Subject: [Shop-talk] Air hose reel opinions

From: PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 09:01:59 -0400

I've had enough with tripping over my air hose in my tight garage, so I'm
looking into an air hose reel.  Learned my lesson once by trying the Harbor
Freight cheap-o model and it leaked right away, so I returned it.  Craftsman
has some nice looking ones in the $100-150 range and there's a sale ending in
3-days I might jump on.  When I search Amazon, there is a ridiculous array of
them at many price points....

I'm looking for one that can handle 50 ft. of 1/2" hose.  Self-retracting is
not a requirement.  If they sell it with out the hose that would be great.
Something that can handle typical DIY use.

I know alot of people on this list use air in their shops, so I figured it's a
great place to ask.

Thanks
_______________________________________________

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 09:49:43 -0400

Last summer I plumbed my whole shop for air.  I ended up with a total mis 
match of air hoses and I got to learn alot about them.

First, the cheap HF are not worth even trying.  Many leak right out of the 
box.  BUT, their slightly more pricey ones worked OK for me so far.
High end ones are nice, but WAY pricey.

What I did find was if I hit every Orange and Blue big box store (HD and 
Lowes) in my area (there are over 12 in a 20 mile radius), I could find 
ones on clearance.  I picked up about 3 this way.  I got GREAT deals on 
nice units.

Right now I have about 8 air hose reels in my shop.  No two are alike.  I 
also have 2 HR cheapie on my "to be addressed later" pile not doing 
anything.  8>)

Eric P
"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational 
being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph 
Waldo Emerson 

PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]> 
Sent by: [email-masked]
05/03/2012 09:32

To
Shop Talk <[email-masked]>
cc

Subject
[Shop-talk] Air hose reel opinions

I've had enough with tripping over my air hose in my tight garage, so I'm
looking into an air hose reel.  Learned my lesson once by trying the 
Harbor
Freight cheap-o model and it leaked right away, so I returned it. 
Craftsman
has some nice looking ones in the $100-150 range and there's a sale ending 
in
3-days I might jump on.  When I search Amazon, there is a ridiculous array 
of
them at many price points....

I'm looking for one that can handle 50 ft. of 1/2" hose.  Self-retracting 
is
not a requirement.  If they sell it with out the hose that would be great.
Something that can handle typical DIY use.

I know alot of people on this list use air in their shops, so I figured 
it's a
great place to ask.

Thanks

[email-masked]
Unsubscribe/Manage: 
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: Doug Braun <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 10:15:14 -0400

I got one of the generic Chinese retracting 50-foot ones at a swap meet
several years ago, and and it has been a joy.
It leaks a little bit in really cold weather, but that is not a problem in
practice.  I can't imagine having piles of hoses
all over the place.  I think I paid $65, but that was 5 years ago.

I bet the Craftsman ones come from the same factory in China...

As the price of raw materials climbs, the Chinese stuff had gotten more
cheaply made.  I bought
a HF welder cart about 3 years ago, and I was happy with it.  It was pretty
sturdy.  Then I
bought a second one recently.  It was the exact same design and model
number, but
all the sheet metal pieces were about 15% thinner, and the entire thing was
about 15% lighter.
It was definitely flimsier, and I was sort of bummed.

Doug

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 9:01 AM, PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]> wrote:

> ____

[email-masked]

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From: PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 10:23:45 -0400

Honestly the $40 HF one would've been fine for me except for the 90 degree
brass swivel fitting leaked.  probably a bad o-ring, or poor tolerances -
didn't open it up to even look...  There didn't appear to be *any* swivel
fittings online I could find (which may be a bad sign for things to come).  I
can see this being a wear item on any of these reels.  One leaky fitting and
the whole thing is junk.

Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 10:15:14 -0400
Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] Air hose reel opinions
From: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
CC: [email-masked]

a HF welder cart about 3 years ago, and I was happy with it.  It was pretty
sturdy.  Then I
bought a second one recently.  It was the exact same design and model number,
but
all the sheet metal pieces were about 15% thinner, and the entire thing was
about 15% lighter.

Doug

I know alot of people on this list use air in their shops, so I figured it's
a

great place to ask.

Thanks

____

[email-masked]

---

From: David Hillman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 11:17:36 -0400 (EDT)

On Thu, 3 May 2012, PJ McGarvey wrote:
> looking into an air hose reel.

    In my opinion, a reel doesn't fix the right problem here.  I was in 
your boat for years, until I finally put a loop of copper lines in my 2.5 
car garage last year.

    I could kill myself for not doing it years ago.

    Now, I never even deal with more than a few feet of air hose.  I still 
have a 75 foot hose, but it sits coiled on a hook and rarely moves.  Once 
in a blue moon, I take half of it out to the driveway, and then back. 
Other than that, hose never touches ground.  I have a dedicated drop for 
my plasma cutter, a 5-way manifold over my fab table, and a couple more 
wall/ceiling drops for general use.

    It cost a few hundred dollars, was done in a weekend and paid for 
itself in increased productivity/enjoyment within a month.

--
  David Hillman

[email-masked]

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From: Ian McFetridge <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 15:24:04 -0400

I've gotten good service out of a rotating, retracting, 50 feet reel from
McMaster-Carr:  about 8 years of hobby shop use.  Sorry I can't recall the
model or cost.

- Ian

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 9:01 AM, PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]> wrote:

> http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]

[email-masked]

---

From: David Scheidt <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 3 May 2012 16:31:20 -0500

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 9:23 AM, PJ McGarvey <[email-masked]> wrote:
> brass swivel fitting leaked. B probably a bad o-ring, or poor tolerances -
> didn't open it up to even look... B There didn't appear to be *any* swivel
> fittings online I could find (which may be a bad sign for things to come).
B I
> can see this being a wear item on any of these reels. B One leaky fitting
and
> the whole thing is junk.

Milton still sell them.

--
David Scheidt
[email-masked]

[email-masked]