air compressor - air drill combination recommendation

[Austexican]

I have never owned an air compressor. My problem is that an electric drill will not fit between the drive pulley on my engine and the X-brace where I need to drill a hole for attaching the Canton coolant reservoir. The drive for my serpentine belt is in the way. It looks like an air drill could be the answer. Do any of you folks have a recommendation or an alternative?

[lbperry]

A cordless right-angle drill from Dewalt, Milwaukee, etc would be a cheaper alternative. But if you need a good excuse to get a compressor (which is really hand when you're building a car), go for it. In addition the inexpensive air drill that I have is pretty low torque. I'm not sure if all are; but it's worth investigating.
Good Luck

[DARKPT]

A 90 degree drill attachment worked for me for the hard to reach areas. It will also be useful for some of the rivet holes in the interior. They are cheap and do the job well.

As for an air compressor, be smarter than I was in sizing one for your needs. I bought a little one for air nailers, then later a bigger one for airbrushing, then a huge one to paint my Coupe.

[Austexican]

Thanks for the advice guys. I guess I will be shopping for the right angle drill. Yes, I do need an excuse to buy an air compressor, but that is low on my list of priorities. It also requires a good bit of research to determine my requirements. I've read a lot of tool forum talk about poor results with the cheap consumer models sold at the home improvement stores.

[Ray]

2344923450

We built ours with this compressor that I bought at Lowes. It's an oil-less unit, noisy as hell but it works fine. Drilled most of the rivet holes with a cordless drill, but I also bought a right-angle pneumatic drill from Harbor Freight as well as a 3/8 pneumatic from them as well. You won't be able to run an air sander or paint your car with it, but it runs riveters, impacts, air ratchets etc. just fine.

Ray

PS: I'm getting a new one this month so this one is for sale.....

[turbonut48]

If you buy a compressor, get one thats big enough. Air flow@ medium/high pressure is critical for most air tools.
You can cheat a little by piggy backing another tank in parallel with main tank.
Also , use 3/8 or larger hose. That 1/4 stuff doesn't flow enough.
NEVER run an extension cord. If you need more travel, use more hose. The extension cord causes voltage drop.

I use my compressor all the time. Tires, tools, blowing out hoses for winter storage, toys.

The Nut

[CJBergquist]

I've had one of these for about 20 years and it's still going strong...at $4.95 how can you beat that!!!!

http://www.amazon.com/Peachtree-Woodworking-RIGHT-ANGLE-ATTACHMENT/dp/B0013ENN74

[tirod]

Compressors big enough to run a paint sprayer or DA sander need to put out about 12CFM at 120#. Those are usually the 4 foot 50 gallon units, 220V is nice, about $450 at the Home Depot price level. Commercial are at least double. It needs to be mounted where you can run the hoses or plumbing and it won't resonate on an interior wall. I can hear my 5 gallon junker upstairs when I forget to turn it off.

Air is nice - but it's a commercial answer to a large shop environment. What has happened to knock down sales are cordless tools - first, the nicad drill drivers, then the impact drivers, now, lithium. I tore down a EJ25 last night using a Ryobi 18V drill driver with 3/8 socket adapter. Powerful, quiet, portable, easy to use. The impact drivers lose the clutch on the nose and are even more compact. In fact, they may even be shorter than an air drill.

The whole point of air was to reduce tool weight and provide continuous power, which requires a hose, and can be used in a wet environment. That's something corded electric tools can't do. In a lot of applications, the battery operated ones do a good job replacing them, plus have other uses around the house. You aren't stuck having to run a hose all over the yard or upstairs to run them, like when my wife decides I need to texturize another room in a remodel. Haven't got around that one yet.

[CraigS]

I just googled 'right angle drill' and came up w/ a ton of them. If you already have a battery drill, get a right angle of the same make so you can swap batteries. OTOH, if your current drill is not lithium ion battery this might be a good time to upgrade. Also it's a good time of year for it. Many of the brands will have a package deal on a drill, a light, a right angle etc. It's really nice to have at least three tools that operate on the same battery since there will always be a battery handy when one dies. I have had one of these for years
http://www.sears.com/craftsman-19.2-volt-c3-cordless-combo-kit-with/p-00911548000P?prdNo=9&blockNo=9&blockType=G9
It is the old style battery but one thing Craftsman did that was really smart was that their newer lithium-ion batterys fit the old tools and the reverse. SO I now have two of the new drills also and the charger that comes w/ the lithium ion tools will charge both types of batteries.

[Austexican]

Thanks for the advice. I bought a Milwaukee right angle drill with two lithium batteries and a charger. That seems to work pretty well, although it does not have the torque and higher speed of my corded hand drill.