Frank J Warner wrote:

Couple months ago I bought one of these:

http://tinyurl.com/yyqd

to replace my aging and no longer fully functional home-made air
compressor. (Link is to Sears, Craftsman 15 Gal 3HP air compressor.)

When I got it home and plugged it in, I couldn't believe my ears. The
thing sounds like a machine gun going off

Oh, come ON! It's not THAT loud! Maybe as loud as a big truck engine
with no
muffler, running at full throttle. Well, that's still TOO loud to
listen to for more
than a few minutes, even with ear protectors. Yes, I know, I had one, too.

I got a Quincy 2-cylinder compressor at the scrap yard, and did a little
repair
work (replaced filter, new oil, new safety relief) and it runs fine. It
is so
quiet that I hardly mind being near it WITHOUT ear protectors. But, I
usually wear them anyway, because what the compressor is running is
much louder than the compressor itself. This is their 1-2 HP pump,
that puts out a little over 6 CFM at 90 PSI with a 2 HP motor turning it
at 900 RPM.

Jon