Jim Franklin wrote:
>
> Air line fittings is what I'm doing today, going to
> decide on a standard and buy a wheelbarrow full so
> I never have to wonder.
>
> What style do people like? Or is it mostly about
> accidentally stumbling on a style and well that's
> what you use?
Many years ago I carefully picked out a "Style" of air line fitting based on
flow rates, intention, etc. Unfortunately, after I moved, I could never
find that fitting in the local stores, and when I did, they were about three
times the cost of the "regular" ones.
I finally decided to give up and just bought new fittings at the local Home
Depot/Lowes. They usually have two sizes - the regular and the "industrial"
(i.e. bigger diameter) sizes. I've never had a problem finding fittings
anymore as they always have them, and they are rather cheap. They seem to
be the standard, as many of the air tools that I have bought come with a
male fitting, and they are the same type as I get at the Home Depot/Lowes
stores. (Also the same as Harbor Freight, but their quality is up to snuff
on the ones I've tried.)
So, my advice is to forget the various styles and just get the smaller ones
they have in the bins at
Home Depot/Lowes - you can always get more later when you need them (I've
been doing that for over 20 years). If you need to have a separate style
for some reason (i.e. air tool oil lines .vs. non-oil lines) get the larger
for the special case. (Me, I oil my tools with drops from a squeeze bottle
and never have oil in the lines/hoses.)
Oh yea, some fittings will flow more air than others, but the reality is
that at the air pressures and flow rates we are talking about, the
difference is unnoticeable. You would make a bigger difference by having a
50 foot air line instead of a 100 footer (and not much difference there
either).
Tim Mullen
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