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Anyone who has spent time in the waiting room of an auto repair shop knows
that the zing-zinging and chukka-chukka-chukka of air tools is the soundtrack
of auto professionals at work. When NASCAR® pit crews leap over the wall to
change tires, they don’t zip off the lug nuts with electric wrenches or a
rusty tire iron. It’s an air gun that gets the job done.
It’s easy to be convinced that air tools are only for trained pros and
sponsored race teams. But a pneumatic garage is a relatively affordable option
for any home car hobbyist or do-it-yourselfer. Because they rely on compressed
air for power – pressures vary, maxing out at 150 pounds per square inch (psi)
in garage applications – air tools are typically far less expensive than
electric tools that do the same job. Air tools also tend to weigh less, they
can usually develop more torque and speed, are less bulky so they often fit
into tighter spaces, and come in greater varieties than electric tools. (To
illustrate, see in the photo at right that the electric impact wrench (right)
dwarfs its pneumatic counterpart.) Best of all, air tools give your garage
that pro-at-work soundtrack.
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If those aren’t reasons enough to convince your better half to buy you air
tools for Christmas, consider this: once you invest in the compressor, air
lines, and necessary fittings, you can use them to do a multitude of home
improvement projects. Most tool rental shops, including those in home
improvement stores such as Home Depot, offer a smorgasbord of pneumatic tools
for hourly and daily rental, from roofing nail guns to orbital sanders to sand
blasters. The photo at right shows a sampling of the tools available:
grinders, sanders, cutters, wrenches, saws; once you go pneumatic, the tool
options are virtually endless.
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