carpentry advice needed: square hole problem

[Diydave]

Don't go buyin no air tools till you look at what the air tool in question consumes. Your compressor sounds like something that a air brush tool could overpower. A good 1/2" impact will consume enough air to keep a 17 SCFM compressor running a long time to catch up to. Buy yourself a cheap set from HF 3/4 drive ratchet and breaker bar and extensions and sockets should be in the $85-100 range. Don't worry about any metric sockets, unless you work on big imported equipment... I haven't had the need for any big metric stuff, in 30+years of workin on farm and compact tractors and equip...

 

[Tooljunkie]

Diydave nailed it.
Air consumption is nearly as important as psi.
When i had my smaller compressor it would take forever to get a job done.
4 cfm per horsepower is about the average for most compressors.

Adding a surge tank and you can increase the volume of useable air, however you dramatically increase compressor run time. 3 or 4 hp compressor with a 20 gallon tank would be minimum for a 1/2" impact. My napa impact 1/2" kicks like a mule after 10 years of regular (near daily) use. I ran it on a small compressor until i got tired of waiting for it to charge up. Going from 12 to 20 cubic feet per minute dramatically raised the bar for me.

Sheepfarmer, theres a ton of great advice here, its the budget constraints that make the final decisions.
Electric is nice, cordless rocks! You definetly get what you pay for. 3/8" cordless impact is around 450 dollars.not real powerful but its a real timesaver.
As my handle states i do have a serious tool addiction. Snap on truck comes right to my house. Its also my place of business as a mechanic.

 

[Russell King]

You can also buy a tool called a torque multiplier and use it to increase your input torque by a factor of FOUR. They work well to break bolts loose and torque fasteners.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[sheepfarmer]

Yes, I think I'll pass on air tools for the time being. The little compressor was bought to back up/replace my 30 yr old tire inflator for use on my big filled tractor tires. It would have been dumb luck if it could do other things. Now I think air brushing a few paintings might be fun! If my sister the retired commercial artist comes to visit we'll be all set

 

[sheepfarmer]

TJ you bring up several important points, most especially the good advice that is available on the forum. I read with great interest an earlier thread about battery impact wrenches, and mentally filed it away. I would for example not like anything that "kicks like a mule" as you just mentioned. The issue that caused NIW to suggest an impact wrench would be the number of times I have to fight to get a bolt off or a screw out that someone else has put on. But I don't have to do that all day as you do. Budgetary constraints are real and I have physical limitations so some sort of middle of the road approach makes sense. (But I think of you every time I see the SnapOn or Mactools trucks, and wonder what cool things they have inside.)

Russell, I didn't know about torque multipliers, they sound interesting, I'll check them out!

Thanks everyone!

 

[Diydave]

The ultimate torque multiplier is a long piece of pipe, attached to the handle of the breaker bar. It also tests warranties, on the breaker bar, in question...

 

[skeets]

Not to mention the sockets too

 

[Daren Todd]

Sheepfarmer, cordless impacts are great and really handy for quick stuff around the house and shop And would be perfect for your modification to your blade Especially when your compressor really doesn't have the capacity to run an air tool. I have the same issue at home. My compressor is good for a quick bump on my impact to bust a nut loose on a mower deck. But you watch the gauge drop from 110 psi to 60 psi as soon as the trigger is pulled

If you decide to go that route, pick up a good name brand one and keep a close eye on what there warranty is on it. Some brands have a better warranty then others.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

It's all relative, and budget based

I have a 10HP 3 piston fast recovery compressor with 2 80 gallon tanks (come spring will be 250 gal) to run my shop (do a a lot of air sanding), runs all the nail guns, paint guns, sanders, and air tools flawlessly.
It will run a 3/4 impact full out almost indefinitely, but I paid a pretty penny to get it set up this way.

But I also use the heck out of my Portercable 1/4" 20V impact, it drives screws fast, accurately and efficiently.

 

[sheepfarmer]

Besides the impact driver of some sort, for your amusement here is a partial wishlist of things to buy or make for the bota and its new barn. Not happening all at once, trust me

ROPs lights
Pallet forks
Some sort of ratchet straps to hold bulky items in the bucket
Tool cabinet on wheels, small, the cardboard boxes on the floor are not working out well
Some shelves for spare oil, pb blaster etc, surplus and salvage good source of old bookshelves, now if I had those pallet forks unloading them out of the truck would be easy?
Broom
Tarp for wood pile
Work bench
Cover for the window well with screen

Was going to Harbor Freight, but my feet are still thawing out. Maybe Saturday.

The plastic blade worked well. Will try to post pics in original thread. Was really careful with it, and scraping left plastic from the corners on my V shaped alley rather than gouges in the concrete, which was what I hoped for. The newly planted grass at the end is another matter.

Happy New Year everyone!