For all the sub-rock dwellers clinging to the dark and safe ways of yore, this is an air compressor. It is your friend. Embrace it, love it and bask in its many conveniences. The new 26-gallon Campbell Hausfeld compressor is specifically aimed at the challenges and objections homeowners have to an air-powered rig.

To get the party started, just kick the big red power button at the bottom rear and the hose fills to 115psi; then the tank fills in preparation for continued operation. That’s right — the hose fills first. It might sound a little weird but it’s sort of a slick idea.

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Following the recent trend of top-of-the-line pneumatic gun rollouts, Campbell Hausfeld just released three new units bearing the CH blue:  from biggest to smallest, the CHN70899 3-1/2” framing nailer, the CHN70699 15-gauge nailer, and the CHN70299 18-gauge brad nailer.  Can you guess the first highlighted feature of the new guns?  If you said “targeting laser,” you nailed it.

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Last week, we had the opportunity to visit with the folks at Bosch in Chicago about their 2009 lineup. The first item on the long list of new gear Bosch is rolling out this year is their Full Force Technology nailers, the stars of which –- mostly ‘cuz they’re the only ones out yet — are the SN350 series framing guns.  The phrase “lean and mean” was tossed around a lot by many folks at the event, and while we admit that it’s largely a catchphrase, it applies in this case.

The Full Force in the name refers to Bosch’s new pneumatic system which was designed from the ground up and works differently than the traditional gun. To start off with, it’s around twenty percent smaller than, say, a Paslode or Hitachi, and it’s a little more powerful. (more…)

Here we see our Ridgid twin-tank aluminum air compressor in its native environment — its central position right under the miter saw is no accident.  This compressor is a slightly dusty star of the show, and the shop wouldn’t be able to function correctly without it.

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Almost universally, a professional framer will choose a gun when there’s serious work to be done.  A few old-school crews still use hammers, but when the heavy lifting’s about to begin, the guys in the know reach for a rig like this Duo-Fast 20-degree DF350S strip nailer.  We got our hands on one to see what it was all about.

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Duo-Fast announced its new DF350S framing nailer last week.  Its 20-degree-angled magazine rail holds two strips — which means you can fire off sixty 3-1/2″ nails without reloading.

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Yesterday Hitachi announced the release of their NR90AF framing nailer.  If you’re asking what the big difference is between the new nailer and the older Hitachi NR90AD, the AF features a 28-degree magazine that’s built for round-head nails, while the AD takes a clipped-head load.

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When you think of a portable compressor you probably think of a tool that’s small and easy to move for powering your air nailer. Sure, that’s one definition of portable — but how about a compressor the size of a mobile home that can deliver 1,200 cfm at over 350 PSI!

You’re probably not going to see this trailer parked at your normal job site — it’s used primarily in the drilling field, where higher flow removes the cuttings more efficiently and higher pressure makes drilling go faster.

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Once upon a time, when pneumatic nailers were all the same — to me at least — this fine tool would’ve escaped my attention. This is a multi-blow nailer, which means there’s no depth adjustment; you simply hold the actuator until the nail is driven to the depth desired.  If you hit a knot, just hold the actuator longer.

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All2ools.com is selling the Dynafile pneumatic abrasive belt sander for the low price of $383. It looks rather funky, but it has it where it counts — did we mention it’s pneumatic?

Because its belt measures between 1/8″ and 1/2″, many tool guys reach for the Dynafile when they’re blending welds or finishing castings with small nooks and crevices that a larger abrasive tool can’t reach. Try getting into nooks and crannies with your belt sander and you’ll understand.

Dynafile 14000 [all2ools.com]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

If you use pneumatic tools a lot, you probably know to take care of them.  But if you only use ‘em a little, you might let the maintenance slide — not worrying about water in the line, not using a good filter, not lubricating your tools — like some Toolmongers I know. If you haven’t treated your air tools right, and they don’t seem to work quite like they used to, don’t give up hope. Blaster Chemical makes an air tool conditioner spray that one retailer claims is “SO POWERFUL IT BRINGS “DEAD” AIR TOOLS BACK TO LIFE!”

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Lumax claims their PneuLuber pneumatic grease gun is the only dual-piston air-powered grease gun and that it can empty a grease tube in less than a minute.  Street pricing is about $180.  The PneuLuber features trigger-controlled variable-speed grease delivery along with an “instant” brake, both of which keep this tool from being a grease-fountain mess-maker of doom — but they also seem to indicate that speed isn’t really the point.

Fourteen ounces of grease in under one minute: Maybe I’m missing something, but, unless you’re on a race team working in the pit, is there any reason to own a high-speed grease gun? For that matter, has anyone timed the speed of a hand-powered grease gun?

A powered grease gun I can understand — on any job that uses a grease gun all day it could prevent lawsuits over handshake accidents — but how important is fast greasing? Let us know in comments.

PneuLuber Grease Gun [Lumax]
Street Pricing [Google Products]
Via Amazon [What’s This?] [What's This?]

If time isn’t an issue with your flat tire, and if you already own an air compressor with a standard air chuck, then this $5 kit will let you repair six tires. In addition to being cheap-ass, these kits won’t send your tires out of balance enough to notice, and they provide a permanent fix.

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The average DIYer won’t need to pick up a flooring nailer more than once a decade, but if you install floors for a living, you might want to check out Primatech’s heavy-duty, automatic P240.  You can strike the large head cap from any angle to set the nail, and Primatech boasts that the compact firing valve will get the tool tip 4-1/2″ closer to the end wall, saving you a lot of manual labor and time.

I found it online for $535, only a little higher than other pneumatic flooring nailers.

P240 Flooring Nailer [Primatech]
P240 Flooring Nailer [Harvester]

Textured walls still seem to be the craze, and texturing with a sponge still seems painfully slow. If you’re tired of sponging it on, try shooting it out of this hopper gun instead. You can find less expensive hopper guns, some of which only handle paint, but the Sharpshooter I features seven different orifice sizes, a handy air-control valve, and a big trigger for less hand fatigue.

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While doing the yearly maintenance on your lawnmower like a good Toolmonger, you pull the spark plug and discover it’s covered in crud. While replacing the plug is a fine idea, you might save a little dough and a trip to the store by cleaning it and using it for another year. And though you could clean the plug with a little elbow grease, why do it the hard way when this cheap-ass pneumatic spark plug cleaner’ll do the job for you?

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Recently Hitachi announced the release of their new N5010A 1/2″ Standard Crown Stapler and N5021A 15/16” Wide Crown Stapler. Both lightweight staplers look very different from Hitachi’s alien-skinned power tools. It seems Hitachi’s pneumatics division designed these staplers to be practical for the jobsite — there’s no green rubber, just metal — and we dig it.

These staplers’ll work for a variety of tasks, ranging from light construction sheathing to roofing applications — and you’ll probably need to put the tool to a lot of those tasks, in order to justify the steep asking price. We’ve found spots online offering the new staplers for around $385, which puts them in the higher-end price bracket for staplers.

Pneumatics [Hitachi]
Street Pricing [Google Products]