Tools.....air or electirc

[xcm]

corded tools and battery tools make no sense when you can have just battery and spend half the money.

cordless grinders are cool, my friends got one, and its immensly helpfull when you have a couple cuts to make... they in NO WAY, replace a corded grinder.... i dissagree entirely.

 

[in4aride]

Oh I agree completely. a plug in grinder is beyond better. but for a start off purchase and build - battery is nice. get the impact sawzall and grinder you can do work in the jeep, your neighbors garage, the junkyard, the trail, anywhere.

then once you have the stuff thatll get ya by in any scenario, spend the money on the good at home only stuff. then the first set becomes the trail tools. To start off id rather have options. potentially annoying at times - sure. but beats being the guy on the trail with all his tools sitting at home in the garage

 

[xcm]

indeed, thats one way to look at it. i come at it from the construction worker who also works on the jeep.

only drawback, is working those cordless grinders extra hard, will kill batteries. too high current.

 

[5-90]

Thx for the comment.

I'm incline to cordless electric tools as well mostly cos they are portable and i can always have them in the Jeep but i'm concern about working on tight spaces since electric tool are much bigger than air ratchet.

Any thoughts?

If you're going to use them a lot, go air. You'll have to fork over for the compressor, and the maintenance is a bit higher, but you generally get more power from the tool and they tend to last longer, and they don't overheat.

Electric tools (corded or cordless) are fine for intermittent use, but can overheat and/or burn out if overused. If you get cordless, make sure the battery charger also functions as a battery maintainer (most do, these days) and just keep your batteries plugged in when you're not using or carrying them (bear in mind that all batteries will "shelf-discharge," and this process is faster with rechargeable batteries...)

While an air tool may have a smaller motor, the air hose is thicker and less flexible than an electric cord, and the rigid junction (the quick-connect fitting) is rather longer and cannot bend.

Working in tight areas may be a matter of using extensions and flex joints to get to the fastener you're trying to remove, but most vehicles seem to be designed with power tool access in mind (after all, a large number of them are built using automatic machinery, and have been for some time. Also, power tools were used extensively before automatic assembly became common, and the design had to make that sort of work efficient.)

 

[iwannadie]

i see a power cord as a tether.... i do a lot of work INSIDE the jeep, or down at the street, running a cord into the jeep seems like a lot of work.

time and a place for everything..

Agreed, time and place for everything also personal preference plays a big role.

I have a nice cord reel mounted on my ceiling, I can just grab the it and have plenty of cord to reach anywhere in my garage or in the jeep easy. When I am done it recoils into the reel quick. I love having that cord reel it has been great with a 30' foot cord, 3 outlets and a built in breaker. Also my work light has an outlet right on it, so where I have light I have an outlet.

I guess I am jaded because I have a power outlets easily accessible and rarely work outside of my garage. Also having had the bad experience with my previous battery drill left me not liking batteries. Or, maybe it is the little kid in me that just likes the sound of my air tools most of all :scottm: .

Oh, for my air ratchet I added an air whip which makes it much easier to work with. My main air hose is rather rigid and can be a hassle to work with. The 3' highly flexible hose with a swivel makes using the air ratchet in tight places a non-issue. When I changed my CPS I was able to get the air ratchet right up in there, no need to use long extensions along the transmission to reach it from far away.

 

[DanMan2k06]

Personally, I like electric tools much more than air. Cordless more than corded. Batteries have come a long way since cordless tools started popping up. I use my 3/8" cordless impact gun all day, everyday, at work. It is by far, hands down, no questions asked, the most frequently used tool I own. I paid $250 for it, and looking back knowing what I do now I would have easily paid triple that. Cordless sawzalls are another thing. Absolute necessity in the jeep world. Grinders - well I'm a little on the fence there. Cords suck yes, but having your cordless grinder bog down or run out of juice sucks even more.

Air tools: To me, these are only convenient if you have true shop air. A hose in your bay from the ceiling, a huge grossly overpowered diesel-ass compressor, and a whole rack of built in filters that will keep your tools alive. I absolutely HATE using my compressor at home. Everyone already said it - pulling out the hose, waking up the neighbors, waiting for it to fill, having it turn back on when you're right next to it and it scares the shit outta you, just not my thing.

The only two air tools that I consistently use are my 1/2" drive impact gun, and a superslim 3/8" air ratchet. Both are loud, and both are annoying to use. But they suffice.

 

[BotakBeng]

Wow.... that's a lot of information for me to digest.

Anyway, i'm heading over to Sears and Homedepot to look at both air and electric tool.

brb

 

[samger2]

I really like air tools myself. I purchased electric in the past...and I still do as I need. But air tools IMO are less cumbersome and one might not think so...but less noisy. My daughters bedroom is right above the garage where I keep my air compressor. This weekend I spent alot of time with my air angle grinder putting on flat fenders...I cut for quite a while with the compressor cycling and refilling and didn't wake her. It wasn't until I ran out of cutting disks and needed to use my electric angle grinder that she woke up.

