A number of companies make and sell compressed gas systems for powering pneumatic tools without the need to carry a compressor. Most use CO2, which is what Brian Way’s AirGo home-built system uses (see video below). The system consists of a commercially produced 10-pound cylinder and a made-to-order valve/regulator. Way designed the system to use mass-produced cylinders (or bottles) and valves that were made to his specification by REHVAC. He sold a number of them locally before getting out of the business.
The most interesting thing about the system isn’t the tank and regulator, because similar products are available from a number of vendors; it’s the way components are packaged. Way rigged the interior of a Tanos Systainer to hold two 10-pound bottles, a pair of small nail guns, and a coiled hose. The Systainer is on wheels so he can pull it behind him when he works.
Way’s company installs millwork, much of it in hospitals and commercial buildings, where the noise from a compressor would be objectionable to clients. The compressed CO2 system is quiet, and the wheels make it easy to transport. The AirGo lives in a space between cabinets in the back of Way’s Shop on Wheels.
