Hey, in am by no means a master mechanic but am able to perform regular maintenance tasks with little to no problems. And can complete many moderate and minor modifications with relative ease. I am planning on doing some rot repairs and painting small surfaces.

I will also use this to perform some repairs on the house.

Unfortunately money for me is in somewhat short supply so I don't have the luxury of getting the best tools out there.

I have found a craftsman air compressor + impact wrench and ratchet combo on the sears website.


I am hoping you guys can give me some input to what this compressor will be capable of doing and if I can find a better deal at around the same price.


Here's the link to the product

 

What you want to look for is high cfms if using a impact gun. Not so much capacity.

The link wouldn't load but I read it as a 26gal compressor. Must be those tall black compressors.

Yup looked up the specs and its only a 1.5hp motor and probably like 3 cfms

I picked up a rigid wheel barrell compressor with a 6hp honda motor. Can't remember how much cfms it flows but it keeps up and gets any job done. And its only a 9 gallon. I scored on that one tho and found it for 300 bucks on craigslist. Brand new they're 900 at homedepot.

Checks craigslist out for compressors with larger motors. You'll like it in the long run.

Also those impact guns are crap and the air ratchet is worse. I bought one and never used it. Basically loosens bolts you already broke loose. They make way too much noise to be worth hooking up.

Look into an ingersol rand impact gun. They're pretty cheap on amazon.

 

look for at least 5cfm at 90psi to be of any real use, and you need more cfm if planning to use some DA sanders, or paint guns.

some compressor manufacture them & rate CFM at 40psi, dont fall victim to that, look for real numbers at 90 psi.

 

you were pretty much right on.

"SCFM Delivery At 40 psi:5.1
SCFM Delivery At 90 psi:3.8"

Not looking to use a DA. And when i say painting small areas. I mean things no larger than 9 square feet.

Perhaps I'll hold off on a compressor and just get myself some new tools.

What can you say are some must haves for owning a honda?

 

10mm, 12mm, 14mm, 17mm, and 19mm shallow and deep sockets, as well as wrenches in the same sizes. Various length extensions for ratchets. Quality ratcheting wrenches are fantastic, but not in the budget for most diy guys. A BFH. 32mm or 36mm socket for your axle nuts. Breaker bar. Line wrenches(not needed often for most diy guys but ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL to have when you do need them). Screwdrivers. Chisel and punch set. Pry bars. Long handle needle nose pliers straight and angled. Vise grips. Really large pair of channel locks. Snap ring pliers. Thats really just the beginning for tools you'll want related to working on cars, but it's a solid start.

I have access to about $6000 worth of(when they were all new on the tool truck) snap on hand tools that I use on a daily basis, and I love all of them. That said, and I may get burned at the stake for saying the following, but there are things you can skimp on and they won't really slow you down so to say. My recommendation(assuming you're on a budget and not doing this to make a living), buy your sockets from Harbor freight. They're super cheap and they come with a lifetime warranty. Can't beat that. When they crack, just take them in and get a replacement no questions asked. Same goes for ratchet extensions. Buy good ratchets, snap on, matco, or mac. The worst thing in the world is working in a tight space with a cheap ratchet that has a ton of free play before the ratchet mechanism clicks. Wrenches you can go HFT and probably be fine. Hammers are whatever, they all snap eventually. May need to buy the 32mm or 36mm socket individually from lowes. Buy a good breaker bar because you will abuse the hell out of it. Craftsman's professional line is fine for a breaker bar. Craftsman line wrenches are fine. Buy a set of craftsman screwdrivers while you're at it. Also, HFT almost always has a coupon for a free screw driver set. They're shitty, but free is free and they work in a pinch. I'd like to tell you to buy a good chisel and punch set, but they all get messed up and deformed eventually so in lieu of the fact that you probably won't use them much, just go with HFT. HFT pry bar sets are also perfectly adequate for diy guys. Buy good long handled needle noses, the cheap ones flex when abused. Buy vise grip brand vise grips and nothing else. Channel lock the brand makes good pliers. I recommend them for the large set of channel locks. Can usually be found at lowes and have blue handles. Great for checking play in ball joints, removing oil filters that are way too tight, and compressing brake caliper pistons among many other things. You'll also want a pair of dikes. HFT is fine for those. Channel lock also makes a fairly good pair of 8" snap ring pliers for like $26 on amazon. Sorry for the long post. Just trying to make sure you don't waste your money on cheap tools that will end up frustrating you when you go to use them. Like I said, there are places you can go cheap, and places you should spend money. Just tried to list a few based on my experience.

