Just got my first air compressor yesterday...

[andrewclaycomb]

and I'm looking at the bike with a gleam in my eye.

Would it not be wise to use air tools on the bike? Are pneumatic tools too powerful for loosening screws and bolts on these old bikes? Specifically I'm wanting to use my new impact driver to loosen all of the case bolts and replace with with Allen's heads.

I'm also assuming it's not a good idea to even think about tightening with an air ratchet.

This is the one I got along with a better air hose.

[chiphead]

I use air tools on my bike on a regular basis. Invest on some 3/8 drive tools. Save the 1/2 inch stuff for the heavy work, Start slow and only increase power if needed. On assembly, keep the setting at low pressure then finish by hand. When I wrenched bikes for a living I would use air on everything coming apart and going together. It's a matter of knowing the tools capabilities so you don't wind up breaking things.

[bwringer]

The impact driver you hit with a hammer is what you need on your case bolts. An air impact driver is a completely different animal and won't do a bit of good on your case bolts.

The reason for using the hammer-driven impact is that the force of the hammer blow forces the bit into the cheez wiz phillips screw head and applies a shot of torque at the same time, hopefully cracking the stupid thing loose so it can get chucked in the garbage. An air impact just applies torque with internal hammers.


With that said, I use air tools all the time in mechanical work on bikes and cars. You can save a lot of time and effort, and in many cases it's much safer to use an impact than to try and brace things against the torque of a steady pull. Many times, when something finally cracks loose by hand, you can bust a knuckle or worse, so you can avoid this with air impact tools.

But in any case, do NOT use air tools on your motorcycle until you thoroughly understand how they work and what they can and can't do. Practice on Chevys and other less important vehicles for a while first.

I'd also encourage you to track down a quality 3/8" drive impact gun -- they're surprisingly hard to find -- and use that as much as you can instead of a monster mongo torque 1/2" drive.

And make sure you get a quality high-torque (500+ ft-lbs) 1/2" drive for car work -- when you need it, you REALLY need it.

Also, if something hasn't been apart before, you're often much better off to break it free by hand, especially if it's a delicate or irreplaceable assembly.

[drhach]

If you don't already have one, get an air nozzle. They're great for after you wash the bike. Just blow it off. It gets all those nooks and crannies that you can't get to with a towel.

[Zooks]

ditto to bwringer (except the chevy comment) - practice on Fords and other such garbage.

[PAULYBOY]

A couple of must haves are a water separator, or a drier, and a dependable regulator up near the tool. Make sure you lube your tools regularly. Also, go to harbor freight and get a couple of cheapie touch up spray guns. They work great. Iknow several touch up repair guys that use these for touching up car bumpers, etc., at dealers, and more than one custom MC and car painter admits to using these woth no problems what so ever. You can even get a media blaster attachment at HF so you can get the pits and stuff out of your work. Use the fine grade walnut shells, or glass beads.

[spyug]

All of what has already been said...except the bit about Fords

In addition, when you get to spraying your own paint get yourself an HVLP (high volume low pressure) gun. You won't need a big one for bikes so a "touch up gun" is fine. Just make sure you get one with a regulator that fits to the gun to set pressure. Now this is very important to know about compressors and paint guns ( and air tools in general): HVLP calls for pressure of 15 to 25 Lbs ( per square inch) to spray. As pressure from the compressor to the gun ( or tool) drops dramatically you need to dial the compressor outlet pressure to at least 90 + Lbs psi to get the 15/25 at the gun. Many folks make the mistake of dialling output pressure down to the 15/25 range and then can't understand how the gun won't spray right.

Just wanted to pass that on.

Good luck with the new toy and enjoy\\/

Cheers,
Spyug.

