That's Mr. Guinea pig thank you very much!

[dbhost]

I finally bit the little bullet and snagged one of the Harbor Freight 2HP 8 gallon hot dog style air compressors (40400), And the orange brad nailer (66872). I got one of the 1/2" dia 50' Goodyear hoses and a couple of packs of quick disconnect fittings. (Only to get home and realize the hose was 1/2" fitting instead of 1/4"... I need to simply run to Ace tomorrow morning and get a pair of female 1/2" to male 1/4" reducers to connect it all up. Yeah I COULD take the hose back and get a 3/8" hose, but I figure in the long run, if I grab a bigger compressor, the bigger hose will be important.

The motor and compressor both appear to be identical to the larger units that seem to get decent reviews...

With the coupon price of $79.00, it was pretty hard to pass it up. This way I can get my finish nails in without having to hammer them down manually after I pull the trigger. I hope...

[crokett]

Let us know how it goes. At that price it will be a very good deal if it works out. Not to scare you but my dad got a HF compressor a few years ago. The 2nd replacement was the one that finally worked.

[dbhost]

Yeah, well. HF is close by, and they have a liberal exchange policy...

[dbhost]

Let us know how it goes. At that price it will be a very good deal if it works out. Not to scare you but my dad got a HF compressor a few years ago. The 2nd replacement was the one that finally worked.

Do you know which item # he got?

[Mr__Bill]

I need to simply run to Ace tomorrow morning and get a pair of female 1/2" to male 1/4" reducers to connect it all up. Yeah I COULD take the hose back and get a 3/8" hose, but I figure in the long run, if I grab a bigger compressor, the bigger hose will be important.

You may wish to exchange that hose. The added weight of the fitting and the heavier hose at the gun end will be a pain after awhile. Unless you get something that really uses air, like a sand blaster the larger hose will not be needed, plus that little tank really can't deliver all that much air in the first place.

The Goodyear rubber hose is a good choice in cooler weather. I have a couple of the other ones and they act like coil hose when cold, and it never gets that cold here either.

Bill, over here where God vacations. You know, when you get tired of heaven....

[LCHIEN]

get a polyurethane hose!

[dbhost]

Urethane hose? Do tell...

My first career was as a mechanic, the Goodyear hoses were what we used all day long on the impacts, air ratchets etc... But yeah, it does seem too big...

[LCHIEN]

Urethane hose? Do tell...

My first career was as a mechanic, the Goodyear hoses were what we used all day long on the impacts, air ratchets etc... But yeah, it does seem too big...

Polyurethane hose: extremely flexible, 50-foot only weighs 3 pounds, about a third the weight of Rubber hoses. I used to swear by rubber over PVC, but this stuff is nice. not the cheapest, but a real pleasure to use. The wall is much, much thinner than rubber or PVC. Two things to think about - at 1/4" ID it'll drop pressure more at higher flow rates than 3/8" rubber, but for nailers and stuff, its no problem. It also resists twist somewhat - so if you pull it off a coil lying on the ground it'll follow you like a coiled spring. When you untwist it, then it'll lie straight and flat and limber with virtually no memory. When you need to coil it up again to hang it on a peg, you'll need to twist it once for every coil. Another good thing about PU is that it's skin is slick, it doesn't grab like rubber, so its easier to pull around. As you can see by the pic, it so slick sawdust doesn't stick to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Air-PUR-14X050...5759541&sr=8-4

There are other manufacturers, I got mine from amazon 3 or 4 years ago. Something to aspire to, anyway. Maybe a hint to santa...

if you go to search and do a seach (on BT3Ctrl) for polyurethane air hose then you will get some useful threads. Some of the threads say Costco has had PU hoses for $13 (50' x 1/4"). I see 1/4" for sale in many places but do not generally see 3/8"... I'd say for heavy duty use with lots of foot traffic and high air flow rates (like a commercial auto repair garage) stick to rubber but for personal shop use where lightness and flexibility count, PU is the way to go.

The two attached pics show my PU air hose rolled over the 3/8" Goodyear hose; the second shows how flexible it is.

[Norm in Fujino]

Loring, thanks for that view. I've got to get a compressor and nailer to use for replacing my house siding next year, and I'm debating right now which way to go (I know nothing about this stuff, so I'm all ears). I appreciate your opinion. I'll probably end up buying the compressor here in Japan, just for electrical compatibility and no-hassle return, but I'm thinking of getting the nail gun in the states. Bostich for siding?