 

No need to apologize for the long post. It was full of great information, and I am actually setting up my printer at this very moment so I can print out your post for my tool shopping spree. I have long needle nose pliers. and was given a set of snap-on ratchets by a friend who has more money than brains, so I am very grateful for that. As for the axel nut, I may wait for the day it needs to come off to get that beast of a socket.

 

Absolutely, you definitely don't need to go out and buy everything I listed all at once. That's just a good basic assortment of tools to have if you plan to work on your own vehicle. You'll add tools here and there as you go along too. If you end up working on anything German you'll find that you need to invest in a torx socket set to do something as simple as changing the oil in many cases. The Germans really love to use torx head bolts.

Oh and more to your original question in your first post. I would suggest getting a solid assortment of hand tools before investing in an air compressor and air tools. I would also shy away from the newer craftsman air tools. There are better options. I'd recommend a used IR 1/2" impact before a new craftsman. Good tools last a long long time. The craftsman air compressors are great for home use though. I have two of the 60 gallon craftsman black ones running in tandem in my home shop. One I've had for 6 years and it's still going strong, the other I just bought a few months back because I put in a skat blast cabinet and it is a major air hog.

 

Great post! But I have actually had great success with HFT ratchets and breaker bars. They have some of the finest clicks, and they have some really cool designs. I love the one that has a full swivel head, ill post a link later. Oh, and my $10 36" HFT breaker bar is one of my favorite tools. I would recommend staying away from their Allen wrenches and screwdrivers, but everything else is great for the price. JMO

 

They have a breaker bar 36 inches long for $10?!?!

 

http://m.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/sockets-ratchets/1-2-half-inch-stubby-swivel-head-ratchet-99671.html#.UyHR7RIpCSw

That's the ratchet I'm talking about. I love it. It has a very fine tooth count, and fits pretty much anywhere

 

Best advice I've seen was not to blow all of your budget at once, but get your basic needs.
Then keep a notebook in your tool box. Anytime you have to borrow a tool write it down. If you find yourself borrowing it more than once it is probably a good thing to pick up.

Everyone I saw go through a trade school and get a '%50 discount off the tool truck bonus' maxed it out on tools that they thought would be great that sat in their toolbox and collected dust.

 

That is also a great idea. you guys re awesome! Thanks for all the great input

 

I agree,for the DIY'er there is no need to spend big on tools that are not going to be earning you money for a living. HF, Home Depot, Sears all have decent tools for occasional use and light maintenance....

 

I have been hesitant to purchase HFT tools but it seems that they are actually decent tools?

 

I have a friend that has a garage, & 75% of his tools are from HF, if it wasnt for them, he would be working for someone else & only wrenching on his own stuff.

he has a mix of Craftsman also, & some S&K, plus some other from advance auto, autozone, Napa.

I have used some & I am suprised at how well they have held up getting used all the time.

I will comment to also look for some old names at flea markets like Bonney, Indestro select, unbreako for example.

I actually prefer the Indestro Select to all brands hands down, my cheap tool kit I carry in my vehicle is made by Stanley.

also watch for discounts at Lowes, with closeouts, it seems they often revamp their tool section & do deep discounts on their Kobalt line, last fall I saw them have racks of sockets for $4.97 either metric, or SAE. full 1/4" sets under $20 with ratchets, breaker bars & extensions. the hard part is knowing when they have a sale going, but fortunately my wife has to go there for her work at least once every week & she always lets me know if I need to stop in.

 

My dad works for a vendor that has items in lowes and home depot. perhaps ill ask him to keep an eye out for good sales

 

most of my tools are craftsman. some stuff is from autozone and i am totally sold on my gear wrench pivoting head ratcheting wrenches.

harbor freight stuff is hit or miss. i one had a pry bar from them and i bent it in a half circle. one thing i can say about harbor freight is to read the reviews online they let u know pretty quick whats good and whats ****.


ive never been a big fan of breaker bars. ive got a few pieces of metal pipe (10", 18" 36") that i slide over the end of the ratchet if i need more tq

 

I am always afraid that I'll break teeth on my ratchets when I do that.


What happens to cheapo sockets? They get stripped out or cracked?