Replies

1. 
   cowtown | Apr 13, 2006 07:23am | #1

   A lot of pneumatic tools suck up air bigtime. Worse than me.

   I love air drills, but when I bought one, it was evident that I didn't have the air capacity to make it efficient for me to use. No doubt a sander sucks up more air than a drill.

   OTOH, they are generally "sparkless" which is possibly why they may have become established as industrial standards so long ago.

   The only pneumatic tool which I am prone to use (albiet infrequently) is an automotive air-chisel. You can sharpen them bits (good steel) up real good, and chew out a lot of wood relatively quickly.

   Eric in Cowtown

2. 
   ring | Apr 13, 2006 10:52am | #2

   Every stick has two ends, and the good end of pneumatic tools is that they are lightweight, and hardly ever need repair.  The bad end, as you say, is that you need a serious compressor.  I don't have many air tools, but I do use a 6" ROS that pushes my compressor to the limit.  (I use 4 electric sanders as well)  All in all, I don't think the range of pneumatic woodworking tools available justifies setting up a huge compressor to handle them.  The main uses for me are various pneumatic nailers, the spray booth, and miscellaneous hold-downs.  None of these need large airflow like a sander.  Unless you're gearing up for production sanding tasks, it's probably not worth the investment to go with anything your present compressor can't handle.

   DR