[cgerbick]

Just so you don't waste your time and money, make sure any tool that you do end up buying, matches up with the output of your compressor. I think you will find that you cannot run a very high torque 1/2" impact with the compressor you have. The impacts, along with every other pneumatic tool, will show you an scfm rating at 40 and 90psi. If you get an impact that needs a higher output then what your compressor will put out, the impact will not work efficiently or give you the 500+ft/lbs that you are expecting. As for a 3/8 impact, you should be able to go back to the Sears you bought the compressor at and purchase one. One other tip, make sure to purge your tank after you use it. Water will build up inside the tank and can eventually rust through. There is a petcock on the bottom of your tank you can open and close to accomplish this.

[andrewclaycomb]

Thanks everybody. I'm definitely going to look into the paint sprayers instead of rattle can for my next paint project.

My air ratchet (the one in the picture) isn't adjustable (just immediate power.) Do I just manage it's torque at the tank via the outlet pressure adjuster doodad? Also in it's manual it says to tighten until the ratchet stalls and then manually tighten with the ratchet in place. At what torque is it stalling?

and I didn't get this with the intent to use the impact driver primarily although it's a bonus. Mainly I wanted to be able to air up tires, blow off the bike when it's wet, air ratchet, nail gun (home projects), and down the road be able to spray the bodywork on my GS myself, or at least attempt it. (I'm glad I bought that second set of bodywork to play with.) Everything else will be a major bonus when the time comes.

I'm pretty excited over having a steel tank filled with air.\\/

[Zooks]

You'll have a lot of fun with your new gadgets. Enjoy.


Just remember that compressed air can be dangerous. If you have kids around make sure they don't play with it. Compressed air in the blood stream can kill.

[spyug]

Good point from Mr. Zooks. Never hose any bare skin with air under pressure you can introduce an embolism into your blood stream which can be a killer. In addition, compressed air can shoot small metal shavings and such all over the place which can possibly lodge in skin or worse eyes.

Also be careful when setting down tools when still attched to hose and under pressure as quick connects can be bumped free and the tool can shoot off and injure someone. Happened to a friend of mine. An air ratchet was dropped on a steel work bench, the tool shot off and hit my buddy in the side and busting a rib. The hose whipped around and the quick connect end hit a guy in the face just above his eye. He wasn't wearing face protection and ended up needing a couple of stitches.

As Zooks mentioned, keep kids and pets away from air tools and if kids are old enough, instruct them how to fill bike tires, pool toys and balls safely. Over inflation can also be deadly if the tire or ball explodes.

Think safety first at all times and enjoy.

Cheers,
Spyug

[robertbarr]

The air ratchet isn't really for applying torque via compressed air. (At least mine isn't!) Not like an impact gun, anyway. It's mainly for speed, for running long bolts down into place for items like cylinder heads, etc., when you have a whole bunch of turning to do. The air ratchet won't tighten or loosen the fastener, at least not much.

They're also really LOUD; I rarely use mine.

People complain about how loud the oilless compresssors are. Well, they're loud, no denying it -- but it's the sound of something other than you doing work. A lot of people wind up building a sound-absorbent cubicle around their oilless units.

The only real problem with buying a compressor is the addiction. You will never again be satisfied wrenching anywhere if there's no compressor handy. You're spoiled now, and it only gets worse, but it's basically a friendly addiction.

[andrewclaycomb]

My compressor is one of the new quieter oil free units. I think it only operates at 78db. It's actually louder to purge the tank than run the motor.

When I close my garage door you can barely hear it running outside, and you can't hear it inside the attached house at all. (The break in cycle involved me running the compressor with the purge valve on the bottom open for fifteen minutes. That was fairly loud, but after the 15 minutes I closed the valve to get the tank up to pressure and it filled relatively quietly.

So using the air ratchet isn't going to torque down anything, just get it up to finger tight or a little tighter. I am already starting to feel spoiled and I haven't used it yet. This weekend I will be doing a few projects and hopefully get to use the compressor and air tools quite a bit.

I already filled the bike's tires and that was a joy to do in my garage instead of taking it to the gas station and waiting on the guy to fill up all four of his monster truck tires to 800psi.

I also blew some crud off my bike and out of the garage with the air nozzle.