DIY compressors

[storm monkey]

I'll start with the usual apology for once again covering a well documented topic, but I'm after a bit of advice on compressors.

I have a load of stair spindles and several doors to paint, and dread the thought of spending days with a paintbrush, then sanding out brush marks, then repeating the whole thing again. I tend to have a few things to spray every once in a while, and will be looking at bodywork spraying at some point too. I'd also like to be able to run the odd air tool or two, but I don't see this being more than on the odd occasion, and for short amounts of time.

Anyway, space and budget are not massive, so I was thinking along the lines of 50l capacity, and 2-2.5 hp. Falling into this range are the usual suspects, e.g. SIP (probably ruled out, based on comments on here), Clarke, Shiremoor (to keep Wozzah happy). I've also found good prices for Sealey, Draper and ABAC, with pretty good specs (FAD upto 7CFM max, so I'd guess 5 continuously). Anybody have any experience with these?

Cheers,

Phil

 

[shenion]

Al lot depends on the type of sprayer you are using.

I know my HVLP sprayers take about 7CFM.

As for painting spindles/doors, I yould not use my sprayer for latex paint. It is too thick.

You might look at an airless sprayer.

 

[Rich.C]

Phil, I've got a Sip compressor and have found it to be very good, I think they are built a lot better than some of their welders.

From your list I would not get a Draper, they used to be quite unreliable. They may have improved now, can anyone comment on this?

 

[gudgeonmczygo]

I recently spent a lot of time looking into this when I should have been working.

At first I was thinking of getting an ABAC MonteCarlo D4 but was persuaded that direct drive was going to be noisy and short-lived. Then I looked at the new Clarke Boxer 55 (Machine Mart) perfectly good but was not really persuaded by the look of the cylinder. I phoned up MM and it was confirmed that this is basicly a cheap chinese cylinder. Finally I decided on a Shiremoor ER14/50. I had a long conversation with the guy at Shiremoor and convinced by his argument that the Italian-made Cast Iron lined cylinder was going to be the best at the price and that if anything broke it wouldn't cost the earth to replace parts.

Lastly, I once resprayed the gelcoat on the hull of a boat very effectively with an electric airless spraygun, I wouldn't recommend this for the finish on a car but it certainly would do some stair spindles (depending on paint used I suppose).

 

[storm monkey]

I'd considered airless, but had a nasty experience with one a while ago, though probably a cheap one. I'd like the option in the future to use the odd air tool, tire inflater, die grinder etc.

I'm going to get the info on the Shiremoor 2.5hp 50l direct drive model. 12 CFM sounds pretty good for the money, but they don'd publish FAD figures. Will see what they say. Would love to go belt drive, but the price jump is a little above my budget.

Cheers Guys,

Phil

 

[gudgeonmczygo]

There are some good prices around for direct drive, some are also oilless for spraying which saves money on filters too.

One thing I did notice when I was looking was that shipping costs vary hugely (£15 --> £50), especially on ebay where this is how some folks make their money.

 

[Afterimage]

I bought a Wolf 2HP 50Litre oil free compressor from screrwfix a couple of years ago for just under £130 inc. free delivery,it's suppposed to produce 7.6cfm.
I've used it to respray my Land Rover inside and out,to run a small shotblaster gun and to rum my die grinder,air chisel,pump up my tyres etc etc.
I don't suppose it's super-duper quality,but I've used it quite hard and it's not broken yet so it gets my recommendation as a budget option.

 

[JW240]

we got a 4 hp compressor from the Austrian brand "Aircraft". 50 liter tank, 2 cylinder. expensive (800 euro) but moves a lot of air and is a really high quality unit (15 years warranty on tank etc).

 

[scarecrow]

I'm going to get the info on the Shiremoor 2.5hp 50l direct drive model. 12 CFM sounds pretty good for the money, but they don'd publish FAD figures. Will see what they say. Would love to go belt drive, but the price jump is a little above my budget.

Cheers Guys,

Phil

The only problem with direct drive compressor is if the motor goes it can't be fixed if you decide to buy a direct drive make sure it's getting enough electricity and do not use it on the end of a long lead as lack of electricity is what causes most damage

 

[klaatu]

I'm very pleased with my Axminster 3hp 10cfm FAD compressor. £154.95 and free delivery to UK mainland (and a reasonable £10 to get it here). Caveats about electricity supply apply.

Steve