I took my time and was patient looking for a compressor, I ended up finding a 60 gallon porter cable oiled compressor for $200...5 minutes from my house. Once you have an air ratchet you'll never want to use your hand ratchet again.

I dunno, I vote be patient and find yourself a good deal on a compressor if you have th room for it. I live in a cookie cutter neighborhood with a home owners association, if it's getting late and I need to work, I just shut the garage door so I don't bother the neighbors. If you're a good neighbor no one will care.

 

[BotakBeng]

Thank you all for taking time to help a newbie out :cheers:, i really appreciate the time.

Did a bunch of research over the last few days and these are my thoughts....
:idea:Electric tools are great for quick in-and-out jobs or for out-in-the-nowhere jobs but they can be very costly and different tool have to be purchased for different job.
:idea:Air tools are noisy and they aren't as portable as electric but with with the lower cost in attachments, an air tool set up (with a decent compressor) will probably get me a lot of different tools for much lesser than what electric's gonna cost me.

IMHO, this is what i came up with (please correct me if you feel othewise),
Electric tool makes a great complement to air tool but can't totally (not without spending a bunch of money) substitute air tools.

Therefore, since this is my first power tools set up, i'm gonna go ahead and find myself a used compressor (Craigslist) and go from there.
Pretty sure, along the way, i'll acquire some electirc tools .

The hunt begins.......

Pls feel free to chimp in.
Thx.

 

[samger2]

That's not only what I would do....but actually what I did. Just be patient and you can get yourself a great deal. Then you get to have some fun buying air tools and finding things to make just to use your tools

I will echo what someone else here said, spend a few extra dollars and get yourself an oiless compressor. They're less noisy and last longer...you'll be happier in the long run with your purchase.

 

[iwannadie]

For air tools, check amazon. I have bought all of my ingersol rand tools from amazon and they always have the best price.

 

[BotakBeng]

That's not only what I would do....but actually what I did. Just be patient and you can get yourself a great deal. Then you get to have some fun buying air tools and finding things to make just to use your tools

I will echo what someone else here said, spend a few extra dollars and get yourself an oiless compressor. They're less noisy and last longer...you'll be happier in the long run with your purchase.

Good read! :laugh:

For air tools, check amazon. I have bought all of my ingersol rand tools from amazon and they always have the best price.

Thx but i'll be looking for used.

Anything i should look for when buying used compressor?

 

[WebDog]

Good read! :laugh:


Thx but i'll be looking for used.

Anything i should look for when buying used compressor?

If you have the power available get a 220V compressor, you will get better CFM output vs a 110V unit.

A Oiled Belt driven compressor will be the quietest and usually have the best duty cycle and cfm output.

 

[samger2]

Yeah, as WebDog says if you have the ability go for a 220V...you'll get better output and it's better on the electric bill if you use it frequently. Having said that you have to factor in the price for running the wire from your panel to the compressor. Typically you'll want to factor about $1 per foot. It cost me about $75 in wire above the cost of the compressor.

 

[WebDog]

Yeah, as WebDog says if you have the ability go for a 220V...you'll get better output and it's better on the electric bill if you use it frequently. Having said that you have to factor in the price for running the wire from your panel to the compressor. Typically you'll want to factor about $1 per foot. It cost me about $75 in wire above the cost of the compressor.

Lucky! I have over $300 in wire / breakers for my setup. 1 100ft 8g run and a 75ft 10g run. Providing 70 amps 220 and 20 amps 110. The problems with not owning a home! haha
Sure is nice to run the plasma, compressor and welder at the same time though...

 

[BotakBeng]

Thx again ya!

My rented house doesn't come with 220 in the garage .

Can't seem to find any oiled on craigslist, thinking about getting new from Homedepot.

This good for starter?

Thx.

 

[iwannadie]

The thing to look at is the CFM at 90 psi. Look at the air tools you want and make sure the compressor is more than capable of providing the CFM that the tool needs.

The one you linked to is pretty weak at 3 - 6 SCFM at 90 PS, mine does 10 cfm at 90psi. I opted to go with a 220v compressor, I also rent a house and needed an outlet but I felt it was cost effective to have an outlet installed for around 80 bucks and just be done with it. Talk to the owner, maybe they would split the bill with you.

Ninja edit, Unless SCFM is different than CFM...

 

[xcm]

got some excellant use out of my air tools today... had to do ball joints on a 97 dakota... which are riveted onto the A-arms... couldnt have done it without the air hammer.... to celebrate, i took the rest of the air tools to celebrate (get in on the work).

air tools are cool =)

 

[WebDog]

got some excellant use out of my air tools today... had to do ball joints on a 97 dakota... which are riveted onto the A-arms... couldnt have done it without the air hammer.... to celebrate, i took the rest of the air tools to celebrate (get in on the work).

air tools are cool =)

LOL you want to come help me pull my trans tomorrow? haha Ill let you use air tools...

 

[xcm]

maybe if your starting later in the day... i gotta finish up stuff on the dakota (had to do stuff, to do stuff, to replace stuff).

what time ya starting? txt me.