[Mr__Bill]

Polyurethane hose: extremely flexible, 50-foot only weighs 3 pounds,

Thanks for the info on the poly, I'll have to look for it the next time I am at COSTCO. Looks like it would work on a real rather well.

but I'm thinking of getting the nail gun in the states. Bostich for siding?

Decide on the siding first. Then read up on what the manufactures prefers for nailing it on and not voiding the warrantee. I put up Hardy Plank and the prefered nailer was a roofing gun with long galvanized nails. This allowed me to nail only at the top where the overlap covered it and still have excellent wind resistance. Since the roofing nailer is made to set the nail flush there was no worry of breaking the siding by setting the nail too deep.


Bill, over here on the east side of the ocean.

[Norm in Fujino]

Decide on the siding first. Then read up on what the manufactures prefers for nailing it on and not voiding the warrantee. I put up Hardy Plank and the prefered nailer was a roofing gun with long galvanized nails. This allowed me to nail only at the top where the overlap covered it and still have excellent wind resistance. Since the roofing nailer is made to set the nail flush there was no worry of breaking the siding by setting the nail too deep.

Sounds good. FWIW, I'm planning on using pre-painted Hardy plank (long story short: we have a pretty high roof, and conditions here in Japan mean that painting alone will run about $10,000, so I want to get by without painting if at all possible).
Do you have a recommendation on a roof nailer for Hardy plank?

[WayneJ]

We sell a lot of them at the H.F. where I work.You are better off with the 3/8 hose, much lighter.It needs oil in the compressor, fill to half way up the sight glass.. It will need about 15 amps to start up under pressaure,and don't like extension cords, to much voltage drop.Works best on a 20 amp circuit. Other then the above its a good compressor. Most of the returns are due to voltage problems trying to restart under pressure. Its about the biggest compressor that will run on 120 volts.
Wayne

[cgallery]

+1 on Loring's opinion of the hoses.

I got a Bostitch 50' polyurethane hose and it is a joy to use.

Very light, easy to coil up when I'm done. I can leave the air compressor under the bench in the basement and hit any spot in the house by running the hose through the clothes drop.

[Mr__Bill]

Sounds good. FWIW, I'm planning on using pre-painted Hardy plank (long story short: we have a pretty high roof, and conditions here in Japan mean that painting alone will run about $10,000, so I want to get by without painting if at all possible).
Do you have a recommendation on a roof nailer for Hardy plank?

I purchased a coil nailer from Porter Cable. I think any of the nailers that are light weight and from a good name will do, even the HF had a good rep and they have one made of magnesium. I think that having available nails that run well in the gun may be more important than the brand of gun. I spent some time playing with the gun to get the feel of it, the first thing I did was to turn off the feature where you hold the trigger in and it firers each time you press the safety against something. I found that I wanted to position the gun and then fire the nail. I think LCHIEN's polyurethane hose is the way to go, at least the last length to the gun if you are more than 50' from the compressor. I had problems with the weight of the pvc hose, the hose and gun on a hook on my belt wanted to pull my pants down.

Nail guns really don't take much air and putting up siding you don't fire that many nails at a time so you have lots of catch up time for the compressor. so just about any compressor that gives you the 90 lb or so PSI will do. I would size the compressor to what I might need for other jobs.

I can not stress enough that you should go on line and read all the information about installation in various conditions. You may be limited by what you are going over. You also need to understand the various approved caulking methods and types of caulk for your weather conditions. Every contractor that I talked with about installing the Hardy Plank 'knew more that the manufacturer' about how to install the siding and it shows in how the siding job looks a few years down the road. You need to balance the local folklore about installing against the manufactures knowledge of the product.

There are these little clips that hold the plank at the right level for proper overlap, a pair of them is all you need and one person can put up 12' planks. Or two can do it without much effort at all. I got mine at ACE so I assume they are available at most building places.

Bill, over here in the rain

BTW that settee is one nice piece of work

[Norm in Fujino]

. . . BTW that settee is one nice piece of work

Thanks so much for the complement--and the tips, Bill. I may have more questions for you later as I get this siding thing going.