I know this has nothing to do with Corvettes but I wanted to get some opinions anyways.

I don't currently have a compressor but I am looking to get one. Question is what size is sufficient for a small garage/workshop? Both hp rating and capacity...probably mostly capacity. I want to be able to do normal garage tasks with air tools, etc.

Any suggestions?

Also don't have too much room to spare...

 

IMHO, I wouldn't go any smaller than the 3.5 hp / 25 gal Craftsman I've had in my garage at home, which has served me well for a good many years. It's 110VAC, so it doesn't require special wiring. I don't do any automotive painting with it and haven't done any sandblasting as of yet, tho I believe it should do fine for the latter.

Once had a large industrial unit back when we had our own private shop. It may well have been overkill, but I never felt the investment was a waste. With a seemingly endless supply, we just kept finding more and more uses for air...

Bottom line, I believe this is an item where you get the biggest and bestest you can afford which is practical to install. Uprights have a smaller footprint, if that's an issue.

 

Skunk makes some good points. I've got a two garage shop and about seven years ago, watched the "for sale" prices at Sears and picked up upright 60 gal 6.5 hp unit at a great price and installed it in a shed behind the shop. At the time I just used it for putting air in tires and removing tires. At the time I knew I may get ambitious and try new stuff not knowing what that stuff would be.

Since then, I've gone through a couple of random orbital sanders...using them to sand the cedar on the house and repaint. I use an airless spray gun for that job but dragged some 100 feet of hose around the house to sand and it did a suberb job! I also have grinders and polishers...nothing like air power for tough jobs.

Also this past year picked up a good size blaster and have decided to take on a restoration project. Point is...the compressor is sized correctly for these tasks and I've always seem to have enough horsepower to do the job. It's out of the way behind the shop so it works great in terms of space and noise.

My suggestion...shop around and get the most you can afford and buy smart.

 

The thing to watch for in compressor selection is the delivery volume. i.e. how much air can it supply at a contant pressure?

There are two types of compressors on the market that are suitable for home use. Single stage and two stage. The single stage units are most common and usually deliver about 11 cfm at 90 PSI. This unit would be fine for most applications, but when you start adding air tools to your collection, the demand on the compressor increases. Sanders and blasting cabinets use a lot of air and you have to size the compressor large enough to replace the air as you are using it.

I had a small Sears compressor that could not keep up with my blast cabinet. I would start blasting at 90PSI and have the motor start within seconds of pulling the trigger. The pressure with the motor running would drop to 60 PSI within a few minutes and I'd have to stop to let the compressor catch up.

A two stage compressor can deliver a lot more volume of air +20 cfm but they are expensive, so I settled for a single stage unit that delivers 18.5 cfm at 90 PSI. This unit does maintain the pressure to run the blast cabinet and all my tools, but like my garage, after using it, I wish it was bigger.

So like mentioned above, buy the biggest, best you can afford. Check the delivery volume and stay away from the units that delivery less then 18cfm.

Good luck.

 

Buy the biggest thing you can afford. It might well be worth it to look around for used units - sometimes you can get a very nice compressor for a reasonable amount of money.

 

I have the same compressor, I run all my air tools including a DA with it and it has always been adequate.

 

i bought a sears oil-less style that has a 30 (?) gal tank. bought it because it came with a set of tools and attachments. it works ok for impact guns, but that's about all. if i were to do it again, i'd get a 5hp+ compressor with a 60 gal tank that runs off 220. i could blast, sand and paint-things that are impossible with the unit i have now.
jeff

 

The Sears 3.5 25 Gal will work if you are not in a hurry but if you plan to do a lot of sandblasting , they work too hard and would not keep up. You would have to wait on it. Invest once and buy at least a 5 HP sixty gal. tank. It will last a lifetime for home shop use. Two stage compressors are also better.

 

Craftsman 33 gallon

max pressure 110

runs my impact, ratchet, chisel ok. Next time though I would go a little bigger

 

I started with a 20 gallon coleman from Sams. I quickly realized it was only good for filling bicycle tires and could spray paint, but I would have to stop for it to catch up. Then I graduated to a single phase 60 gallon upright. It could not run my 48 inch blast cabinet without running constantly, much less a couple of sanders simultaneously. Now I have an 80 gallon 2 phase upright that runs at 175 psi. I got it at Lowes and it was $800. Since then, I have seen an Ingersol Rand at TSC, a rural farm store, for around $750 if you have those stores in your area. Point is, I wasted a lot of money "graduating" up in size, and if I had done my research like you are doing, I would have bought the right thing in the first place.

 

My .02 cents worth....I fell for the 5 HP/25 gal 'oil-free', direct drive. It's been a 'fair' unit but....LOUD!!! Hear it running clear upstairs. Never again! Belt-driven, upright, 60 gal. if I ever get another. Also had to crank the reg. up to 120psi to get anything done.

 

In this case "Size does matter". Get the biggest one you can afford. I have a 6HP/60 gallon unit in my garage and haven't regretted once.

 

I figured this was the best place to ask this question. And it sounds like I can learn from the experiences of others. My mind's made up, I'm gonna FILL my garage with as much (upright) compressor as possible...within reason

Thanks all!

 

My dad and I got an old industrial-grade 2-stage upright for $250. It had a three-phase 220v motor, which we replaced with a single-phase unit, and the electrical controller was damaged, but that's a standard item. It works great for blasting and anything else I've managed to throw at it.

 

For what it's worth, I didn't want to use up floor space, I had space in the attic of my garage to build an enclosure. I relocated all controls, mounted the compressor on rubber feet and insulated it with 4" foam to cut down on the noise. I ran air lines to different points of the garage where I used air. Also added an electric solenoid valve and a drain line so I can drain water from the tank with a flip of a switch.

 

I have this one... 26 gallon

It's too small and too loud. BUT it has worked for 5 years. It won't run a DA sander or die grinder without running constantly.

 

with buy the biggest you can afford. I like Ingersol-Rand for air tools and compressors. Home Depot used to sell the compressors, not sure if they still do. I say you need 10 cfm at least if you want to blast anything. The higher the cfm, the better it will keep up with high usage applications (like blasting).

 

I bought a 5HP 25 gallon Husky brand compressor from Home Depot, it was on sale and came with a set of tools and accessories at a great price. It runs off 125V but I did have to put in a dedicated circuit for it because it draws about 15A which is the limit for most normal branch circuits in a home. Its very noisy too.

That said its OK for putting air in tires and running the impact gun and air ratchet but it sure isnt big enough for a blast cabinet or anything really heavy duty.

Wish I would have gotten a bigger unit. like a 5 HP 2 stage Champion or similar.