Lightweight Air Supply for Pneumatic Nailers
For small molding jobs, bring along a portable air tank instead of a heavy compressor.
Although I hang quite a bit of trim, I am not a full-time finish carpenter and have not felt it necessary to switch out my high-performance pneumatic nailers for cordless models. For those occasions when I need to go back to a job and nail up a short piece of molding, instead of dragging along my heavy compressor, I just fill up and bring my lightweight portable air tank fitted with a female air coupling.
I have used a portable tank many times to finish small jobs, but recently I decided to see how many finish nails one tank would sink. Starting with a tank pressure of 80 psi, I was able to sink a whole clip of 18-ga., 1-1 ⁄ 4-in. finish nails (100 nails total) into pine. There was still something left in the tank (literally), but I didn’t want to waste any more nails! The performance was even better than I expected.
—Stephen Beese, Winston-Salem, N.C.
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller.
From Fine Homebuilding #316
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Everybody's Favorite Cheapo Tool Store sells 7 gallon air tanks for $50 & 3 gallon hot dog compressors for $60. The compressors do have a reputation for being noisy.