Do I really need a big air compressor in my garage anymore?

Just get a plasma cutter, you'll love your big compressor after. 

I've spent the last 16 years working with hand tools and battery power with a 4 gallon hot dog compressor. Too small to use the air impact, cordless only started getting good in the last few years, so I think having air is still the best situation for the garage. 

Now that I have my 30 gallon I don't know how I ever lived without it, I'd actually like to go 60 or 80 so I could do some blasting or in case I ever forget how terrible of an experience painting a car was and decide to do that again. 

of course I'm still watching the new 20 volt impact from harbor freight just because it's portable, and a quality air supply really isn't. 

In reply to Woody :

I was in the same situation(same size compressor).  I had moved the compressor to the basement two years ago and piped it to the garage because i needed the space in the garage.  Wife hated it because of the noise.  I had a 100' hose reel in the garage that could reach anywhere on my property.

Then several things happened. I bought the same DeWalt impact to carry when I go off-roading.  I realized that I was doing more woodworking/construction than car work and using a nailer with a hose attached was a PITA.

So I sold the compressor, hose reel and all the  air tools.  Bought a 12v compressor for tires (can take it off-roading!) and some DeWalt nailers since I already had plenty of batteries for the impact and a couple saws.

I think I'll get rid of my 80 gallon 100% duty cycle I-R compressor

... said no one ever

In reply to fasted58 :

If you ever do, I would like a call..

fasted58 said:

I think I'll get rid of my 80 gallon 100% duty cycle CHAMPION compressor over my dead body

I fixt that for you.

I actually took out a loan to buy it (divorce...long story). It was money very well spent. The cost was forgotten after a couple of years but it still does what I need all day every day.

When you get a tire changer you will want more air.

fasted58 said:

I think I'll get rid of my 80 gallon 100% duty cycle I-R compressor

... said no one ever

I have an 80 gallon 2-stage I-R waiting for me to get off my butt and rewire the garage. It's served me well through three moves and 10+ years now. The cordless impact has lessened the pain of not having it running, but there's just no replacement for 80 gallons of 175psi air. Unless it's more and higher pressure air!

I have an old 80 gal Ingersoll-Rand 2-stage 5hp compressor with a rebuilt compressor head and a new Baldor motor.  It will put out 150 PSI air as long as I want to pull the trigger and will do that as long as I live. 

I paint and have a blast cabinet - having lived with a 2hp single stage compressor for many years, there just isn't a good substitute for large quantities of high pressure air.    

I also bought and rebuilt a 5 hp 2 stage 80 gallon CH compressor which doesn't see much use at all but I don't think I'd get rid of it. The lithium battery tools seem to do just about everything, but on the other hand you can take a look at all of the HF air tools available and do the math on which is more expensive. If I were starting from scratch, maybe 90-95% of the time the compressor isn't needed, and a pancake compressor with a handful of air tools would suffice. But sanding and painting use a lot of air. I'm pretty sure 220v power is more than any cordless tool has.

Do they make paint guns and sandblast cabinets that have their own air supply pumps?

If so, I'm interested...

I'm not sure about the sandblast cabinet but they do make turbine sprayers. You can shop around but as a reference this site lists quite a few http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=ABS&Category_Code=5TSS

In reply to Robbie :

For painting, there are HVLP systems with their own blower system. While the cheaper systems are generally meant for wood-working, I can't see why one couldn't paint a car.  

RevRico said:

In reply to fasted58 :

If you ever do, I would like a call..

I was going to say the same thing.  

Ian F said:

In reply to Robbie :

For painting, there are HVLP systems with their own blower system. While the cheaper systems are generally meant for wood-working, I can't see why one couldn't paint a car.  

A fellow club member has one of these and he hates it.  He prefers to paint with his old gun.  If he ever comes back to meetings I’m going to talk him into unloading it.  The only negative I have heard is the air gets hot and may influence the paint.