You guys happened to start a thread right up my alley. I worked at the Emglo factory for about 7 years. My brother spent 23 years working there and my father was with the factory from 1958 until his retirement 2 years ago.
We became very close with the owner and did alot of extra work for him. So when we needed something we asked and he gave.
I have a 220v (or 110v) 3hp electric sitting on a 30 gal ASME tank. This unit sat in my father's basement for 3 years until I bought my home a year ago. I also have 2 hand carry HC4V portables. The line was called "the Air-Mate" These are 2 hp electric with twin 2 gal tanks.

I use the portables for filling tires or to toss in the back of the car for road trips to work elsewhere.
I use the stationary in my basement to run just about anything I want. (hand-tools, sand blaster, etc)

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

If you are shopping, get the biggest compressor you can for your money and space... A large tank is nice, but a high horsepower is better. Look at the CFM ratings to see how much air it can really move. I've got a "harbor freight special" 8 gallon 2.5hp compressor that I got for 100$. Its good, but not great, and it does what I want it to do. However, I can't paint or sandblast with it, because all the good paint guns use more CFM than it can provide. Even my air grinder can only be used intermittantly, because the compressor can't provide the CFM required to really keep it spinning.

However, tire filling, cleaning, airbrushing and the occasional impact wrenching are all handled with ease by the compressor, and its about as big as I'd want in a 'portable' compressor, since I have to move it around a lot (living in an apartment, so no garage to store it).

However, if I had a place to put it all the time, and was shopping again, I'd go for one with more CFM than I thought I'd need, so I could actually graduate up to things like painting and sandblasting. You can't really use too much air, so get as much as you can on your first buy.

peace,
sam

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"That f***in' biodiesel is makin' me hungry."

1982 300TD Astral Silver w/ 250k (BIO BNZ)
2001 Aprilia SR50 Corsa Red w/ 5.5k (>100 MPG)

I have a vertical Craftsman 110V comp, works great. I'm a hobby grease monkey so it works great. It's about 15-20gal (I forget as it's in Houston and I'm in Dallas). Picked it up new for about $300.

It runs every tool I have (up to stuff around 11scfm) and I have a few big impact guns, cut off wheels, chisel, ratchet, etc, etc. I LOVE IT.

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I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

Have a coleman 3.5hp. I like it becasue it is the old fashioned belt driven where you change the oil in the compressor cylinder assembly. It is not noisy like a direct drive compressor. It will also last longer. I have many accessories.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup