Best Air Compressor For painting

What Size Air Compressor For Painting – In-Depth Guides & Recommendation

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Take your painting jobs to a top-notch level, get the factory-like finishing, and make your painting task easy by investing in the right-sized air compressor. These Air compressors are designed for nailing, painting, inflating, and the auto repair shop to power all pneumatic air tools.

They are available in different sizes. Some of them are equipped with a small tank, and the motor power is lower, which is best for nailing jobs. Instead, you may use it for small painting jobs, like painting furniture, pieces of wood, or hobbyist painting.

Keep in mind that painting is not like firing a nail into the wood by nail guns. Typically, a paint spray gun required consistent airflow. Instead, nail guns use a short burst of air.

A medium-sized air compressor will perform well if you involve an air compressor to paint cars, furniture, cabinets, and craft paint in your garage.

You might invest more When you select an air compressor for a car painting shop, where you need continuous airflow to spray gun, you should consider a bigger sized air compressor for heavy-duty performance.


What size air compressor for painting?

It depends on what kinds of painting jobs you will be involved in, painting a car, painting furniture, airbrush painting, or want a new look of your bikes. Most of the painting job painters use an HVLP spray gun for getting shiny factory-like finishing. 

When it comes to choosing a compressor for car painting, and this is your daily task in your garage. It would be best if you considered a 60-gallon air compressor, which one equipped a 5HP motor and capable of producing a minimum of 10CFM. 

If you are a hobbyist painter and involve in weekend painting at your home garage, a 6-10 CFM air delivering capable air compressor is a perfect fit to handle your criteria. It would be an excellent decision to choose an air compressor with a 3HP motor and CFM rating above 6. 


1. Best Air Compressor For For Painting Cars – SS5 5HP 60 Gallon

Air compressor for painting cars

Painting a car is not the same as spraying paint on a bit of surface or paint furniture. 

In an auto detailing shop, HVLP spray guns are used for getting factory-like finishing, from beginners to end, to complete all painting processes. 

Experts suggest a bigger air compressor for spraying paint continuously. The minimum requirement is 200 liters per minute or 7.5CFM. That means you should choose an air compressor that has the capability of delivering up to 7.5 CFM at 40 PSI. 

As I said, 40 psi is the average pressure rating of an HVLP spray gun. 

I kept the Ingersoll rand 60-gallon air compressor at the top of the list, keeping in mind all criteria that will face while painting a car. With a mighty 5HP motor and high air delivering capability, it comes to enthusiast your car painting jobs like cutting butter with the sharpest knife. 

Heres, why this Ingersoll rand 60-gallon air compressor best for car painting jobs?

  • It is constructed with reliable cust iron that extends the service life.
  • The company claimed users might get over 5,000 hours of operational life without trouble.
  • Eqquiped 60-gallon ASME tank. Delivers continuous air to most demanding air tools; it can be a paint spray gun or medium-size impact wrench. 
  • Always ready for 100% continuous duty, the tank size is enough to reserve an immense amount of punch. 
  • The 60-gallon air compressor included a thermal protection feature that saves the motor from unexpected damage while running continuously for a long time. 
  • It’s an oil-lubricated air compressor. You should perform daily maintenance. 
  • You will get a massive 18.1 CFM airflow at 90 PSI, which is more than enough to keep up with you in any bigger car painting jobs. 

2. Small air compressor for painting – Rolair FC2002 

small air compressor for painting

The benefits of using a small air compressor for painting jobs, They allow you to perform small to medium painting jobs. They are lightweight and handy, easy to move around the workplace. They are the best option to operate nail guns besides painting jobs. 

This Rolair FC2002 small-size air compressor is the most popular unit, thanks to its reliable, long-lasting operation, quick refilling capacity, and adequate air delivering capability for small to medium demanding projects. 

If you need an air compressor for occasional spray painting, besides nailing, inflating, and operate some small demanding impact gun is your daily task, considering this Rolair fc2002 4.1 gallon unit. It will be a great choice to paint furniture, decks, or spray paint on a bit of surface. 

Why did I suggest this Rolair fc2002 small air compressor for painting jobs?

  • This 4.1-gallon portable unit gets power from a powerful 2HP motor. That ensured heavy-duty operation.  
  • Equipped with a lubricated splash air pump keeps the unit cooler when it runs continuously during spray paint on a bigger surface. 
  • It can deliver 4.1 CFM at 90 psi, which is perfect for handling any small painting job. 

3. Air compressor for painting and nail gun – Makita mac5200

Air compressor for painting and nail gun

The benefit of having a big-sized air compressor unit for performing nailing tasks, driving auto repair air tools is that it may use auto painting and furniture painting jobs at the home garage. 

We know that nail guns use a short burst of air to driving nails into wood. Paint spray gun and auto repair tools need consistent airflow. 

The 6-gallon air compressors are the perfect choice for all types of nail guns, including framing nailers. But they have lower air delivery ability, which is not preferable for painting jobs. 

If you choose an air compressor with a minimum airflow rate of 6CFM at 90 PSI, it might be an excellent deal for a paint spray gun. 

The Makita MAC5200 is a powerful air compressor that can handle both nailing and painting jobs. Its equipped with an oil-lubricated pump that keeps the pump cooler and extended the unit life session.

Here’s why this Makita MAC5200 suited for both painting and nailing jobs?

  • The MAC5200 equipped with a robust 3HP motor. 
  • Having a decent amount of air delivery for handling heavy-duty nailing jobs and perfect for medium painting jobs.
  • It has an air delivery rate of 6.9 CFM at 40PSI, can produce 6.5CFM at 90 PSI. Ideal for both nailing and spray painting. 

Folding handle and two rugged wheel offers easy transportation and accessible moving facility around the job sites.

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Hi, Eddie T. Jones and I am the author of homegearsolution.com. I have been working with household appliances, tools, outdoor gear, and gardening tools for several years. I publish unbiased comparisons based on user reviews, expert reviews, and test results. I hope you like the website.

Best regards, Eddie T. Jones

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