Archive for the 'Air Tools' Category
Monday, July 27th, 2009
Ever have an air line or tool go shooting off accidentally when you disconnect it? Besides being dangerous, it could damage the connector as it whacks the ground. To prevent this uncontrolled reaction, safety couplers like this one from Milton Industries make connection and disconnection a two-stage process.
Several retailers of the safety coupler describe the operation as follows: “First click locks coupler and plug; second click engages air pressure. When disconnecting, first click will relieve air pressure; second click allows coupler and plug to be safely disengaged.” Not having laid our hands on one yet, this sounds a little vague. Has anyone used one that could provide a better explanation of how the coupler works?
This 1/4″ M-style safety coupler comes in either male and female 1/4″ NPT threads. Milton retails the safety couplers for $10.
Milton Industries [Corporate Site]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Posted in Accessories, Air Tools, Amazon, Northern Tool, Pneumatics | 3 Comments »
Friday, June 19th, 2009
If you want to remove paint, rust, dirt, or welding slag without damaging the metal surface, you may need an air needle scaler. This air-powered tool has a piston that drives a number of needles or small chisels back and forth very quickly.
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Posted in Air Tools, Amazon, Drill Spot, Ingersoll Rand, Northern Tool | 8 Comments »
Thursday, June 18th, 2009
While they’re no replacement for a torque wrench, torque sticks are a pretty cool alternative. When used with an impact wrench dialed to the appropriate setting, they start flexing when the desired torque is reached, absorbing the impact rather than transferring it to the fastener. Because of the way they operate, you can’t just use one as an extension to your ratchet — they’ll only work with impact wrenches.
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Posted in Accessories, Air Tools, Amazon, Hand Tools | 13 Comments »
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
Air tools are generally lighter and more powerful than their electric cousins, but if you’re using an electric compressor, you still need a source of electricity. With gas-powered air compressors you’re truly free of the plug. While they’re not a new concept, DeWalt has added a couple new models that you might want to consider.
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Posted in Air Tools, DeWalt | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
I’ve used this Harbor Freight air nibbler a few times to cut sheet metal for home and automotive repair, and it performed flawlessly. Let me warn you, though, it shaves off small quarter-moon pieces as it cuts, thousands of them — so make sure you use it in an open area where you can find them all, or in a place where they won’t cause problems.
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Posted in Air Tools, Harbor Freight, Metalworking | 3 Comments »
Friday, February 27th, 2009
Matco Tools’ new mini impact driver will fit where larger impact wrenches won’t, and its light weight (under two pounds) means less fatigue. With its 1/4″ drive and 5 to 30 foot-pounds of torque it’s designed with smaller fasteners in mind, and it spins up to 11,000 RPM so it won’t slow you down on large assembly projects.
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Posted in Air Tools, Matco | 7 Comments »
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
I remember it clearly, though it happened 20 years ago: I took my brand new 3/8” air ratchet to a valve cover bolt — and snapped the bolt cleanly in half. That same day, after I was done with the ole extractor set, I picked up my first pressure regulator, one that you could turn the valve a quarter turn to regulate pressure, but it wasn’t very exact or reproducible if I needed to repeat a settings. We’ve come a long way from that to Eastwood’s Digital Pressure Regulator.
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Posted in Air Tools, Eastwood Co. | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009
Like a lot of people, I often forget to drain my air compressor. It’s not a big enough problem that I’m gonna shell out for a high-tech, high-dollar automatic compressor drain, but I’m willing to give this low-buck Harbor Freight version a look.
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Posted in Air Tools, Harbor Freight, Shop Tools | 11 Comments »
Monday, February 9th, 2009
With Jet’s vacuum gun in your air tool arsenal you can vacuum with your air compressor instead of digging out the shop-vac — no electricity or extra cords required.
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Posted in Air Tools, Cleaning, JET, Sears | 8 Comments »
Friday, February 6th, 2009
Getting the correct pressure in your tires normally takes a few rounds of swapping between chuck, pressure gauge, and sometimes the pin on the back of the gauge to let out air because you added too much. With an all-in-one inflator like this tool from Campbell Hausfeld, just clip the chuck on the stem and read the tire pressure — then squeeze the trigger to start adding air, or release some pressure with the relief valve.
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Posted in Air Tools, Amazon, Campbell Hausfeld | 15 Comments »
Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
Here we see our Ridgid twin-tank aluminum air compressor in its native environment — its central position right under the miter saw is no accident. This compressor is a slightly dusty star of the show, and the shop wouldn’t be able to function correctly without it.
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Posted in Air Tools, Home Depot, Pneumatics, RIDGID, TM's Favs '08 | 12 Comments »
Friday, December 5th, 2008
The oddly themed Hoppymart is selling this air hose reel for $10. Sure, the hose isn’t included, it’s a cheap import, and there are only two in stock — but if you need to organize your air hose, you can’t beat a hose reel.
Air Hose Reel [Hoppymart]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?]
Posted in Air Tools, Amazon, Dealmonger | 4 Comments »
Thursday, December 4th, 2008
You don’t always have enough room in your tool belt to hold a bunch of framing nail coils, and even if you do, the unsupported pouch can bend up the coils making it harder to load ‘em into your nailer. To solve this problem, Prazi came up with the Framing Coil Caddy to hold up to seven coils on your belt at once.
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Posted in Accessories, Air Tools, Amazon, Prazi | 1 Comment »
Monday, November 10th, 2008
When Sean finally gets his second bulldozer, and he invites you over to the Dozer Derby, make sure to bring lift bags like these — sure enough, when Toolmongers start goofing around with heavy equipment, they’ll have to fix it whether they broke it or not. Unless the dozer weighs more than 70 tons, these bags’ll be able to lift it off the ground.
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Posted in Air Tools, Heavy Equipment, Paratech | 4 Comments »
Tuesday, October 28th, 2008
Some call ‘em random orbital sanders — I always call ‘em jitterbugs — either way, they’re the go-to tool for a smooth surface finish. The vigorous circular motion of the sandpaper helps prevent sanding lines and swirl marks, and you don’t have to worry about the direction of the grain. 3M has released a new line of random orbital sanders with the catchy name “Random Orbital Sander.” I guess the marketing department had the day off.
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Posted in Abrasives, Air Tools | No Comments »
Friday, October 24th, 2008
Get into tight corners where your old die grinder can’t reach with AirCat’s inside-corner die grinder. With its 4″ wheel you can access angles as shallow as 30°. The tool’s 17″ length also allows you to reach into confined spaces.
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Posted in Air Tools, Amazon, Northern Tool | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Cordless-Drills.net is selling what looks to be a really cheaply made air caulking gun for only $8. If you’re doing a caulking project that requires multiple tubes, you’ll soon discover that the muscles in the hand aren’t meant to be squeezed repeatedly for hours. For these jobs, an air-powered caulking gun will save you a lot of time and pain.
Will this one hold up? Hard to say — but it’s cheap enough that if it just works for one big job, you’re going to be happy.
Air Caulking Gun [Cordless-Drills.net]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Posted in Air Tools, Dealmonger | 3 Comments »
