Deals on Castair compressors

[signal15]

Probably the best compressors on the market, and the last one you'll ever buy. I found out the hard way that it doesn't pay to buy crappy tools.

http://www.castair.net/garage-commercial.html

Pricing is going up by $100 on each unit next month, and if you call now and tell Rick that I (Jay) sent you, he'll give you $20 off the current price of the Garage series, and $40 off the stand up ones. And he'll do free Metro delivery (definitely worth it for the big ones).

952-445-6431 - Rick at Castair (tell him Jay sent you)

[scheides]

I guess these things are pretty sweet. I really like my $150 harbor freight unit though! :)

[signal15]

Every Tires Plus in town has 2 of the Castair units. The nice thing about the 2-stage units is that they spin really slow and they are quiet. Great for working late in the garage and keeping the wife from bitching that I'm making too much noise. :) The single stage ones spin slower than others also, but they still have reed valves like the ones at HF/Home Depot/Northern Tool, so they make a bit more noise than the 2 stage.

A couple of my buddies got them and turned me on to them. There's *nothing* crappy on them at all. It's how tools *should* be made.

Now I just gotta figure out my air distribution. I'm not only going to do the garage, but run a pipe into the basement for hookups down there, and then stick a hookup out the side of the house so I don't have to drag 200 feet of hose from my garage when I need air out in the yard.

[Kracka]

so I don't have to drag 200 feet of hose from my garage when I need air out in the yard.
My yard has lots of air :D

[signal15]

My yard has lots of air :D

I live on Mars.

[turbotalon1g]

any idea on prices, Im jw.

[1QUICK4]

I bought a 220v 2 stage 70 gallon one about 7 years ago

Great quality, haven't had an issue yet

[signal15]

any idea on prices, Im jw.

They run anywhere from just over $300 up to $1199 for the big 80 gallon 18.1CFM (at 100psi!) unit.

They aren't the cheapest compressors out there. But, they'll last you a lifetime, and you won't pull your hair out every time you use a tool for 10 seconds and have to wait 1 minute for the compressor to catch up.

At one point, I thought my cheap crappy compressor was fine since I barely used it. But.. I barely used it because it sucked and wouldn't drive most of my airtools properly. Good airtools are cheaper than their comparable electric counterparts, so a good compressor eventually pays for itself if you're buying a ton of power tools. Additionally, there are airtools that you can't even get in electric versions, or the electric versions suck (like air hammers, nibblers, shears, rod blasters, etc).

My $30 air hammer gets used all the time. I've used it for chiseling stone and concrete, spending 5 minutes instead of 5 hours. And it works awesome with the custom bushing hammer I welded together out of an old socket and a cut off chisel. Makes REALLY quick work of getting pressed in bushings out without damaging anything.

In any case, I'm a big believer that you get what you pay for. I've probably returned half the crap I've purchased at Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, and Homier. Some of it is decent quality stuff with a couple of cheap parts on them that fail and then replacement parts are impossible to get. On the worse end of it, some of it is downright dangerous. My Homier table saw almost cut my finger off several times because the blade guard was unusable and it was impossible to square the fence, so the wood would catch in it and make dents in my garage door. I bought a harbor freight sandblaster yesterday which went back today because it would not feed properly without a second person shaking it. The hose clamps that came with it were garbage, one broke while I was putting it together. If one of the clamps for the blaster hose came off while using it, it would probably cause some very very serious injury. My neighbor had a Harbor Freight engine stand with 3 wheels rated for 700 pounds. He had a 450 pound engine on it and it tipped over on his leg. Broke his fibula in 5 places, and his tibia in 3. He almost lost his leg. The best thing about it... it's happened to at least 5 other people and Harbor Freight still hasn't pulled the product from their shelves.

Sorry to rant. But cheap crap pisses me off. And most of the stuff you buy today cannot be bought in a high quality version. It's all junk, designed to fail at some point so you have to buy another one. Not just tools, but crap for your house like kitchen stuff and something as silly as soap dispensers. Scheides has heard me bitch about this before. :)

[TalonFiero]

They run anywhere from just over $300 up to $1199 for the big 80 gallon 18.1CFM (at 100psi!) unit.

