Air Tools

[rake60]

Another thread here mentioned the PB Blaster penetrating oil.
It's the best penetrating oil on the market in my opinion.

If you have air tools such as burr guns, die grinders sanders, etc
you see the warning embossed in the housing that reads:
Oil Daily

Do you do that?
Neither do I...

Blaster has a great product for the air tools as well!

Here's a link to the page about their Air Tool Conditioner.

One little tip from experience, Know where the air exhausts from the tool
and have it pointed away from you when pulling the trigger the first time
after filling it up with the ATC!

Rick

 

[Nick Hulme]

Because I used to earn a living as a panel beater and depended upon my air tools working first time every time I oil prior to first use every day, when it affects your ability to earn bonus you look after them
Having got into the good habit I never got out of it, I just can't use an air tool for the first time in the day without squirting some oil down it, I have 20 year old tooling which has never needed stripping,
Nick

 

[DickDastardly40]

I'm fairly new to air tools at home but a budget compressor deal plus a shelf full of tools seemed too good an opportunity to miss. In and extrememly romantic (I thought) gesture, I gave the nail gun to SWMBO as a gift as she has always wanted one!

All the tools came in blowmoulded cases with a small oil bottle so it has been easy to remember to lubricate before use. I have found that I get a large oil residue out of the exhaust port making the tools very slimy such that I have a rag handy in use to wipe down as I go.

I wonder if I'm putting a little too much in (only a couple of drips) or that what is being expelled is leftovers from assembly. If I'm honest I haven't exactly used any of them much, but then I've not had very much workshop time at all lately.

Al

 

[Nick Hulme]

I think you're doing it right!
Unless your airtool has a reservoir for oil (only my cengar air saws and Ingersol Rand sanders & Polishers have oil reservoirs) then over 90% of what you put in will come straight out the exhaust. In doing so it should flush out old oil & dirt & lube the moving parts in the motor leaving only a thin film behind.
You won't damage airtools with 3 drops where one will do, some guys who under oil end up having to flush through with diesel or thin oil every so often to flush out the crud not shifted by their normal oiling regime,
Regards,
Nick

 

[rawblacksmith]

me too with the new ownership...
i have a 60 gallon 3.6 hp 125psi compressor...collected a nice set of airtools.
i don't quite understand the full function of the water trap feature of the air filter.

i live in hawai'i, humid, rainy side so i was especially keen on getting the moisture out...especially before i hooked it up to my newly built sandblasting cabinet.

it worked alright for a while , but then moisture started coming out...really no change from using the compressor before i got the filter. it also worked fine at first but then moisture started appearing.
is this a problem with my understanding of how the moisture accumulates or of the filter operation?
maybe the way i use the tools, the moisture forms faster than the filter can handle?

i got ripped off with shop education and things like this seem to be of that so called "common knowledge" that i need to know now that i'm setting my own shop.

i also have a miller syncrowave tig/stick welder that i don't know how to use either!! but i'm ready to start building machinery that i've only used sparingly before.

see pictures at myspace page rawblacksmith for what i did with mig and grinders and sanders.

 

[rawblacksmith]

oh yeah,
also i keep the oiler attached but empty so as not to oil my sand in the sandblaster... makes me wonder ... if the air filter is not preventing water from going into the tool, would it not be emulsifying the oil if it were in there?

 

[kustomkb]

does it have a rubber nipple coming out the bottom? just push that to one side and the water will be blasted out. also make sure the flow direction is hooked up right. should go : compressed air out, filter, regulator, empty oiler, airline, air tool.

 

[rawblacksmith]

yep everything hooked up properly...moisture does collect in the bowl and i have blasted out with the rubber nipple...is it to be done every few minutes?
how much water should collect before it's too much? wasn't much to my untrained eye, just enough to say there's water when i took the bowl off and looked...but maybe that's too much.

maybe any water vapor from the warm hose condenses at the cool tool?

