[OP]
Member
Never had an air compressor, but I am taking a hollow form class and see the need. Here are the priorities:
1. Quiet
2. Adequate air for blowing out chips from hollow forms and spraying finished
3. Relatively small - under a bench
4. As cheap as possible
5. As close to zero trouble as possible
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Contributor
I have 2 compressors in my shop, but prefer to take my shop vac and vacuum out the chips when doing hollow forms. It keeps much less dust out of the air, and for a guy who has to be careful about breathing wood dust, I feel it is a lot healthier for me to do it that way.
I hear California Air has about as quiet a line of compressors as are available, but they are much more pricey than most compressors of comparable size. You may be wanting both quiet and cheap, but may have to re-evaluate those goals as they are pretty much exclusive of one another...
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^^^^this^^^^^^Originally Posted by Roger Chandler
I've done it both ways, but prefer using my shop vac.
Blowing them out is a little quicker but your going to have to vacuum, sweep, them up eventually anyway.
Contributor
Another vote for the RolAir. Very quiet and light enough to be mobile if needed. I use it when turning, nail guns and to clean the shop.
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Two years ago we were at the Oregon Symposium (for what turned out to be one of Vinh's last presentations) at the end I walked out the back door to see what compressor they had him using, because you could barely hear it. California Air Tools . They are spec'd at 70 dB.
Ya, we have one now
Making sawdust mostly, sometimes I get something else, but that is more by accident then design.
[OP]
Member
By cheap I mean under $300. By quiet I mean really quiet. Currently I use my shop vac.
Contributor
I paid just over your budget for a California Air Tools 10020C. Highly recommend it.
Mike
Contributor
I have a California Air compressor that I’m very pleased with.
Member
That's the one we have, one of my friends bought their "smallest" one to take to clubs to do his presentations.
Making sawdust mostly, sometimes I get something else, but that is more by accident then design.
Member
I have a 10 gallon California air compressor (two actually, one at home and loved it so much I convinced work to get the same model for our small lab) and love it. It runs quiet. It's not whisper quiet where you can't hear it (which is how the company's video seems to show it-- it's not as quiet as they show in the video)-- but it is quiet enough you can carry on a conversation next to it while it's running without talking too much louder. Way better than the pancake compressors I grew up with.
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Contributor
Why not distance the compressor from the lathe and pipe over to it?
Member
I just set up the Rapid Air system just for this. I have a small compressor in a cabinet and have the line run to the lathe. It’s easy to set up and you can expand the system to add more lines.
Don
Contributor
Brian, I use a 30 or 40 year old Craftsman compressor. It has a 10 gallon tank, so it builds up pressure and then shuts off. I "plumbed" a line across the ceiling and have a "drop" over to my lathe and added a ball valve (because some air spray heads leak a little at times). So, 99.9% of the time it is shut off. When it does turn on, it makes some noise but it is perhaps for only a minute while it builds up pressure to about 90 psi. My spray nozzle came from Harbor Fright and has about an 8" tube on it. I find that the extended tube really makes a big difference for cleaning out a hollow form. The short nozzle isn't very efficient and cleaning out a hollow form IMHO. Another good use for a compressor is to blow the dust off of a piece that you are sanding so that when you switch grits you don't leave any of the coarser grit on the piece.
You mention that you have a $300 budget. For that price that there are dozens and dozens of different brands to choose from. I looked on-line for Home Despot and see 4 or 5 Ca. air tool compressors in that range and 3 or 4 under $150. Harbor Fright has at least a dozen AC shown on-line in that price range.
My compressor uses oil. Every 30 years I drain and refill. A lot of the newer AC are supposedly oil-less. Perhaps others will chime in on the pros and cons of oil type AC versus oil-free.
If you are never planning on using the air compressor with high volume air tools like an impact wrench, air grinder, etc., and only for blowing dust, any small compressor with a storage tank is going to work fine for you. I occasionally use an air grinder and impact driver with my compressor and it works fine except that I can't use it continuously. After perhaps a half minute I have to let the compressor catch up. Not a big deal.
Member
Brian,
I have had the Kobalt Quiet Compressor from Lowe's for two years now. Its very quiet and has been trouble free for the time I've had it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. Runs $199. Lowe's has a great return policy if you find that it doesn't meet your needs.
Member
I have the kobalt as well,,the quiet one and I would highly recommend it,,,if there is anyway you can get away with a larger tank,,you would be more pleased,,,mine is 26 gallon and has wheels on it,,
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