They aren't the cheapest compressors out there. But, they'll last you a lifetime, and you won't pull your hair out every time you use a tool for 10 seconds and have to wait 1 minute for the compressor to catch up.

At one point, I thought my cheap crappy compressor was fine since I barely used it. But.. I barely used it because it sucked and wouldn't drive most of my airtools properly. Good airtools are cheaper than their comparable electric counterparts, so a good compressor eventually pays for itself if you're buying a ton of power tools. Additionally, there are airtools that you can't even get in electric versions, or the electric versions suck (like air hammers, nibblers, shears, rod blasters, etc).

My $30 air hammer gets used all the time. I've used it for chiseling stone and concrete, spending 5 minutes instead of 5 hours. And it works awesome with the custom bushing hammer I welded together out of an old socket and a cut off chisel. Makes REALLY quick work of getting pressed in bushings out without damaging anything.

In any case, I'm a big believer that you get what you pay for. I've probably returned half the crap I've purchased at Harbor Freight, Northern Tool, and Homier. Some of it is decent quality stuff with a couple of cheap parts on them that fail and then replacement parts are impossible to get. On the worse end of it, some of it is downright dangerous. My Homier table saw almost cut my finger off several times because the blade guard was unusable and it was impossible to square the fence, so the wood would catch in it and make dents in my garage door. I bought a harbor freight sandblaster yesterday which went back today because it would not feed properly without a second person shaking it. The hose clamps that came with it were garbage, one broke while I was putting it together. If one of the clamps for the blaster hose came off while using it, it would probably cause some very very serious injury. My neighbor had a Harbor Freight engine stand with 3 wheels rated for 700 pounds. He had a 450 pound engine on it and it tipped over on his leg. Broke his fibula in 5 places, and his tibia in 3. He almost lost his leg. The best thing about it... it's happened to at least 5 other people and Harbor Freight still hasn't pulled the product from their shelves.

Sorry to rant. But cheap crap pisses me off. And most of the stuff you buy today cannot be bought in a high quality version. It's all junk, designed to fail at some point so you have to buy another one. Not just tools, but crap for your house like kitchen stuff and something as silly as soap dispensers. Scheides has heard me bitch about this before. :)

I'm with ya. Harbor Freight is junk and Northern Hydraulics was awesome back in the day but now as Northern tool they suck.

I bought one tool from Harbor freight and it lasted not even 10 minutes. I didn't even bother going back to have it replaced, I learned my lesson.

Oiled air compressors are best, two stage are awesome.

[signal15]

I'm with ya. Harbor Freight is junk and Northern Hydraulics was awesome back in the day but now as Northern tool they suck.

I bought one tool from Harbor freight and it lasted not even 10 minutes. I didn't even bother going back to have it replaced, I learned my lesson.

Oiled air compressors are best, two stage are awesome.

About the only thing I like from HF is their tool bags, and their little crappy micro mill and micro lathe since you can use the mill or the lathe to make replacement parts for themselves and make them better. Their female air fittings are CRAP, they leak brand new.

Northern Tool still sells some good stuff. The big cast iron meat grinder I got from them rocks. It will do 600 pounds of chicken backs, bone and all, in 1 hour (for the dog). And they have some brand name stuff. They carry Pratt-Read screwdrivers, which are the best on the planet (get the mechanics series with the red/black handles, Fleet Farm also has them). Here's a link:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200314478_200314478

Some of their generators are the best bang for the buck if they are for occasional use. I wouldn't buy a permanent backup generator from them though, I'd get a Kohler from Costco.com. And I wouldn't get something that I used on a daily basis.

Acme Tools in plymouth... now that's a store with some GREAT tools. Pretty much everything is stellar quality in that store, but you'll sure pay for it. It's worth it though. If I buy $20 circular saws that die every 2 years, or spend $100 on one that lasts 20 years, I'm saving money and frustration on the second option. And I'm probably getting something that is more accurate, easy to use, and probably safer.

I'm not a contractor, but I love my tools, and I love working in the garage. And if I have something that sucks, it makes it a whole lot less fun.