Collection: Tools

An air tool's CFM rating is an average, not a ceiling. A 1/2 inch impact wrench listed at 4 CFM pulls 15 to 20 CFM while the trigger is down, and a 6 inch random orbital sander wants 12 to 18 CFM continuously. That is why a sander empties a 60 gallon shop compressor in ten minutes and an impact gun never does.

Size the compressor to the hungriest tool you run continuously, add 25 percent, and feed it with 3/8 inch hose at minimum. Fifty feet of 1/4 inch hose costs 10 to 15 PSI at the tool, which shows up as a grinder that bogs down and an impact that will not break a lug nut.

What is in here

Impact wrenches from 3/8 inch to 2 1/2 inch drive, ratchets from 1/4 to 1/2 inch, pencil, die and angle grinders from 2 to 9 inch, drills from 1/4 to 2 inch in straight, angle and pistol grip, saws, nibblers and shears, chipping hammers, needle and weld scalers, random orbital, rotary, pistol and belt sanders, rivet squeezers, production screwdrivers and controlled torque wrenches, mostly from Chicago Pneumatic.

Where air stops being the right answer

For a dozen fasteners a week, a cordless impact wins and it is not close. Air earns its keep on continuous duty, in flammable or wet areas where a spark is a problem, and on tools that get dropped. The cost of entry is the system behind it: a compressor, hose, quick couplers, an inline lubricator, and air clean enough not to rust the motor, which means an aftercooler and a dryer downstream of the air compressor. Skip the dryer and you will buy the tool twice.