Gang,

I'm looking for a good oil-less/oil-free air compressor to use in my garage.

Any recommendations on a brand, make, or model I should go with?

Here are what my uses will be:

1. Fill tires with air.
2. Waxing tools for cars.
3. Air out dust from around the shop and car.
4. Possibly get into some metal work/fabrication/grinding.

So, knowing these would be my main goals - what size, or better yet, what in general should I aim for?

Thanks,
Dean.

I prefer Craftsman myself ...they have several models ...some bigger, some smaller. Here is one:

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...4&blockType=G4

Even with an oilless compressor, be sure to use an oil/water separator to assure long tool life.

I'm new to the game. Can you explain what that does?

Basically, it is a charcoal canister filter that is drainable and separates the oil and water from the air. Even oilless compressors get oil in them to an extent, and all compressors get condensation in them. Let me find you one online...

seperates oil and water from the air that comes out of the other end.

Something like this. Also not that your air line is usually the bottleneck, so but a good 5/8" hose (not 3/8 or even 1/2") and use high volume fittings.

Dean, in my opinion a good oilless compressor simply doesn't exist. In March of 2007 my wife picked me up at Mary Washington Hospital after being there for a heart attack. We stopped at Sears and while she was finding what she stopped for I had to do a Tim Allen cruise through the Tool Department and there sat a 5 gallon compressor with a steel cylinder, steel piston ring and oil in the crankcase. Well, I had to put the oil in when I got home. Anyway, these two giant sized lineman from Dominion Power were standing there, my wife told them I had a heart attack 5 days before, one of them grabbed that compressor and put it in my 150 and away we went. Its the best compressor I have ever owned.
My brother in western Pa. drove street stock cars on dirt and used an oilless compression for some of the things you mentioned, his compressor head required new guts almost every spring.

The shiny black cylinder is probably cast iron and not steel, the oil is still crystal clear after 4 years.

I won't even get into how bad the life expectancy is on most oil-less compressors.

But if you're looking to use air driven tools, especially continuously driven tools like buffers & grinders, you'll want a 20+ gal tank ( the bigger the better) and a compressor that will do at least 4.5 scfm @ 90 lbs as a minimum.

My oil-type compressor is 30+ yo and still going strong.