Just seen this in an email from Machine Mart. Quiet, big enough for most uses, runs off 240v and has huge cfm all for a reasonable price. I know it’s free air delivery will be less than the quoted cfm but looks pretty good. Any thoughts/opinions?

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/clarke-shhh-air-max-50350-twin-pump-169cfm-50-/?utm_source=marigold&utm_med ium=email&utm_campaign=newproducts150824&cid=265&mid=9549390

[Edited on 17/8/24 by GRRR]

I'm very interested in this thread as i am looking for a compressor for basic air tools but also for things like shot blasting small parts and occasional spraying of body panels

it really does depend on what you want to use it for, but
many air tools have been replaced by cordless (battery) devices,
and spray painting by high volume, low pressure.

if blasting, it would probably be 10 minutes noncontinuous blasting in a small cabinet & recharging all the time, and then a 10 minute full break as it recharges

Blasting require huge amounts of air. I have a 3hp belt drive SIP with 50L tank. I very very rarely use air tools, too noisy and too much faff. I have a lidl impact wrench which was good value, but won't do really tight stuff. Damn handy though, gets much much more use than my old air impact wrench.
I have resprayed several cars using the compressor, it is fine for that.
If I wanted to do some half decent blasting I would buy a second 3hp compressor, and join the 2 outputs via a big gas bottle/tank. I do have a spot blaster, that is fine for small bits of bodywork, bit no use for (say) a wheel or brackets etc.

Have a real think about what you will use a compressor for. Belt drive are much quiter than direct drive, and a good/little used one can be had for not a huge amount of cash.

[Edited on 18/8/24 by cliftyhanger]

25 years ago I worked in a machining and fabrication company. They had a BIG compressor in a shed outdoors with piped air around the building. the air tools worked fine for deburring and prepping for welding etc. We didn't have a blast cabinet though.

[Edited on 19-8-24 by nick205]

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Originally posted by nick205
25 years ago I worked in a machining and fabrication company. They had a BIG compressor in a shed outdoors

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I have something very similar to that, twin motors & direct drive, slightly smaller & slightly lower output, but it's a chinesium import & cost around £100 4 years or so back IIRC.

I'd second the comments re airtools, I only use lithium cordless now, all Ryobi stuff which seems really good, hence the compressor mainly gets used for blowing out stuff, tyre inflation & spraying.

If you want something that would spray a whole car in one hit, then that is going to struggle I would say, though adding an extra tank (old propane bottle or similar) would make it perfectly viable for spraying larger stuff as has plenty of time to recover between coats. The stuff I've been spraying has either been kitcars, so not that much bodywork or individual panels rather than a complete saloon car or similar

My cheapy one is still going strong & I've never had a problem with it other than breaking the air filter & intake off it not long after I bought it - it was a brittle plastic & stuck out on one side & the inevitable happened! It's been filterless ever since & has given no problems - worth considering something cheap as the dearer one would need to last 3 times as long to make it worth while & bear in mind tanks are only safe until they start rusting from the inside!

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Originally posted by SteveWalker

quote:

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Originally posted by nick205
25 years ago I worked in a machining and fabrication company. They had a BIG compressor in a shed outdoors

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That's not BIG I used to work for a compressor manufacturer - our smallest compressor had a 330kW electric motor, while our biggest had a 24,000 BHP gas turbine!


Fair comment

At the time that compressor seemed BIG to me (having seen at home indoor / in the garage ones before).

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coyoteboy - 20/8/24 at 09:55 AM

I hate cordless stuff, so many things to keep charged with unique chargers and constant forgetfulness/never ready when needed.

You could run a small/quiet compressor and a large receiver cylinder instead if you find you need longer between cycles or more flow rate.

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russbost - 20/8/24 at 10:12 AM

quote:

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Originally posted by coyoteboy
I hate cordless stuff, so many things to keep charged with unique chargers and constant forgetfulness/never ready when needed.

You could run a small/quiet compressor and a large receiver cylinder instead if you find you need longer between cycles or more flow rate.

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That's why I've bought Ryobi One, I have tools for the garage, garden & house & have 5 batteries of different capacities, 3 genuine Ryobi, 2 chinesium, which cost peanuts, but I'd never leave charging anywhere unattended or with combustibles nearby. All the batteries have power indicators so you know if they are getting low well b4 they run out, I've never been stranded without a useable battery as there are always several well charged even if of a low capacity, whilst using those I can then charge the higher capacity one if necessary

I think nowadays using airtools only really works if you already have them & don't use often enough to make replacing with cordless worthwhile, air powered stuff can sometimes be smaller & better for access in small spaces. I notice even major garage workshops are using mainly cordless whilst still having the airlines round the wall & available if needed

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gremlin1234 - 20/8/24 at 12:54 PM

another thing to consider with a compressor is the cost of the hoses

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Mr Whippy - 21/8/24 at 11:14 AM

They also take up a lot of space and have the potential to go off like a bomb if not well maintained. I primary use it for blowing up tyres and the hammer thingy. For spraying a kit car, I'd use cans tbh.

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SteveWalker - 22/8/24 at 06:06 AM

I'm spraying an old LWB Land Rover, a few panels/items at a time, at the moment. It'd cost a fortune to do it with rattle cans and the spray gun is also a LOT faster.

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Mr Whippy - 23/8/24 at 11:07 AM

Depends on where you buy the paint, I buy it online. I sprayed my whole landy for less than £100 with cans and the whole side and rear of the volvo for less than £80 and that was metallic & the lacquer.

linky

I have several panels to respray on the old car this winter and already have the cans waiting, bought those from Halfords. Already did a small repair and I went on beautifully just in time for a show I use to hate spraying cars and now actually look forward to it!

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GRRR - 23/8/24 at 10:38 PM

Some good points about the effectiveness of cordless stuff these days, I guess they can’t replace some things like inflating stuff, blowing caliper pistons out, and blowing galleys and other things clean, all of which could be done by a small cheap compressor. Sounds like no hobby compressor is any good for media blasting really, so best off outsourcing that from the sounds of it

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