Retroanaconda Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 I will hopefully have a new garage to build soon, and for the occasion I have bought myself a framing nail gun. I went with a second hand air powered Ferm NSF-100. I already have a big workshop compressor but this A. will be in storage while the new place is being built and B. needs a 32A supply to run, so I am looking at getting a smaller unit which I can use for the job. From what I can tell a 50 litre tank should be sufficient for a nailgun, and it’ll need to be able to do 115psi or more and run off a normal 13A socket. The type with the wheels and handle will be ideal as I can wheel it out of the shed for use and put it away each day nice and easily. Most of the usual brands seem to do a suitable unit, so any particular recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted June 7 Share Posted June 7 Dad's always found Clarke to be decent enough. If you can might be worth a belt driven rather than direct drive as they're quite a bit quieter. How about an aircon pump on the 200Tdi put it to use? I vaguely recall you saying you had one somewhere in the past. When I had it set up on the 300Tdi at a tick over it could keep up with my plasma on full chat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miketomcat Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 There are two types of direct drive one is a motor connected to a standard looking compressor the other is much more compact and generally hidden under plastic. Avoid the latter, I have one and whilst it works it noiser and slower to charge than even a normal direct drive. I had a vee twin Axminster 50l (almost identical to the Clark) which was a great compressor till it threw a rod. As ed says go belt driven if you can but they are bigger and heavier. A Clark 50l will do everything you want and their back up is pretty good. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 For a nail gun you won't need much volume (CFM), I'd look out for bargain 2nd hand silent compressors (Bambi, Clarke "Shhhh", etc.), they cost more than regular types and can't run big stuff like windy guns but for nail guns and stuff like that they basically make as much noise as your fridge because they are a fridge compressor on a small tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason110 Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I’ve got the sgs engineering 50 ltr compressor. Runs off a 13amp plug. It’s tucked away in an insulated box with a few vent holes. Must of had it 7-8 years and been faultless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bowie69 Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I bought a Hitachi 50L silent compressor, it's so, so quiet, if you value peace and quiet in a workshop that style are hard to beat. Cfm for pound is lower for sure, but oil free and silent are a massive win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertspark Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 As said previous, a nail gun requires very little in CFM What Size Air Compressor for Nail Gun? [With Chart] - All About Air Compressors note when they note gallons in the above article it will be US gallons (3.79 litre per US gallon), so a 6 gallon receiver will be ~25 litres. The second side of this is the compressor (which you've not mentioned). about 9-13 cfm (depending on the sales BS) will be a 3hp compressor.... 1hp = ~ 750W.... so you will find a 3hp compressor will have a kw rating around 2.5kW(electrical load). 3hp is about the most you can run off a 13A plugtop (you can get a 4hp to run [I have 2 but that is another story]) so if ALL you want to run is a nail gun.... then a 1.5kW (2hp) compressor with a 25 litre receiver will be fine. but that is for a nail gun only. if you have limited space or you are moving it around a construction site, then you don't want to be humping a 3kw 50 litre receiver when you are not actually going to get benefit from it. you've also not specified what sort of a nailer..... as that will affect the CFM quite a bit.... especially if all you are doing is nailing a 18 gauge brads or if you are running a framing nailer driving in 11/10 guage (2.8 ~ 3.2mm) 90mm nails I seem to have amassed a variety of compressors over the years, my best and biggest are the 4hp belt driven 18 cfm compressors (2 of) that provide a lot of air for sand (garnet) blasting. but I started with a 50l 3kW and another 25L 3kW ..... I've also got a few "silent" oil free compressors, but they have very low duty (1hp each), and I have a pair of aldi 3kw 50hp oil free direct drive for plasma cutting (cheap and work well for the application). why so many.... well it depends what I'm running.... spray painting, air fed mask, plasma cutter, sand (garnet + glass bead + aluminium oxide) blasting.... it also starts to get "fun" with air dryers (dessicant + membrane air dryers) and filtration (water + oil + particulate + activated carbon). watch out for "silent" compressors, as the air pressure from most of them is not very great and the actual flow rate (CFM / l/min) is not very great.... they are fine for nailers (some) and blowing up the occasional tyre.... and some artistic painting..... but not for high CFM use. (I have actually tested the CFM of my air compressors so I do know what they actually deliver (not difficult, just get a plug on a length of hose and drill a hole of known diameter and it will give you the approximate CFM. Charge the receiver up to pressure, and open the valve, and let the compressor start up and watch the pressure stabilise where the compressor cannot provide any increase this will give you the actual CFM of the compressor through using this airflow orifice calculator (add 1 bar to the primary airflow to make it gauge pressure) and 1 bar is the secondary air pressure (atmospheric)). Yes its approximate, given there are still a lot of variables (orifice shape and size restriction) but its a lot better than nothing at all Calculator: Air Flow Rate through an Orifice | TLV - A Steam Specialist Company (Worldwide) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted June 8 Author Share Posted June 8 Thanks all. It is a framing nailer as per the original post, so will mostly be doing 90mm nails for the construction of the building and then shorter ones for the cladding etc. Noise isn’t a massive issue, there are no neighbours really and it'll mainly be being used outside while I’m constructing the building. Moving it about shouldn’t be a problem either as it’ll just sit on the concrete slab and a 10m hose will get me everywhere I need to be. Will have a look at the Clarke ones. Machine Mart keep spamming me with their VAT free codes so that might be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 I’d have a look on Facebook before buying new… I see smaller compressors come up fairly regularly on there. Must say for framing stuff I’ve always been lucky borrowing a mate’s gas paslode. It’s a more bulky but well balanced and doesn’t mean you’re tied to power/hose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 Are the electric nailers expensive ? Are there fake Makita versions of them available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Poore Posted June 8 Share Posted June 8 New they're not cheap, sometimes can pick up a secondhand one. I think my Milwaukee one was £350ish for just the tool, Paslodes are comparable but also require gas in addition to battery. My neighbour (carpenter and roofer) has switched from Paslode to Milwaukee after he kept stealing mine whenever he was here. We got my sister a secondhand Hitachi for £100 off a mate so deals can be found. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted June 12 Share Posted June 12 What sort of money are the new ones? I think I have two small compressors 'in stock' if you would consider a second hand and postage works out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retroanaconda Posted June 12 Author Share Posted June 12 The Clarke ones are what I was looking at - they seem to range from £170 up to £300 depending on power level. Not averse to a second hand one at all - happy to discuss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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