Air compressors have made their way into workshops, homes, businesses, and factories due to their many uses. The reason for it’s popularity is due to air power; each tool doesn’t need its’ own bulky motor. Depending on what it’s needed for, air power makes for a very light, compact, and easy to handle tool that run quietly and have fewer parts that wear out. Routine tire inflation is one of the main uses for an air compressor, but what else can you use it for?
Unique Uses For Air Compressors
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Makes Painting Easy
Painting DIY projects around the home or office can take a long time and a lot of effort. But, if you have an air compressor powering your spray gun, you will find that painting furniture, cabinets, walls etc is not only easy, but it looks professional too. Air compressors are also extremely handy for airbrush painting! A smaller sized air compressor is perfect for an auto-body shop providing detailed airbrushing for cars or for any airbrush hobbyist.
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Nail/Staple Gun
According to the website dengarden.com the first nail gun using air pressure was introduced in 1950 to speed up housing construction. The air compressor allows you to nail anywhere between 40-60 nails a minute! Other added benefits of a nailer/stapler with an air compressor are the cost is significantly cheaper than a battery operated one, they are lighter and easy to maneuver, and air pressure lasts much longer than a battery charge.
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Inflating ANYTHING
As mentioned before, air compressors are commonly used to inflate tires but think of all the inflating possibilities out there! Air compressors can easily inflate almost anything, from footballs to swimming pools.
Once you know what you need the air compressor for, there are a lot of air compressor options out there. You will need to decide what your compressed air piping design layout and air compressor size will be. Base these decisions on the space you have available for the equipment and the size of the job you’re working on. Petite compressors are great for a small apartment or condo but keep in mind they are limited to doing light duty jobs (tire inflation, small airbrush projects, etc). You also have to consider the array of compressed air piping materials needed such as air compressor pipes and air receiver tanks. Air receiver tanks are essential to any compressed air system. They serve as temporary storage and allow your system to perform more efficiently (for small or large jobs!). If your compressed air system does not have an air receiver tank, add one to buffer short-term demand changes and reduce on/off cycling of the compressor. The tank is sized to the power of the compressor; e.g. a 50 hp air compressor needs approximately a 50-gallon air receiver tank. Don’t be overwhelmed with choices! Looking online is extremely helpful when determining what kind of air compressor equipment is needed. For example, an online company, like Rapid Air Products, ask you some simple questions to come up with a parts list and compressed air piping sizing for your project. If using compressed air is easy than finding the right equipment should be easy too.