I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

On Dec 20, 8:20 am, "keyridge" wrote:
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

Air tools are also safer for use around flammable materials. When I
worked on planes most of the power tools like drills & sanders were
air-powered. If you get air-powered tools you won't have to worry
about igniting the JP4 you have in your shop.

"keyridge" wrote in message
ps.com...
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.


Advantages/disadvantage? Is your compressor 6.5 hp 220 volt or 110 volt?
If 110 volt it is more likely 2 hp and probably not big enough to keep up
with a ROS air sanders demands. It may run for maybe a minute.
You need to look at the cfm out put on your compressor and on the tool you
want to buy to insure compatibility.
The advantage to electric power tools is that they work just about anywhere
that has 110 volt power.

keyridge wrote:
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

I have one of those "6.5 Horsepower" compressors too. I bought a
random orbit air sander from the Borg and found that the sander seemed
to bog down easily and didn't seem as powerful as my Porter Cable 5"
electric. A quality air sander may have done better. Also, the
compressor couldn't keep up with the air use of the sander. I've been
using my electric ROS and never looked back. It seems to me that the
electric version is pretty hard to improve on.

DonkeyHody
"You just don't know a man until you've divided an inheritance with
him." - Mark Twain

EXTREMELY INEFFICIENT, and the sander will spit out oily water.
Why bother.
Wilson
"keyridge" wrote in message
ps.com...
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

"keyridge" wrote in message
ps.com...

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.


I use both air and electric tools, because I have both. I use my DA for a
ROS, since I already have it handy for doing body work. I also have enough
compressor to run a DA for extended periods. They are very demanding of
compressor delivery, so if you're even thinking of air tools, look at the
SCFM requirements of the tools and then go home and see what your compressor
delivers.

If you don't have another use for air tools, I wouldn't suggest going that
route. You're tied to an air compressor instead of an outlet, and that
makes the tool much less portable for you. There's no real compelling
advantage to the air tool, so why bother?

If you're going to do occasional body work, depending on the scale of the
work you'll be doing, you can likely get by with an electric ROS. The big
draw back here is that if you're sanding down fillers and the likes, you
have to be mindful of the fine dust that gets inside the tool case. Keep it
blown out well. Air tools don't suffer this problem. But, if you're going
to use it on a car once every couple or few years, there's hardly a point in
owning the air tools.

--

-Mike-

In article ,
"Leon" wrote:

"keyridge" wrote in message
ps.com...
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.


Advantages/disadvantage? Is your compressor 6.5 hp 220 volt or 110 volt?
If 110 volt it is more likely 2 hp and probably not big enough to keep up
with a ROS air sanders demands. It may run for maybe a minute.
You need to look at the cfm out put on your compressor and on the tool you
want to buy to insure compatibility.
The advantage to electric power tools is that they work just about anywhere
that has 110 volt power.

And I would rather drag around a simple cord than a big fat hose.

In article et, "Wilson" wrote:
EXTREMELY INEFFICIENT, and the sander will spit out oily water.
Why bother.

The latter problem, at least, is alleviated by appropriate filters on the air
lines.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

Appreciate all the input. Compressor's a 220. Other than a nailer and
other compressor usage, will keep the sander electric based on the
comments. Thanks!

Ok, before jumping into a air powered ROS check the SCFM of your comperssor.
You'll need at least 18 SCFM @ 90PSI with most ROS. If your compessor can
handle that I'd say go for it!

Dan
"keyridge" wrote in message
ps.com...
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

In article om,
keyridge wrote:
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.


If by 6.5 HP you mean a compressor that has a true 6.5 HP induction
motor, supplied by (roughly) 240V on a 30 Amp (#8 or larger wire) circuit
breaker, or a 3 phase motor, then go for it. OTOH, if this is
one of those 6.5HP compressors that plugs into a regular 120V outlet,
you'd better stick to an electric ROS.


