Compressor Advice for Brad Nail Usage.

[Geoff Clark]

Hi,

I have just ordered a Paslode T200 F18 brad nailer. My choice was made easier by the recent article in Fine Woodworking, and threads I have read here were especially helpful in my choice to go with the 2" ability

What about compressors tho? There seem to be so many out there. I would like something with a handle I can carry around. Also I would like a relatively quiet machine. I will only be using it in my shop, not in production, but I don't want to have to "wait" too long for pressure to build up. I read in one thread a mention of 4 or 5 a minute, which would be laboriously slow - on the edge of funereal. Actually I hope that was a typo as I read somewhere else about 20 to 30 a minute, no problem.

Any suggestions ?

Also, out of interest, what is the minimum for spraying lacquer ? Iffn' I wanted to do that down the road.

Thanks,

Geoff

[Edwin Pawlowski]

There are a couple of threads going right now that may answer your question in more detail. The pancake compressor will do nicely for a brad nailer. It may take a few minutes to get from zero to pressure, any compressor will, but you can pop brads all day and never run out of air. Never counted, but I'd guess you can set at least 25 or 35 brads before the compressor kicked in again. Ed [e-mail]

[Leon]

Generally compressors today have the compressor pumps matched to the size tanks that they are mounted on. Therefore they will normally not run long to recharge or to fill from 0 to operating pressure.

The quieter compressors 99% of the time are oil lubricated and the belt driven oil lubricated ones tend to be even quieter.

A small or pancake sized compressor will be great for just about any nail gun except a palm nailer. They work OK with palm nailers but will recharge often when shooting 16d nails. Most nail guns are Low Volume users.

If you even think that you will use a spray gun, impact wrench, air ratchet, etc you should check the CFM requirements of those particular tools and buy a compressor with the appropriate Specifications. Close is usually good enough if you will not be using the tool for extended periods of time.