Tom,
I agree - the whole range of various air compressor fittings is a minefield - I've fallen foul of this in the past. However, you will probably find that most air tools (nail guns, blowers etc. etc.) come with a female screw thread fitting - into which you screw in whichever fitting is necessary to be compatible with the fittings on your compressor hose (you should also buy some PTFE tape as well and wind this around the male thread before inserting - ensures an air-tight fit).
So, you don't normally need to a buy an air tool that's compatible with your compressor so to speak, because they mostly come with a female screw fitting as I've described. The tricky part is knowing which male fitting to screw into this to be compatible with your hose/compressor.
You may also find that some tools come already supplied with a fitting (eg. 1/4" BSP). If these aren't compatible with your set-up, it should be possible just to unscrew them and replace with a fitting that works (I recently had to do this when I bought a new finish nailer).
I'd suggest that if you have a Machine Mart within easy reach of you, taking your compressor hose down to them, show them what you've got and they'll sort out the right fitting to go into whichever air tools you decide to buy (they stock a good range of air tools as well, so you can probably sort it all out with one visit).
Hope that's of some help.
Martin
