Guide – How to Choose The Correct Air Line Hoses & Fittings
It can be very confusing knowing which air line hoses & fittings you need to connect your tool(s) to your air supply. We have however put together a handy guide which should help you to work out the ones you require for your equipment.
View Our Air Line Hoses & Accessories
What thread does your air tool have?
This will always be female, for a male plug to screw into – the question is whether it is 1/4″, 3/8″ or 1/2″ in size depending on how air hungry the tool is. Most tools with low air requirements up to about 22 cfm will be 1/4″ (such as random orbital sanders, roloc disc sanders, smaller best sanders, etc.) From this up to around 45 cfm is usually 3/8″, which is often the size for medium powered tools such as some angle grinders, larger belt sanders etc. Tools with an air requirement which is upwards of this are not very common but would likely be 1/2″, for example some powerful 2-3hp vertical disc sanders or belt sanders.
The easiest way to work out the internal diameter of a tool’s air inlet is to identify the tool itself and look at the specs online. For example the Dynabrade 40320 Dynafile II states ‘Air Inlet Thread: 1/4″ NPT’ (ignore the NPT as we only need to know the size of 1/4″.) This therefore means that it needs a 1/4″ male plug.
Do you need a complete air line solution to connect your compressor/air outlet to your tool?
We can supply everything you need to connect the tool to your air supply, including the air line hose and requisite couplers & plugs.
We supply a strong, long-lasting and very cost-effective rubber hose in either 3, 5 or 10 metre lengths. We offer this as an assembly with a 3/8″ plug already attached on one end for the air supply (this will connect to a male or female coupling with 1/4″, 3/8″ or 1/2″ I.D. and then to the outlet of your air supply, depending on its thread) and 3/8″ coupler on the tool end (which will connect to a 1/4″ or 3/8″ male plug and then into the tool, depending on it’s air inlet thread as explained above.)
Another option is that we supply the hose with just female hosetail fittings, ready for use with a female coupler & plug but not supplied with them (e.g. to replace an existing hose like-for-like but with no need for a new coupler/plug.)
Alternatively if you are just looking to use the machine on your existing air line we can also supply only the male plug, which will connect the two.