Compressors

                            Every workshop needs a compressor.  For a great deal of reasons it is, for me one of the essential items in my workshop.

                            I have two.  One was given to me as a present last christmas by my family and is a 2 Hp direct drive unit with a 30 litre tank.  This
                            maintains a tanks pressure between 80-110 psi.  It woks well enough but is hellishly noisy.  Being direct drive the motor is coupled to
                            the compressor instead of belt drive.  Efficient, sure, but a big tank, belt driven will be on my shopping list in a few years.

                            A long time ago I knew that I would need a compressor for my future workshop. So I kept my eye on the local trading post
                            (newspaper) for a secondhand compressor.  Eventually I looked at and purchased an old McMillan "Dentist" model.  It was
                            only rated at 3 c.f.m but had a 50 litre tank and could maintain 60 psi.  But the best thing about it is that it is whisper quiet.
                            You can be a foot from it running and still speak in a normal level.  It's awesome.   So when it's 9 a.m.-5 p.m.  during the day I
                            use the direct drive.   But if I am in the workshop after hours I use the "dentist".  It's barely detectible standing outside my
                            workshop.