Im looking at craftmans air compressor, if it says 9 SCFM at 40 PSI, the gun you use must be 9 SCFM and less right? Im looking at a gun that says it needs 16CFM required, how big of a compressor would i need for such a gun? At sears it looks like there arent any that say 16 cfm. Would you need a very expensive air compressor to use with expensive guns, like SATA, and the one im looking at a GTI 600G gravity feed.
any clarification would help,
frank

I may be wrong on the cfm part, but you have to match the cfm of the gun to achieve proper atomization. And to get a compressor with that kind of cfm...your gonna have to go to a dual stage. I saw a delta the other day that put out 16.8cfm@90psi at Sam's Club and it was $800. Anyway, back to the gun part, you can run a high cfm gun on a low cfm compressor, but the atomization will be marginal-poor and the compressor will run continuosly. Somebody who knows a little more may be able to help.

frank
16 cfm for a spray gun is alot im sure there are guns that use less a good gun is important but a sata is for someone who does it for a living there are less expensive guns that will get the job done just as well and require less cfm. the craftsman compressor i dont recommend because it will not fill fast enough especially if your using tools that require large volumes of air like a da sander i just got an ingersall rand 5hp dual stage at home depot for $899 it is one of the best compressors ive ever used fills up in seconds has a sixty gallon tank and is ratewd i believe at 14.9 cfm if you have the funds i think its the best bang for the buck

I got a 7 hp 80 gal tank at Northern tools for 899 and it is rated at 19 cfm(i think).

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John 67ss
ACES #2887
Team Chevelle Gold #127

[This message has been edited by 67ss (edited 06-26-2002).]

Most retail store compressors are not what you are looking for. You need at least a 5HP (real 5HP not sears 5HP), two stage compressor with at least a 60 gallon tank. The higher end compressors found at Home Depot, Tractor Supply and Sams Club type places are usually OK. Stay away from the inexpensive baby compressors. They run all the time, get very hot (makes water in the lines), and are very noisey. Sorry to be so hard on the little compressors, they do have a place. I have a real 5HP Curtis that cost $1300 and wish I spent the extra $400 on the 7.5 HP model. You might check out A & I supply for a good selection of name brand compressors at a reasonable price.

I'm going through this selection process myself. I have my dads old 30 gallon 5 hp compressor that's nearly worn out. I called a local compressor place to find out about rebuilding the compressor before returning it to my dad (when I buy my own larger unit).

He informed me that to be a true 5 hp unit, the electric motor needs to draw 20 to 25 amps to develop 5 hp. If it doesn't draw that much, then it's not a true 5 hp.

I just looked at our local Tractor Supply store and they now carry a line of Ingersol Rand compressors. They have two that might work well for home shops...both have 80 gallon tanks. The first is a 5 hp single stage that produces 18 scfm @ 90 psi (135 psi max) for $699 and a dual stage version that procuces 17 scfm (175 psi max) for $999. They also have a larger model for $1599 which puts out in the neighborhood of 24-25 scfm @ 90 psi. These must be specially made for Tractor Supply as the model numbers don't come up on IR's home site.

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Malibu Motorsports (http://www.malibumotorsports.cjb.net)
414 ci bbc, 3500 lbs
10.66 @ 125 1/4 mile
6.74 @ 101 1/8 mile
1.48 60' on 9" tire
No Baby Bottle Needed!

Guys be careful when looking at a compressors CFM rating -a compressor has two ratings, one is CFM displacement and one is CFM delivered air (this is the important one )go to www.emglo.com (http://www.emglo.com) and look at the specs for their comp. to get an idea of the diff. between the two numbers. A lot of companys list the CFM displacement which is not the number you want to look at. Ingersoll Rand CFM ratings are for delivered air Confiremed with email to IR. Also IR suggests usin a refrigerated air dryer with their comp. ( cost more than comp. )
Hope thi info helps AL

Just to add, a 5hp motor draws 20-25A at 240VAC and not 120VAC. If you can plug the compressor into a 120VAC outlet it is not 5hp. The most motor you can run on a standard 120VAC, 15A outlet is about 1.5hp.

Usually, the manufacturer doesn't want the horsepower on the motor so look for a kW or watt rating on the motor label itself. divide by 0.746 for kW or 746 for watts to get the horsepower. I'm sure my "6hp" compressor really has a 4hp motor.

Peter

thanks everyone for the responses, What im looking at doing is just a novice paint job until i can afford a professional one. I want to strip it down to metal, use etch, urethane primer, base/clearcoat, when i can afford it have it painted over professionally. I think this topic has come up before but whats a middle of the road spray guns with a lower CFM and will get the job done?
frank