--
Contentment makes poor men rich. Discontent makes rich men poor.
--Benjamin Franklin
Larry Wasserman - Baltimore, Maryland -

In article om,
says...
I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

The most useful air tool for woodworking is the dustgun, in my opinion.
Not to be underestimated in its usefulness. Cleaning the other tools, the
sawtables, gears in the planer, bandsaw guides, workpiece, bisquit slots ...
First thing I do when I start the day in the woodworkshop is to pump up the air
tank and sweep the floor (again) while that is going on.

Other than that? The compressor runs the spraygun. And that's about it. As
Robatoy said, I'd also rather drag a cord around than a hose (and use 2
cordless drills/drivers).

-P.

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

On 20 Dec 2006 05:20:27 -0800, "keyridge" wrote:

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

I saw no mention of my biggest concern - the godawful noise most rotary tools
make. I worked in a machine shop where air connections were more plentiful than
electric outlets, so we used air tools for maintenance and repair work, dragging
the "big fat hose" around the machinery. Even in a noisy environment such as a
machine shop, we, and all the operators, screamed bloody murder whenever we used
a drill, die grinder or sander out on the floor.
You guys know what tire and muffler shops sound like, don't you?

On 20 Dec 2006 05:20:27 -0800, "keyridge" wrote:

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

An air ROS (often called a DA as well) is an excellent tool. I like
them a lot better than my electric.

A die-grinder can have some uses as well, if you're doing any heavy
contouring or power sanding on a lathe.

The advantage is that you can often get a better tool for less money
by going pneumatic, but the disadvantages are that they can be very
loud (when you consider the compressor kicking on and off,) they're
less portable (you need to take the compressor with, too) and if
you're in a really humid environment and don't have a dryer on the
compressor, they can *spit* a little- and that moisture usually has
some air tool oil in it.

Can't recommend a manufacturer offhand, but the air sanders are well
worth the money, at least in every case I've seen.

"Prometheus" wrote in message
...


An air ROS (often called a DA as well) is an excellent tool. I like
them a lot better than my electric.

I likes the way you talk...


A die-grinder can have some uses as well, if you're doing any heavy
contouring or power sanding on a lathe.

Oh baby - now that's getting manly! A die-grinder on a hunk of wood.
That's taking the Dremmel idea to the max. So tell me - how do you feel
about the use of cutting torches for those stubborn cuts? (ahhhhhh....
cutting torches - my favorite tool).



Can't recommend a manufacturer offhand, but the air sanders are well
worth the money, at least in every case I've seen.

For what it's worth - like everything else, the knock-off market has done a
good job in this area. It was not so long ago that DA's from the
knock-off's didn't stack up to some of the name brands, but that's
yesterday's news. I bought a DA from Keystone Automotive and I don't even
know what the "brand name" they sell their knock-offs under, but I paid $40
for it and I've never looked back. I would guess the same could be said of
the HF product these days as well.

--

-Mike-

How about...

Air Tools - light weight, compact (good for tight spots), cool (i.e. cold),
can be noisy, hoses/connectors can be a pain, can blow dust back at you from
work surface (sometimes handy feature), ok if your shop is plumbed for air,
compressor noise, longer charge times on big tanks, iffy for torque,
doesn't break your wrist if drill bit gets jammed (more of a steel drilling
problem), high speeds

Electric corded tools - heavier, hotter, not so compact, expensive, higher
torque, convenient, cords are a pain, quick, no dust, high speeds

Cordless tools - nice, limited batteries, dead batteries suck, lower torque,
can be heavy, no cords!, expensive, very convenient, generally lower speeds,
getting much much better

"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On 20 Dec 2006 05:20:27 -0800, "keyridge" wrote:

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

An air ROS (often called a DA as well) is an excellent tool. I like
them a lot better than my electric.

A die-grinder can have some uses as well, if you're doing any heavy
contouring or power sanding on a lathe.