 

[rake60]

There is one thing that is sometimes overlooked.
The water trap is usually mounted at the compressor.
The rigid supply line leading away from the compressor must a slight
upward slope to it so that moisture that condenses in the line will run
back to the water trap. If the rigid line is on a flat plane the the water
will accumulate and end up in your tools.

Rick

 

[Twinsquirrel]

me too with the new ownership...
i have a 60 gallon 3.6 hp 125psi compressor...collected a nice set of airtools.
i don't quite understand the full function of the water trap feature of the air filter.

i live in hawai'i, humid, rainy side so i was especially keen on getting the moisture out...especially before i hooked it up to my newly built sandblasting cabinet.

it worked alright for a while , but then moisture started coming out...really no change from using the compressor before i got the filter. it also worked fine at first but then moisture started appearing.
is this a problem with my understanding of how the moisture accumulates or of the filter operation?
maybe the way i use the tools, the moisture forms faster than the filter can handle?

Hi RBS, you are right, those water trap filters are worse than useless IMHO, I use my compressors at least 6hrs everyday in all conditions for paint spraying and powering air tools: DA's, die grinders, air ratchets etc so use a lot of air in all weathers.... The problem is that there is no real solution for hobby or even very light industrial use short of getting desiccant towers dryer which although I've tried them, cost far too much to be viable.

For best results with the FILTER/DRYER place it as far from the compressor as possible using a airline extension or even better proper plumbed in pipework and mount it vertically, this will allow the air to cool which lets the moisture condense out in the pipework before the trap where it collects. This solution should work for most low use applications.

BTW oil is a nightmare for me in my trade so I never, ever, oil my air tools and perhaps this is tempting fate but in 4 years I've never had a failure with my trusted Chicago Pneumatic tools.

David

Rick we must have been posting at the same time...sorry

 

[rawblacksmith]

right on!
the simple gravity plumbing concept...there was the missing piece of info while deciding how to mount the set.
i'll reconfigure and that should be the proper fix.

soon i'll be moving everything to the new farm and shop and there i'll set up the hard piping to all points.

 

[BobWarfield]

BTW, RE remembering to oil your air tools, I made a rack for mine:

My bottle of air tool oil sits on top of that rack. The upward pointing inlets and the handy bottle of ail make it easy to remember to squirt a shot in before connecting up a tool to the air line. If I wanted, it would be easy to just go across all the inlets quickly shooting a shot of oil in.

A can of Rake's Air Tool Conditioner, and a nozzle extension like you see with WD-40 (maybe it comes with one) and it would be super easy to run across all the tools and give them a dose of good medicine.

The rack, BTW, was really easy to make from a piece of angle iron. If you need more detail, it's on my site:

http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCMiscProjects.htm

Cheers,

BW

 

[wareagle]

i also have a miller syncrowave tig/stick welder that i don't know how to use either!! but i'm ready to start building machinery that i've only used sparingly before.

Contact Miller Electric and request the information about the welder you have. I called their tech people soon after I bought mine, and they sent me a couple of booklets that have an enormous amout of information in them. It got me up to speed on my machine very quickly.


Okay, back to the topic, my air system consists of a 80 gallon verticle compressor, pressure regulator, and a water trap. I do get some water out of the trap, but I also get some water at the tools. With the humidity here, it is an uphill battle. For my purposes, it isn't anything other than an annoyance, but I am sure with some time and determination, that could be remedied.

I am more concerned about the tank rusting than anything, so I religiously drain the water after each use. I have thought about putting a cooler in the system, but just haven't made it happen. It is one of those 'round-to-its.

 

[rawblacksmith]

thanks about the miller help, forgot about those...i keep putting off printing out manuals since i can't get the printer to copy both sides.

i used to live outside houston, minneapolis, and near lake michigan; i know how bad humidity can be...

it's tropically breezy here to counter it, but the compressor doesn't appreciate the difference.

the stirling engine run as cooler will be experimented with later!

 

[rawblacksmith]

problem solved! mahalo!