Sandblasting Equipment

[W5FL]

I bought a cheap sandblaster which is just a plastic bucket that comes to a point at the bottom where the hose fastens on. The hose goes to the blast gun and the air compressor hooks up here. My compressor is only about 6 SCFM. I filled the bucket with white brick sand, but it works about as good as throwing the sand at the metal.

What kind of equipment does it take to use cheap sand and blast paint off of metal in a reasonable time? Just for general farm use, but lots of rusty stuff could use a little dose of sand before repainting.

 

[Bird]

Wen, I don't think you have quite enough air compressor for much of a sand blaster. Many years ago, I bought a cheap one that was nothing more than a 1 quart can that looked like a paint gun. It would do the job, but you were constantly stopping to refill it. A year ago last March, I bought a Craftsman 100# sandblaster to refinish a 5' x 10' trailer before I sold it ($79.30, ordered on the Internet and delivered to the house). The manual says minimum of 4.5 CFM @ 40 PSIG, working pressure 40psi to 125psi, but if you're blowing sand continuously at 90-100psi, my 14 CFM compressor can keep up the 90psi, but will run continuously. I'd say it does a good job for the money, but sure isn't a "commercial" or heavy duty model. For small jobs, I have a Cyclone Blaster (sandblasting cabinet in which I use glass beads). In other words, you can run a medium duty sand blaster with your compressor if you work in short bursts, but need more compressor for big jobs. Sandblasters also seem to remove rust much faster than they remove paint, especially latex paint.

Bird

 

[W5FL]

Were you satisfied with the Craftsman? I don't mind buying another sandblaster, but this time I think I will pay a little more and get one of the pressure vessel types. I assume they will use playsand or whatever you get from Home Depot or what do you use?

Also about ready to buy two air compressors.

1) A vertical shop -probably 80 gallon with either 125 or 175 psi at as much scfm as I can get and it will run on 220V. Any suggestions?

2) A gasoline powered one to use away from the shop. Tractor Supply has one that is 5.5 HP and a tank that bolts to a trailer or pickup bed. If I could run one off of the DC output from an old gasoline powered Welder or an inexpensive power plant I would go that way. Just not easy to spray paint a pipe fence without a source of air.

3) Also saw a airless sprayer that might work off of a power plant and allow painting but not sure how to size the power plant for an airless.

Any and all suggestions appreciated. Even BLUE and GREEN owners must have to sandblast and paint fences too. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[gordon]

Wen do yourself a favor and buy sandblasting sand its much finer than play sand less clogging and you can ruin a tip with the play sand its to course for the sandblasters I'm used to dealing with.
Bird is correct about spray for a minute and take a break the sandblaster eats up air very quick.
Be careful when sandblasting around any greased joints on loader etc. because you can blast the sand into the joint and not even realize it and it stays there and acts like sandpaper. This is something also to look at when considering any used piece of equipment that has been fresh painted that you might purchase.

 

[Bird]

Wen, I guess you could say I'm "satisfied" with this Craftsman (for the price), but it's definitely not for big jobs, and I wish the nozzle was longer so I could stand back farther from my work, and the hose that the sand feeds through is just rubber; no cords in it so it needs replacing. I used it for a small job recently and it's already cracking and falling apart; had to tape it up until I go buy another hose. You're talking about buying a much better sandblaster, I think. There are a lot of abrasives that can be used, but I buy sandblasting sand from the local lumber yard in 100 lb. sacks.

I don't recommend any particular brand of air compressor over others; like tractors, there are lots of good brands. Personally, I prefer staying away from the aluminum compressors.

I have a couple of neighbors who also have gasoline powered compressors and it seems the major problem with them is lack of use. I'm sure you're familiar with the problems you encounter with any gasoline powered equipment that is left sitting too long without being run. But there are a lot of good gasoline powered compressors available. My personal preference would be a Honda powered one.

I've never used the big airless paint sprayer, but my brothers think that's the only way to go. All I have personal experience with in both the airless and the air powered paint guns is the small ones with one quart canisters. In those sizes, I prefer air because of the weight and vibration of the airless.

Good luck with you shopping.

Bird

 

[Wingnut]

say wen (sorry .. just had to try and be punny) ... forget "cheap sand". If you want to do sandblasting ... you need proper solica sand that sized specifically for sandblasting. Usually it's sold like sandpaper ... you know, heavy for breaking the big flakes, fine for cleaning and polishing. You can also buy glass beaks or pecan hulls depending on what you're trying to do. The tip has to match the granularity ... fine for fine, etc. And, as the others said ... you need enough air to propel the sand. Once you tget the combination down ... you can clear the old paint and rust off a trailer in a remarkably short time.
Hints:
- wear respirator ... and gloves ... and a hood (protection, my friend)
- the sand is gonna blow away and get into everything ... do it in a garage or hang up tarps.
If you want to sift and reuse sand (I do) ... do it in a garage and kep the floor clean so you don't have to spend too much time sifting.
- just like with spray painting ... go slow.
good luck!

too bad that common sense ain't

 

[Bird]

I don't even have any idea what the so-called "play sand" costs, but I only paid about $5 per hundred pounds for genuine sandblaster sand, and even out in the open where I couldn't reuse it, I only used about 200 pounds to sandblast the metal frame of a 5' x 10' trailer.

Bird

 

[JimBinMI]

Wen,

I also have a Craftman sandblaster, it has a plastic container with a handle at top and a strainer to add sand, it's about 1.5 - 2 ft. tall connected by a hose to the gun. My compressor is a 5 hp electric/20 gal. tank that runs on 220, it delivers 12.7 SCFM @ 40 psi and 10.6 SCFM @ 90 psi. I use the blaster rarely but when I do the compressor has no problem keeping up. I also use the silica sand that was actually given to me by my brother's father-in-law.

Sandblasting is one of the slower arts where slow and steady wins the race! Back when I was 15, I bought a 1969 VW Bug that needed blasting in several places, took that to a professional with a major big gun...sent all the rust to the grave! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif You would've liked my Bug, it was '73 Corvette Red which was also called competition orange, parked next to a red car it looked Orange and next to an orange car it looked red. Had a lot of fun with that car in the late '70's! Happy blasting...and keep that darned blasted thing away from Blue stuff!

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

 

[W5FL]

Wingnut,

Thanks for the info. I have a barn about 50 x 90 feet and that is a good place IF the sand doesn't get in everything else in the barn, otherwise I guess it will have to go outside. I like the idea of being able to reuse the sand. I am glad to find out there is a better grade of sand to use, assuming it is not too expensive.

I don't have any of that equipment, but I will get it before I get big enough compressor to do a decent job.

 

[W5FL]

Bird, Thanks - that is what I was looking for was a ball park price. It is higher than I would have thought but still not too bad. The California beaches have really nice silica sand, but carrying it 1500 miles in the bucket would be a drag. Let's see, 2200# is 22 bags, and tractor burns 1 gallon of fuel per hour. Nope, got to find the sand closer than that. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif