chrsgrain
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:08 AM |
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Air tools - which ones?
Hi Guys,
Got a big compressor now 1/2 price from Axminster power tools. Now want to get some air tools - but I'm aiming to only buy once! Fed up with
cheap tools...Not going to to buy cheap and buy twice! After something in the 'Makita' or even 'DeWalt' type of quality
bracket but having never bought any air tools don't really know what is what, or what should be paying.
Any tips??
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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02GF74
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:13 AM |
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cheap is not always neceassarily bad.
the air tools I have are:
1. spary gun from Machine mart £ 25
2. smaller capacity spary gun, £ 10
3. tyre inflate, much cheapness from LR sow £ 5
4. blow gun, Walmart, £ 5?
I donlt due them all that much nad they work pretty well considereing their cost. Can't really see any problems developing with them.
the chapr versions of any impact tools - air chisel, impact wrench etc: may not be so good at withstanding limit use.
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chrsgrain
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:16 AM |
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I agree that those things (already have a blower and spray gun (for surf board art!)) don't really need lots spending on them - I was really
after impact driver, chisel, drill, DA sander and probably polisher - which I would like to be at least reasonable quality. It may be that cheap is
reasonable - but I have absolutely no idea!!
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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BenB
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:18 AM |
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Without wanting to hijack the thread.... which tools are useful...? At the moment I'm thinking mostly
air ratchet
impact driver
Do people with air angle-grinders, air hammers and air drills actually end-up using them? What's the advantage of an air drill over a leccy one?
TIA!
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02GF74
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:19 AM |
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^^ dunno then.
Impact wrench - can't really see the point, for my infrequent usage at least - I use socket set - far more convenient than having to lug
and fire up a compressor.
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chrsgrain
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 11:23 AM |
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This stuff is for the next project - a complete restore of a 1967 Triumph TRA4, bought for a grand from Arizona! Still quite rusty but original and
complete. I fancy some of the bolts and the like will take a good bit of undoing, and the rusty metal work will have to have all the spot welds
drilled and then chiselled off....
Hopefully air tools are a bit lighter and easier to use for SWMBO than the leccy ones?
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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dan__wright
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 12:22 PM |
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i got a cheap impact wrench and air riveter off ebay and they have worked perfectly, ive only had 1 bolt i couldn't get off (apart from my rear
hub nuts but didnt expect it to get them off) which i had to get off with a huge breaker bar and lots of swearing.
riveter is very powerful, stopped working but filled it up with oil and its even better that it was when new, does all my rivets in one pop and they
are solid.
got a DA off ebay and its a bit shite TBH!
FREE THE ROADSTER ONE…!!
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BenB
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 01:07 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by chrsgrain
This stuff is for the next project - a complete restore of a 1967 Triumph TRA4, bought for a grand from Arizona! Still quite rusty but original and
complete. I fancy some of the bolts and the like will take a good bit of undoing, and the rusty metal work will have to have all the spot welds
drilled and then chiselled off....
Hopefully air tools are a bit lighter and easier to use for SWMBO than the leccy ones?
Chris
Good call!!! Practical Classics has been my reading of choice recently 
I quite fancy doing a resto on a Triumph Herald but swapping the engine for something with a little more Bhp.... Duratec is floating my boat at the
moment.... All seems to add-up to me-
725kg for the convertible Herald....
Disc brakes in later model
Rack+pinion steering
Double wishbones @ front, independant suspension @ the back....
Though do I really need another open-top car with a crazy power:weight ratio and the aerodynamics of a brick.... 
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indykid
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 02:31 PM |
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as far as i'm aware, in air tools, the makita of the bunch is ingersoll-rand. they always seem to go for plenty on ebay.
as for air tools, an air drill, blow gun and impact wrench are about all i ever use. got an air ratchet too, but it's far easier to use the
manual one.
tom
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scottc
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 02:38 PM |
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Agree the Air Ratchet isn't the most useful tool. However, there are times when it proves its worth. like lying on your back underneath the
tintop trying to reft the exhaust. I think I paid about £15 for mine from Aldi. At that price....
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 02:40 PM |
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I find my air ratchet very useful when I have to stretch round something with both hands - e.g. undoing the seat bolts. Air ratchet on the top, ring
spanner on the bottom, otherwise very difficult to keep a socket in place while cranking a 'manual' handle. Also good when you've
got many turns of thread in a tricky corner.
But it's the air drill and blow-gun I use the most...
[Edited on 28/8/07 by David Jenkins]
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zetec7
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| posted on 28/8/07 at 03:13 PM |
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I use my air ratchet occasionally, but during my build, I've used my air die-grinders (I now have 3!) with rotary file tips (not grinding stones
- they don't seem to last for me), which eat through steel very fast, and very controllably. Eg. - want to make a 70mm oval hole in 5 mm steel
plate? Just drill a 12 or 13 mm hole, put the die grinder tip in there, and open it up to the exact size you want. Leaves a nice, clean, filed edge
to the hole, too. I also have a 2" sanding-disc head for these grinders, on which I use both sanding discs and 3M Scotchbrite pads for sanding
and polishing sanding steel & ally.
http://www.freewebs.com/zetec7/
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907
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| posted on 29/8/07 at 08:48 AM |
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A word on air nibblers
Hi All.
As you can see from the pic below I own two nibblers. Both cut 1.2mm mild steel / 1.6 ally.
I bought the bottom one first from Northern Tools.
It has cut about 2 metres of 1mm mild steel sheet.... then the die snapped.
Loads of phone calls to them but they could not supply me with a replacement die. 
Fed up, I spotted the top one on a stand at Stoneleigh.
"Do you do the punches & dies for these mate?"
"Er, um, got some somewhere. Ah, here they are."
"I'll take two punches and a die; and the tool as well."
"You won't need a die mate. They never wear out. Can't see that you'll need the punches.
We could always post one if you ever needed one."
"I'll take two punches and the tool then."
Three years later and it's cut shed loads. Still got the new punches. Never had to fit them.
The design is different. The Northern Tools one cuts (or it used to) on the down stroke, the Bergen cuts on the up stroke.
Cost? It doesn't matter, one broke, the other hasn't.
Draw your own conclusions from this,
but personally I will never buy from a company that doesn't stock the consumable spares for the tools it sells.
Rant over.
Paul G
 
Rescued attachment nibbler-003-s.jpg
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JonBowden
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| posted on 29/8/07 at 08:56 AM |
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Screwfix are selling off some stock of air tools - they might be ok
Screwfix link
(click through the pages to get to air drills, etc)
Jon
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chrsgrain
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| posted on 29/8/07 at 09:10 AM |
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Might try Bergen tools then....
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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