What kind of compressor should I get?

[Jason Eure]

I am shopping for a compressor, I am going to use it around the house and for projects. What kind would you recommend or what kind should I not consider? Thank you for your thoughts

[handyman_20772]

Currently I have a Rigid twin stack and a Husky pancake, the twin stack will run up to 6 finish nailers at once or 2 framing nailers. It's mainly for contractors, the Husky is ok for a finish nailer or a framing nailer as long as your not doing rapid fire...whatever you choose just make sure it will hold up to what your doing now and can be still used in the future if you ever decide on expanding your tools.

[Rick T Cole]

Here is an alternative to a compressor, If you are only going to use it for a single pin nailer around the home you might consider one of these. Its called a JacPac its portable light no cords quiet and reasonably priced. Here is a link to take a look. http://www.garrettwade.com/product.asp?pn=11B01.01&SID=W6061002...

[Jeff Wert]

I am also in the market for a compressor.  I want to purchase one that will allow me to use an HLVP sprayer for small jobs like cabinets, bookcases, shelves etc as well as pneumatic nailers.  I was just at Home Depot and received conflicting advice(paint department and tool department) on how large the compressor needs to be.  Do I truly need a 30 gallon tank to spray furniture or will one of the smaller dual tank models be fine?  Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.

[Jeff Wert]

Have you tried using and HLVP sprayer with your twin stack?

handyman_20772 said:

Currently I have a Rigid twin stack and a Husky pancake, the twin stack will run up to 6 finish nailers at once or 2 framing nailers. It's mainly for contractors, the Husky is ok for a finish nailer or a framing nailer as long as your not doing rapid fire...whatever you choose just make sure it will hold up to what your doing now and can be still used in the future if you ever decide on expanding your tools.

[John Schaben]

Hi Jeff - That's kind of a difficult question. You either need to match the sprayer to the compressor or the compressor to the sprayer. What I would suggest is you find a gun you think you may want and get the air consumption speds off of it. It will show up as a XXCFM@XXpsi type of number. Only when you get those numbers will you, or anyone else, be able to determine if a given compressor will work or not. If the compressor output is high enough, the size of tank is immaterial. Otherwise, it will only determine how long it will take from a full charge to when the compressor comes on. Incidentally, the HVLP guns you indicate are actually HVLP conversion  guns. A bona fide HVLP system is turbine powered and needs no compressor.

Jeff Wert said:

I am also in the market for a compressor.  I want to purchase one that will allow me to use an HLVP sprayer for small jobs like cabinets, bookcases, shelves etc as well as pneumatic nailers.  I was just at Home Depot and received conflicting advice(paint department and tool department) on how large the compressor needs to be.  Do I truly need a 30 gallon tank to spray furniture or will one of the smaller dual tank models be fine?  Any help in this matter will be greatly appreciated.