Air and electric
In my case they are necessary. I can't find the same tools in electric powered devices. Also have a two stage 80gal compressor that drives the tools. I just now thought of two other things that are aided by the compressor. My glass bead cabinet and my car hoist. I'm hooked on pneumatics! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have a nice sized craftsman compressor, but never use it. It is way too loud. I wish I had spent the extra money and bought a quieter compressor.
It's about a 45-55 split, 45 being the HF, all my air drills are professional aircraft fabrication tools. Same with the air hammers and nail guns. Spray guns are Devilus and Sharp. I know what you mean about some being noisy. I seems the Craftsman air screw types are the worst. In my case I built an outbuilding around my 5hp 2 stage compressor which is not fun to be in the same room with.
Air tools are great I especially like those stubby 1/4 drive air ratchets for working on intricate sensitive car stuff (like Ferrari's and the plastic snap-together BMWs ). Also I dislike those loud, new-types of compressors; especially the direct drive units that run like mad and hardly make any air. I would consider sell a loud one on Craigslist and getting a quieter one; the net loss would be minimal compared to the improved quality of life. The quieter ones have a bigger displacement and run at a lower RPM. I do not know about the screw-type, but my guess is that they would be quieter however someone that has one says they are loud. I would like to move my compressor to the laundry room... then it would be real quiet in the garage (until my wife got home!) The more tools the merrier!! my ratio of tools to amount of work I actual do is way out of wack, but I love it.
Rotory compressors are super quiet but you will pay a good buck for one. We have one at the shop and we don't even hear it when it kicks on. And it builds pressure very fast.
It is gone. I love having the floor space. I need my garage to be more like a gallery than tool storage. A lot of items were purged around my house and it feels great. We don't even have a lot of stuff. Now it looks like we are moving I am not clearing space to buy more things either. It was a headache to sell so I don't want more problems.
The answer to the thread question is this: Ferraris are not a necessity, and yet we need them. This same principle applies to air tools. QED
Right. Was thinking of this versus an air compressor with impact wrench. Curious if anyone had used something like this and what the result was.