Sand Blaster

   / Sand Blaster #1  

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I have a need for a small sand blaster so I can get my JD322 lawn tractor and deck ready for fresh paint. A lot of the paint had peeled and there is just some surface rust. My brother has an older Craftsman. He loaned it to someone and the delay is holding me up. Considering getting my own. Didn't want to as it would sit after I finish up a few of these projects. I'm sure I could find occasional use for it.

My question is this. Does anyone have any vendor suggestions? Using the Sears model I have learned about wear. The first tips were metal and wore out fast. Switched to porcelain. That helped a lot but then the threads started wearing where the tip threaded in. Wondering if this technology has been improved much since the last time I used the Sears model.

I have searched the Internet and have seen some listed but they don't give a lot of details on them. Was hoping to get some advice.

Craig
 
   / Sand Blaster #2  
Try tptools.com and look at their offerings. Good Company ... and they will help you if you just call them. Sounds like you need a small portable unit. Watch that you match the Blaster with the Air Compressor so that the air compressor can operate the blaster. Have you considered water / sand blasting? I've not done this but it is good at cleaning for painting if the material you are blasting can take the force ...
Leo
 
   / Sand Blaster #3  
You may be able to clean the deck with a power washer ... forget using the water / sand as you will not need this for your project and I don't think I would sand blast the JD ... a power washer can more than likely do everything you need ....
Sand can damage your JD if you get it in some places ....
Leo
 
   / Sand Blaster #4  
The simplest sandblaster tip set up I've seen was put together as follows, you can size the pipe to your tip and airflow. Hose barb, pipe nipple, ball valve, pipe nipple, the fixed part of a pipe union, commercially available ceramic sandblasting tip and then the nut of the pipe union to hold the tip on. You might have to ream the union nut to fit. The nipples can be any size that you feel comfortable using for a handle. No special order parts except for maybe the tip. I bought a brand new pressure tank sandblaster for $40, pressure regulator and air drier included because they lost the hose and nozzle and I knew I could rig one for $20- $30. If you decide to go for a syphon type sand blaster get a Grainger's catalog and just buy the nozzle. It's been a while but I think I only gave around $30 for the nozzle and added a piece of clear tubing I had laying around. You can put the blasting media in a 5 gallon bucket and suck it out of there. Why pay $80 or so to have a sand container and nozzle?

You can also rig a pressure type blaster using PVC. That's where I was going with the tip instructions when I got seriously distracted. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif Get some four inch or better PVC, at least schedule 40, 3 feet long. The 4 inch gives the most bang for the buck. You need a cap for the bottom and a threaded clean out fitting and the screw in cap for the top. Thread a nipple into the bottom cap and into the top side of the column and use a coupler inside for a nut. I'd use iron fittings. The bottom cap and the cleanout fitting need to be securely glued on. Thread a tee on the bottom, run a short nipple and then another tee aimed at the top nipple. install a ball valve and then a pipe and an ell to the top nipple. Confused yet? You need the ball valve to regulate the air pressure and flow in the tank, you don't need 150 PSI to push sand into the hose going to the nozzle. Run your hose and nozzle out of the tee on the bottom and your air supply into the other tee. It wouldn't hurt to have a line drier and regulator on your air supply. The PVC will handle the pressure, people build spud cannons out of it and you can bet the pressure from the explosion and the pressure spike are a lot more abuse than you're going to give it. You also need to secure it upright to a dolly or something, it isn't going to work very well laying on it's side. If this is too much work the asian tool stores sell a complete setup made of metal for around $150.
 
   / Sand Blaster #5  
Sears has a little ( 4 # ) handheld 'sand-blaster' for about $60. Their catalog # 18635. It looks like a kids squirtgun. Definitely not a workhorse but may be just the thing for the small - quick jobs.
 
   / Sand Blaster #6  
Ok, what is the best material for a do-it-yourselfer to use in a sandblaster. I was a TSC last night and they had some aluminum oxide, and glass beads. I also been told to use sieve sand from the lumber yard.

Larry
 
   / Sand Blaster #7  
That's an interesting setup. I recall kits available in the
past to convert 20# propane tanks into pressure blasters.
But the new import setups are so inexpensive it seems the
path of least resistance.
 
   / Sand Blaster #8  
There was a guy on the 'net selling probably the same instructions for $20 a few years ago. His only mistake was showing a clear picture in his ad. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
   / Sand Blaster #9  
You might want to search the forum for my post on my sand blasting experience.

The summary is .. I ended up buying a suction sand blaster like they sell at home depot as well as a pressure sand blaster as well as upgrade my air compressor, spent hours studying silicosis and why you shouldn't sand blast, spent hundreds of dollars and came to the conclusion..

There are cleaning projects that you can do with the good old water based pressure washer ... and there are cleaning projects you take to the sand blast shop.

I got the job done, but it took weeks of buying things, trying things, asking for help, asking for more help, wondering why it wasn't working, trying some more before I finally got a set up that sortof worked. I went through more than 250 pounds of sand to strip the paint and rust off a 2x2x3 lattice garden table..

Try the pressure washer first. If that isn't good enough, pay a sand blast shop to do it. They will do it in a large blast cabinet with environmentally sound products in a fraction of the time you would.
 
   / Sand Blaster #10  
I purchase one from Harbor Freight several years back. I think it was about $99 and it holds about 50 lbs. of sand. I did just what you are talking about to the dozer blade I had on a Cub 154 Loboy. stripped down to new metal and did a great job. I found that using the larger nozzles with fine sand work best as the coarse sand or smaller nozzles would continually stop up with sand particals. Make sure you use a good automotice type primer on the exposed fresh metal ASAP to protect it and give the paint a good surface to bond to. You will need a fairly good capacity aircompressor for this as well. I used a 5 hp. 30 gal. Sears compressor and it ran nearly all the time. More capacity is better. BE VERY CAREFUL with the blaster, wear heavy gloves , a hood, and good eye protection. That blaster can take the hide off of an elephant. Have fun getting the sand out of your hair and everything within 50 feet! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
 
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