Air Tools vs. Cordless

Da_Hose · Post by **Da_Hose** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 8:47 pm

Since this forum area is about what lessons we have learned in our workshops, I thought it would be helpful to have a thread about modern shop tools and the options available to the home mechanic.

While I have the skills and experience to do pretty much any kind of automotive work. What I lack is lots of spare time. Having a full complement of air tools was my way of speeding things up and getting the job done in the small amounts of time I can devote. Air tools have long been the gold standard for a truly capable auto workshop at home, but they require a decent compressor, air lines and the tools themselves come at different price points and levels of performance. The need to get out the hoses and ancillary pieces adds inconvenience and increases initial for someone who is just starting out. I have recently purchased some cordless tools that have really been a revelation and that is why I decided to write this post.

The first tool I purchased that really impressed me was my AC Delco branded 3/8" drive cordless ratchet. The build quality is great, it came with two batteries that charge in an hour and it is rated to 57 ft/lb of torque. The torque rating is pretty much on the money and the batteries last so long that I can recharge way before I need to switch them out, so I NEVER run out of juice. I can crawl around and get to many angles that are a pain with an air hose sticking out the bottom of an air ratchet and you can manually break things loose by holding the metal part of the tool, then let the electric drive do its job.

The second tool I highly recommend is a cordless impact driver. There are many brands and you will need to carefully select the right tool for you. As a rule of thumb, you should get a 1/2" drive model that is rated at over 200 ft/lb of torque. Anything less powerful will often fail to remove fasteners on suspension or steering linkage bolts tightened near or over 100 ft/lb. I chose my tool after reading a very good review of the Harbor Freight 1/2" cordless impact driver in Hot Rod magazine. I tested for myself by removing wheel nuts on my RV that are torqued to 160 ft/lb. One use validated all the praise in the Hot Rod review. The HF tool feels solid and has a variable trigger, but is only available with NiCD batteries. However, that does not heavily limit its performance. The driver can be had for about $100 when on sale. Batteries charge in about 2.5 hours and only cost $15, so having a capable tool with multiple batteries would be possible for about $150. Compared to other more well known brands with price tags in the $400 range and batteries around $70, the HF is an incredibly good bargain.

So to sum it up, if I was looking to start building up a home auto workshop, I would definitely start my power tool kit with a modern electric 3/8" drive ratchet and a cordless 1/2" impact driver. With those as a starting point, you would be much less likely to need the various air tools unless you start getting into very specialized or heavy truck kinds of work. The HUGE added bonus is that you can easily pack up and travel with your tools. That is very useful and valuable to me.

Jose

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:30 pm

Interesting, Jose! I always haul a huge number of tools with me, all "armstrong" variety. A couple of battery-powered one that actually work and hold a decent charge would be great.

Since I'm in a "jobby" (hobby-turned -job) that requires a lot of compressed air for testing, it's natural that I've gone for mostly pneumatic tools. I have a massive collection of air tools I use in my air horn repair shop beside using them for automotive work. A dozen 1/4" die grinders with an assortment of carbide die grinder burrs, half a dozen impact wrenches (3/8" and 1/2" drive), three each of 3/8" and 1/4" drive air ratchets, and a host of grinders/sanders/buffers. I have an industrial air compressor. Westinghouse Air Brake model 3YC from 1951 (same year I was born) originally designed to power the air brakes on a train. It puts out 25cfm at 90psi, so I can run multiple tools at once (when the friends are over working on their cars). I also have three media blasting cabinets. One has plastic beads (removing thin paint), one has glass beads (light corrosion removal and finishing aluminum after repair), and the big one (48"x 30"x 30") has aluminum oxide for heavy paint/corrosion removal. It's big enough to put an 18" wheel in there and maneuver it around to blast all sides of it.

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 12:13 am

Good topic!
From my Grip days, I have a set of 18 volt DeWalt circular saw and a screw gun.
With a sawzall & two batteries in one case with a flashlight. Very portable.
Oh, yeah, I also have a Harbor Freights impact wrench. I forget the voltage.
From my small shade tree, that's enough for me.

Again,,thanx for all your help,,,,Greg

Da_Hose · Post by **Da_Hose** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 7:11 pm

25 CFM AT 90 PSI! Holy Cow!

Jose

sansouci · Post by **sansouci** » Wed Feb 11, 2015 10:51 pm

Ken
How about some pictures of your workshop. After the airhorn repair pictures (very impressive work) it must be a metalworkers dream!

GripGreg · Post by **GripGreg** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 12:42 am

I think Ken is the one into model trains?
He backed me up on the word 'Grip" I believe.

Greg

sansouci · Post by **sansouci** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:26 am

By the size of the horns, I don't think they were models but the real deal...

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:20 am

The horns are real, actual locomotive air horns. Most purchased when the locomotives were scrapped, or when the horns were broken or malfunctioned and the railroads replaced them.

Here's some of the horns in the shop. I wish it were still as clean as in these photos.

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:37 am

My lathe and milling machine. The mill is a small "bench mill" from Harbor Freight for which I built a riser base to get it at working height. The lathe is a 1956 Monarch 12" x 48" heavyweight that tips the scale at 6600 pounds.

That's my dearly departed Border Collie "Chewie" by the mill.

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 3:53 am

Here's the air compressor, and the three media blasting cabinets. The one nearest the camera has been replaced with the big gray one. Some of the really old horns are too long to fit in the smaller cabinets, so I had to upgrade.

The fellow using the blast cabinet is Richard Musgrove, a good friend and helper who comes over about once a week to work with me in the shop....sometimes on horns, sometimes on cars.

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:03 am

Some of the die grinders, a couple of pencil die grinders, and my Miller TIG machine.

hornhospital · Post by **hornhospital** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:27 am

And I'll stop photobombing the thread after this...

Greg said I was in to model trains. Yup, in a big way, but it's not my layout. It belongs to a friend of mine, Eric Hallberg, who lives a few miles away. He's far more of a craftsman than i am. His benchwork under the layout is nicer than my livingroom furniture. It's been HUGE project, like club-size modeling in HO scale. Two levels, connected by a double track helix. There's over 2100 ft of track (30 scale miles) on this layout, much of it hidden, to keep you guessing where the trains will appear next. We are just starting the scenery stage of building. These pictures show only a small part of the whole thing.

The picture of the cars on the bridge is fake. If you look closely, there's no track under the cars.

We laid the track shortly after that shot was made.

Now back to the topic of this thread. Sorry for the hijack.

Colin C · Post by **Colin C** » Thu Feb 12, 2015 2:07 pm

Nice set up - love the Border Collie. I've got two sitting at my feet right now that could be it's sister......they also love getting under my feet in my garage!

sansouci · Post by **sansouci** » Fri Feb 13, 2015 2:45 am

Awesome shop, inventory to the ceiling, HD equipment. Really wonderful. I'm a model train guy myself: German Marklin equipment.
Appreciate you sharing your special space....

--Ken Weinstein