathering dust. In the end, I really only ever used it for two things. Filling tires, and using the air nozzle to blow dust out of things. I could do the filling tires job just as well with a $30 tire pump, and while there's no 100% substitute for the nozzle, a shop-vac in reverse is nearly as good for most uses.

For wheels, a breaker bar and a cordless drill were much faster and easier (and I'm the kind of guy who *always* uses a torque wrench to tighten lug nuts.) For drilling / grinding / sanding, the compressor was utterly useless and even the best compressor wouldn't have outperformed cheap electrically-powered tools. The air ratchet, IMO, is a gimmick.

My take: for the home user, air compressors and air tools are vastly over-rated. The *only* reasons I'd buy another would be if I had a specific need to use an air-nailer for framing / roofing work, if I was doing high-volume riveting, or if I were to get serious about painting. And, ironically, the very cheapest compressors are perfectly adequate for two of those three uses.

 

Which compressor? Which impact? And are you running the regulator full open?

 

Just saw this video with a poverty compressor



holy ***** that's weak

Someone in the comments mentioned premium or high flow couplers/fittings make a big difference

True or BS?

 

I got my compressor used from a shop for $50. And all my tools used. Grinders and air hammers are very nice. A 1/4 grinder far outperforms a dremel. Idk if I would have gotten them without my big compressor.

 

True, but not every electric grinder is a puny little dremel, and there are electrically-powered alternatives available at a far lower cost (and far greater efficiency) than an air grinder.

For heavy work (eg, head porting) there are heavy-duty electric grinders such as this one, with Harbor Freight and Kawasaki versions at half the price for casual use:





And for delicate work, nothing beats a hanging flex-shaft grinder with foot-pedal control:




I get that air tools have their place. In a production environment, where you can justify the cost of a rotary screw compressor and a big aftercooler, they're the ****. When I worked at Harris, we had a shop-air system rivaled only by Boeing. And when you were building TV trucks that required endless grinding and cutting (including chopping the frame of a Ford F-450 in half and lengthening it), or assembling a big 300lb, 64-fader audio console which required a metric ****-ton of rivets to assemble, it was an awesome thing to have.

But air tools in the home environment are little more than a trophy. Air is a horribly inefficient means of transmitting power, and the capital cost to install a compressor capable of doing useful work is extremely high as compared to the cost of direct-powered alternatives, without providing any meaningful benefit.

 

I have it. Got it barely used on CL for cheaps over a year ago. It is far superior to the cheap HF units IMO. It has done everything I needed from breaking nuts/bolts loose to expanding 16ga steel exhaust tubing with a lisle expander.

 

My HF Earthquake 1/2" impact has been great for 7 or 8 years of use so far. It will make enough torque to break factory lug studs if you turn it up. I tighten lug nuts on setting 3 out of 6.

 

I picked up a big electric grinder today to try out since I hate my pneumatic die grinder. I will test out how well it does porting a turbo sometime soon.

 

This guy, who has questionable taste in both hats and beer, seems to like it:


Given that Chevy V8 heads are cast out of pure osmium, if it's good enough to port one of those, it's probably good enough to port a turbine housing.

 

The HF 1/4" electric die grinder is great. I've used mine a lot and I'm still on the original brushes. Stay away from their bits. Just pure garbage.

 

Depending on how much flow your impact needs. Also it depends on how many fittings you have. Use minimal amount of fittings and you'll be fine.