One thing that has always bugged me about air compressors is that they're noisy as hell. (At least the big Sears kind, which is what we have at work.) That's why I've never bought one for my home workshop.
Yet when you visit the automobile service station you never hear the damn things, just the whizz of the impact wrench. I'm going to ask the local mechanic on my next visit but I think I already know the answer: it's outside and it's an industrial unit. Translation: overkill and too expensive for the home shop. Correct?
So is there anything that's truly silent or very nearly so for the home shop? I'd really like enough CFM to drive a small sand blaster with it but not if the compressor is going to have SWMBO and her minions running me of the reservation as my workstop is in "my" half of the two car garage, directly below the living space.
Suggestions or recommendations?
J.