|
|
Post by northernfarmer on Dec 13, 2020 11:15:54 GMT -6
Ken, unless one has been working in or looking at a well set up shop with their system and knowing what works and what doesn't, its impossible to know off the bat what one even needs and same with myself as I discovered air flow issues after I got a 1/2 air impact which was still years after we had initially gotten the air compressor and just a few years ago did I get that 3/4 impact. Its only taken me half my life to figure anything out and still haven't gotten it figured out !. But I think that is the right direction though, try just one wall outlet with a 3/8 body female coupler and rig up not just a 1/2 hose but one of your 3/8 hoses with the male 3/8 body tip and you may find that for a lot of things using 3/8 line is just fine and using only one 1/4 body coupler at the end of the 3/8 hose. The smaller the hose the nicer it is to use so bigger is not always better if the air flow is just not required. And yes some die grinders are a real air hog but the more powerful ones are typically and with run times being far longer then an impact it requires a lot of compressor unfortunately. Before you make a decision on what style of air couplers to go with, talk to your various suppliers to see what they tend to stock more of and of various thread combinations in both the female and male plug and pricing etc. Nothing worse then finding out after that its hard to get a certain style you chose to go with because its far less common then another style.
I should really get an electric die grinder for some applications, I've stuck with the air unit because that is what I have but also its size and situations where a cutoff wheel on it jambs up in the work and don't have to worry about a motor burning out and the those times I regulate the air way down for buffing with an abrasive pad and an angle die grinder. But I also use carbide burs and that gets into a whole other thing which a lot don't realize why their bur is burning up as one of my air die grinders has a front flow exhaust and all that air flow past the bur cools it as I've seen those who have taken a brand new bur and melted/destroyed it from being aggressive and had a rear flow exhaust which most are actually. The bad side effect of a forward exhaust is that the air tool oil splatters on the work, the good part is its not blowing oil back at me, they each have their good and bad points. Is that a constant speed or variable speed unit as I see they have both and also have units that have a clutch system if the unit stalls the drive out.
My 1/2 impact is now one generation from the current ingersoll unit as its a 2135 and certainly not rated like the Milwaukee and yet puts out about the same power, perhaps its the air pressure I use as I've tried it on a few things and one doesn't seem to excel over the other but will say the air tool sure does it quicker ... not always desirable to be so fast though. It is neat how the Milwaukee can be set so when loosening it will back right off its speed to putter the nut off after its loose if desired.
|
|
|
|
Post by kenmb on Dec 14, 2020 7:44:58 GMT -6
Agree with all that NF, especially about shopping for couplers. Trying not to get too far off topic, but when talking compressors, tank size, pressure, etc I see very few posts on any forum talk about the details. So, in hind site, because rarely is mentioned larger body couplers, I figure I would note that this makes sense to me now that I have looked back on things.
Yes, many posts will say a 3/8" line for a 3/4 impact is fine. Maybe it is. But I have the old red rubber 3/8" line and the 1/2" high flex stuff I had in my hand was the same physical size, lighter and more flexible. So seems kind of an easy choice these days. And if you go 1/2" line, how hard is it to do 3/8" body coupler if doing some pre-planning.
As for the die grinder, yeah, same issues. Cold exhaust blowing over my hands when working in shop in winter, oil blowing around, running a compressor sitting in unheated shop sitting at -20c just to do some grinding. Otherwise compressor can stay off for days and days. Got the little Makita GD0603 or similar. Originally bought the bigger one, didn't use it, took it back for smaller one. Used the smaller one at work for many years and never had issues so will work fine at home for my needs. So much nicer than air in every way except size.
For brute strength, air impact wins out. Mac for example (and other good brands) has a 1/2" that does 1350 ft lbs and 3/4 that does 1600 lbs. No question in my mind that for shop work and frequent use that air would be the way to go. On the other hand, my needs don't fit that profile and I don't have a large portable air compressor.
|
|
|
|
Post by northernfarmer on Dec 14, 2020 19:58:37 GMT -6
Indeed some 3/4 air tool companies suggested minimum ( remember that is a quoted minimum ) requirements are 3/8 hose and for instance Ingersol rand lists the small hose for their smallest 3/4 impact and all others 1/2 hose, then go to SnapOn and they list both of their 3/4 impacts as 3/8 hose, go to CP and again most list 1/2 hose. But never is there a mention about what coupler size to use, they only rate it by hose size and leave the rest up to the buyer to sort out. Ultimate hose length is the other part of the equation that doesn't get mentioned either as probably the assumption is its in a shop with large enough built in piping and the hose is not insanely long.
I know years ago in rigging up some 1/2 hose I asked what the recommended pipe size fitting was and although I have never measured it myself the claim was that due to the barbed internal size, that 3/8 male pipe was no more restrictive then having 1/2 pipe crimped on. Being that I mostly use my 1/2 hose with 3/8 body size couplers the 3/8 pipe thread works well with sourcing 3/8 body couplers that have that thread size and the male tip that have the female 3/8 pipe.
I looked up that model of Makita and while it has some size its not nearly as big as the more powerful units. I wish that little one had variable speed as of course its only some of the larger expensive ones that have that option.
Perhaps Santa will be kind to you this Christmas and you will find a nice shiny red Milwaukee under the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree !
|
|
