Archive for the ‘Air Tools’ Category
Never Get Stranded Again With the Help Of Portable Air Tanks
I’m the kind of guy that heads out on the road quite often, and to me, being prepared is part of the journye because I never know when I’m going to get a flat that will stop me in my tracks. With no service station for miles between exits sometimes, it could be quite a while before I could get any help, which usually means calling a tow truck.
I prevent this dilemma with the help of portable air tanks and a tire repair kit. This way, if I get a flat tire, I can repair the tire and blow it back up and keep right on my way. Portable air tanks are a good idea to keep in the car even if you don’t have a tire repair kit because you can still inflate the tire to have enough air to get to the next service station.
Take A Portable Air Tank Out On the Lonely Road
Not only am I a man that likes working on cars, but I’m the kind of guy that also like getting out on the road and using them. Road trips are one of my favorite things in the world. It’s just you and the road out there, but this could be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. What I mean is, if one were to get a leak in the tire, they could be stuck for a while in a remote location.
This is why I travel with a five gallon portable air tank in the trunk and a tire repair kit, especially on long road trips. You never know when your tire’s gonna go, so knowing that there’s at least enough air to get to the next service station is comfort enough for me. Another great reason to keep a portable air tank in the car is to help those people on the side of the road who get flats that aren’t as prepared.
Cleaning Up Shop With An Electric Leaf Blower
For many of us, times are tough and our budget has to stretch a bit further than it used to. So for many of us with a workshop, we have to make our tools into multi-function tools sometimes.
An example of what I’m talking about is owning an air compressor. This is a great tool for many things, but many people only use it for blowing up their tires occasionally, or using it to blow all the sawdust and dirt out of the workshop at clean-up time. These reasons alone are usually not enough for people to spend the money on an air compressor tank due to the fact that they can blow up their tires at any gas station, and shop clean-up can be achieved through other slower, but cheeper methods.
I’ll show you how to clean up your shop with a one of the power tools you might keep around the house anyway. This tool is the electric leaf blower. Not only will it clean up the yard in the fall, but you can keep it running all year in the shop blowing all the saw dust off your work surfaces. This also has a great advantage over a gas powered leaf blower because it produces no fumes and is much more quite.
The Right Size Air Compressor Tank For Your Garage
There are times as an auto mechanic when I wonder how we could ever do what we do in the days when there were no power tools. This could easily be said about the air compressor as well. I can’t think of a garage I’ve worked in without an air impact wrench whizzin’ away all day long.
The high pressure an air compressor tank is the driving force behind most impact wrenches, although electric and hydraulic power sources are used as well. The size of the air compressor that you keep in your setup is entirely up to you. Just remember that the more you use it, the more air compressor tank will have to refill with air, and the motor will keep turning on and off more frequently.
Tin Ceiling Do-It-Yourself Install With A DeWalt Nailer
Out of all the types of style ceilings there are out there, I prefer the look of a copper or tin ceiling because of all the textures that are possible from the shaping of the sheet metal. Putting in a tin ceiling can cost a pretty penny when done professionally though. When my father and I did the ceiling in his house we chose white painted tin, which came out looking very nice.
The power tools we used on the project were a DeWalt Nailer and a brad nailer. Traditionally, using a cordless drill would have worked. In fact, the recommendation from the tin ceiling manufacturer was to use a cordless drill to mount the pieces with screws.
Completing the project really wasn’t that difficult. First we hung up a layer of 3/4″ plywood to the studs in the ceiling to have a solid base for attach the pieces of tin ceiling to. We used the DeWalt Nailer for the plywood, and the brad nailer for the ceiling pieces. We started at one corner of the room and worked our way across the, one layer at a time until we wound up at the opposite corner. We mounted all of the trim around the room, and we were done in a weekend’s time.
When I’m working in the auto garage, I’m constantly taking off and putting on tires, changing oil on cars, and about a million other things that just keep my impact wrench spinning all day. When it comes to all-day dependability, on the impact wrench though, a cordless impact wrench just isn’t going to cut the mustard. I can’t have one of my power tools go dead while I got six other cars waiting to be worked on.
Implementing an air compressor in an auto-shop is a natural move. Compared to any power tools, using an air impact wrench will never die during the day’s use unless of course, the air runs out. But if it’s plugged in then you shouldn’t worry, because it’s constantly pumping more air into the tank as it gets used keeping the pressure at exactly what you set it to. In fact, I like to keep an extra air compressor tank charged up at all times, because you never know when you’re going to need to run out in the lot and air up someone’s tire or need to use two air tanks at the same time.
A guy like me enjoys spending a lot of time way out in the open country fields with my truck on the Texas family farm and ranch, or driving way up in the mountains of Colorado, the state I’m originally from. No matter what corner of the country I happen to be touring at the moment, a leak in my tire might stop me in my tracks down the road.
To prevent my excursion from coming to an unexpected end, I keep an air tank in the back of my pick-up truck when I know I’m going exploring where I know there’s going to be no gas stations, or even roads for miles. I find keeping a compressed air tank in the truck very convenient for when I’m driving on the beach on Long Island, because to drive on the beach more easily, the vehicle’s tires need to be deflated and when I’m done for the day I can quickly re-inflate them without waiting on any air pump lines.
Like I’ve mentioned in past posts, I am a man that really finds joy in keeping a complete workshop. That being said, I don’t think I could picture my shop without an air compressor. I find that my compressor is something that gets used on a daily basis because of all the nifty air tools I can incorporate into my shop.
Air tools are very versatile, and can be used on many of the same bench top projects as regular power tools. However, I don’t like having to go buy a tool here, a tool there, run to this store or that store looking for different tools for different applications. If you’re like me, and wish to avoid this hassle, an air tool set is probably the best way to go if you want all of the essentials right at your fingertips, all in one package. With a good air power tools set you’ll be able to handle just about anything, including blow the mess off the bench for the next project!
Out There Where the Air Is Rarefied
When I was dabbling in house framing back when I lived in Colorado, I found myself many times on nothing but a concrete slab. No Power, no water, nothing. So, needless to say, when we needed to fire up the old air nail nailers, there was no where to plug in the air compressor.
I found a simple solution for this to be to bring an air tank to the job site. In fact, each worker would have there own personal air carry tank so we could all move freely around the site. Using more than one air tank in framing work is just a great idea to employ even if the compressor is working, because it allows multiple users of nailers with only one compressor. Not only that purchasing an air tank or two will save big money compared to buying multiple air compressors.