The advantage is that you can often get a better tool for less money
by going pneumatic, but the disadvantages are that they can be very
loud (when you consider the compressor kicking on and off,) they're
less portable (you need to take the compressor with, too) and if
you're in a really humid environment and don't have a dryer on the
compressor, they can *spit* a little- and that moisture usually has
some air tool oil in it.

Can't recommend a manufacturer offhand, but the air sanders are well
worth the money, at least in every case I've seen.

On 21-Dec-2006, Prometheus wrote:

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

I bought a 6" DynaBrade ROS online a few weeks ago for a project (prepping a
class A
motor home for painting) and have been using it in my shop for woodworking
projects.
IMHO it is the greatest thing since sliced bread! This particular model is
ultra light at 1.5
pounds, making it much less tiring to use than the 5" Porter Cable electrics
I have used in the past.
Discs for it are approximately $25 for a roll of 100 (varies a few dollars
depending on grit), available
at most auto paint stores. BUT, you do need a good (preferably two stage)
compressor to
use it continuously. After using it for a couple of weeks it makes me wish
I had bought one
years ago. Its a GREAT tool, IF your compressor can handle it.

On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:11:18 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
wrote:

Oh baby - now that's getting manly! A die-grinder on a hunk of wood.
That's taking the Dremmel idea to the max. So tell me - how do you feel
about the use of cutting torches for those stubborn cuts? (ahhhhhh....
cutting torches - my favorite tool).

Sadly, I don't think it would cut very well- but I have seen plywood
and hardboard laser cut a time or two. But does using a plumber's
torch for *rustic* edges count?

On Fri, 22 Dec 2006 04:45:36 GMT, wrote:


On 21-Dec-2006, Prometheus wrote:

I have a 6.5 HP compressor and looking at purchasing some air tools,
i.e. ROS. I understand the lack of moving parts for the air ROS has a
longer shelf life. Are there other advantages/ disadvantages of air vs.
power tools? Do any of you use air ROS for woodworking? Any recommended
air tool manufacturers for woodworkers? Primarily wood but may use it
on occasion for auto.

I bought a 6" DynaBrade ROS online a few weeks ago for a project (prepping a
class A
motor home for painting) and have been using it in my shop for woodworking
projects.
IMHO it is the greatest thing since sliced bread! This particular model is
ultra light at 1.5
pounds, making it much less tiring to use than the 5" Porter Cable electrics
I have used in the past.
Discs for it are approximately $25 for a roll of 100 (varies a few dollars
depending on grit), available
at most auto paint stores. BUT, you do need a good (preferably two stage)
compressor to
use it continuously. After using it for a couple of weeks it makes me wish
I had bought one
years ago. Its a GREAT tool, IF your compressor can handle it.

Yep- from what I've seen, they're standard equipment at a lot of
professional cabinet shops. If you use the right paper, they make
quick work of sanding chores in ways that put the electrics to shame.
All other objections noted and agreed with- but if you've got the
compressor for it, those air tools really do quick and clean work.

"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:11:18 -0500, "Mike Marlow"
wrote:

Oh baby - now that's getting manly! A die-grinder on a hunk of wood.
That's taking the Dremmel idea to the max. So tell me - how do you feel
about the use of cutting torches for those stubborn cuts? (ahhhhhh....
cutting torches - my favorite tool).

Sadly, I don't think it would cut very well- but I have seen plywood
and hardboard laser cut a time or two. But does using a plumber's
torch for *rustic* edges count?


You used the "P" word. I was fine with this thread until you had to do
that.

However - to answer your question... I suppose one of those torches could be
considered a worthy tool for the application described, but it somehow seems
to lack the manly stuff that wheeling a cart over to a project has. I mean,
think about it - big stuff, on a cart, gauges, valves, hoses, big hunka
brass, and knobs. Every guy knows that knobs are a good thing to have in
the shop...

--

-Mike-