Air Tools

There is an air tool for almost every job. They make tough jobs possible and fast. Look for air guns, air tool accessories, air wrenches and air compressors. Here are the air tools you'll run into most:

• Blow Gun/Air Duster: Provides a short burst of air for cleaning hard to reach places quickly

• Cut-Off Saw: For cutting sheet metal and fiberglass

• Drill: Drilling with reliable and constant power

• Grease Gun: For applying lubricants

• Hammer/Chisel: Allows you to shape metal and remove materials like metal and masonry quickly with less physical strain

• Inflator Gauge: For inflating tires

• Air Paint Sprayer: For painting large areas or areas that are difficult to reach with a paintbrush, provides quick coverage

• Power Nailer and Stapler: For fastening different types of materials quickly and securely

• Ratchets and Wrenches: For accurate tightening and loosening with steady torque

• Reciprocating Saw: For making plunging cuts

• Sander, Grinder and Buffer: For automotive and woodworking applications

• Shears: For cutting all types of materials; very efficient on metals and plastics

Nail Gun buying tips

Nail guns seem to be the most widely used air tool, so we will cover them in a bit more depth here. Big jobs will seem small with a nail gun. Pneumatic nail guns come in two basic types:

• Stick: These nail guns hold 20 to 40 nails at a time in a long narrow "stick." The nails in the stick can be held together with thin pieces of wire, paper or plastic.

• Coil: Coil nail guns hold nails in a drum or canister. The nails are usually held together by wire and form a long flexible strip. They can hold up to 300 nails.

Air tool nail guns are often designed for specific applications, including framing, finishing and roofing. Framing nail guns are designed for prolonged, heavy-duty work; finishing nail guns are smaller and used with lightweight finishing nails; roofing nail guns are designed specifically to fasten shingles on roofs. These air tool nail guns use two types of trigger mechanisms:

• Professional-grade nail guns: Also known as automatic nail guns, professional grade tools and nail guns are for more experienced users because they fire immediately upon pulling the trigger.

• Semi-automatic nail guns: Also known as two-step nail guns, semi-automatic nail guns are more appropriate for beginners. You have to pull the trigger and tap the barrel against a surface for the nail to fire.