Sandblaster buying

[sunspot]

I not sure if this is the correct forum but what the heck.


I am interested in setting up a home sandblasting outfit. As of now, I have no equipment that would lend itself to the outfit. In other words, no air compressor and no hoses.
So I need an air compressor and a pot(?) is it called?
Any recommendations?

Compressors; How many GPM? I have seen some listed as SCFM. Something Cubic Feet per Minute?

Sand buckets;
Gravity fed, Siphon, Direct pressure? Any brands and model numbers to recommend?

I'm willing to spend up to $400. Is this possible? I really dislike sanding and wire brushing.

 

[em14]

Here is a good place to look and get some sound advice: TP Tools & Equipment ... These are good folks ...
Leo

 

[Egon]

I have a 3 HP air compressor. With this I am able to use a small sandblaster that has a suction hose going into a tank containing the medium.

My unit is marginal for proper operation and is slow.

I'm going to suggest that you check out some stores with knowledgeable sales staff and be prepared to invest a little more money. You need lots of air for a good job.

Don't forget the protective equipment. It's a requirement.

 

[sunspot]

Here is a good place to look and get some sound advice: TP Tools & Equipment ... These are good folks ...
Leo

So is $2,500-5,000 what it takes to set up a home unit? I was hoping for a bit less

 

[sunspot]

Don't forget the protective equipment. It's a requirement.

Oh yes, that's a must for me.

So what price range am I looking at? Ballpark will do just fine.

 

[Egon]

I'm sure you can do it for quite a bit less.

Check out the guns and see what airflow is required. That would give you a good handle on the compressor. My thoughts are it should use a piston type compressor but???

Ball park is hard as your prices are different than ours and your demands may differ from mine.

Now to put my foot in the mouth again!!

Say 5 HP compressor.

Guns can vary in price. The little unit I have cost about sixty dollars. The nozzles are the expensive part of the gun.

A pressurized tank about two hundred dollars??

Hood about fifty dollars

Mask at least 5o dollars.

Sorta a range??

 

[pilemonkey]

sunspot,

as part of your research, google "pressure assist sandblaster", or PA sandblaster. a fellow named rob from NH has developed a set of plans available online and has also set up a "group" at yahoo groups devoted to this system.

the concept is a hybrid b/t pressure pot and siphon fed systems. essentially, you are feeding media to the tip of the gun at relatively low pressure (6-8 psi), thereby reducing the amount of energy required by the system to pull media to the tip. 45-65 psi at the gun works fine for most applications. i bought the plans about a year ago and built one of these units.

if you plan on blasting relatively small items, it works great and requires less air than other systems providing the same output. this is the compressor i have and it has worked fine: Delta Machinery|Porter Cable Product Details for Shop Boss™ 175 PSI, Two-Stage 25 Gal. Oil Free Vertical Portable - Model # CPFC2TV3525VP
the largest item i have cleaned at once is a 12x36 woodworking lathe bed. no air volume/pressure issues encountered in doing so.

the trade off with this system is that it requires metal fabrication work to build, which may or may not be up your alley. all told, i spent i think $10 for the plans, and maybe $15 at walmart for a husky siphon feed gun, and maybe another $15 in misc. plumbing/hose. everything else i was able to scavenge at the dump. total time to build i am guessing was about 8hrs.

 

[wedge40]

sunspot,
. a fellow named rob from NH has developed a set of plans available online and has also set up a "group" at yahoo groups devoted to this system.

Could ewe please post more info about this? I've been mulling over building a small room or tent that I could do larger stuff in, but somehow reclaim most of medium.

Wedge

 

[sunspot]

I was looking/hoping for a tank and gun combo that was already matched. Farmwithjunk gave me a tip to look at the Clarke tanks at Tractor Supply. It asks for a 6-25 CFM compressor.
Clarke Tank
My use will be all outdoors. I have rust all over the place.

Egon. Thanks for the ballpark. That's what I was asking for. About $200 sounds reasonable for the tank.

Take a look at Texas Blaster and anyone give an opinion. $350 sans compressor. The 3/32 nozzle wants 8 CFM. I think that will be an expensive compressor.

Pilemonkey. Thanks for that tip but I'm not set up to do much metalworking. I have a small torch and a small drill press.

Wedge, I had thought of reclaiming medium but I'm guessing it should not be done.

 

[TCBoomer]

If you plan to do any serious blasting with a pressure fed unit, make sure the air comp is a 2 stage, preferably 100% continuous duty. Otherwise you'll kill the air comp in short order.

 

[TCBoomer]

I was looking/hoping for a tank and gun combo that was already matched. Farmwithjunk gave me a tip to look at the Clarke tanks at Tractor Supply. It asks for a 6-25 CFM compressor.
Clarke Tank
My use will be all outdoors. I have rust all over the place.

Egon. Thanks for the ballpark. That's what I was asking for. About $200 sounds reasonable for the tank.

Take a look at Texas Blaster and anyone give an opinion. $350 sans compressor. The 3/32 nozzle wants 8 CFM. I think that will be an expensive compressor.

Pilemonkey. Thanks for that tip but I'm not set up to do much metalworking. I have a small torch and a small drill press.

Wedge, I had thought of reclaiming medium but I'm guessing it should not be done.

You can reclaim the medium as long as you screen out the junk. But the more you reuse it, the finer it becomes...ie- less effective

 

[Bird]

I'm willing to spend up to $400. Is this possible? I really dislike sanding and wire brushing.

Dana, in years past, I've owned a one quart sandblaster that looked much like a one quart paint gun and I used it with a one hp, 20 gallon compressor. Even though I had to stop really frequently to refill the can with sand, I also still had to wait on the compressor to catch up at times. Later, I had a 100# siphon feed, Craftsman, sandblaster that worked pretty well, not great, but pretty well, and I promptly ruined an oilless 3.5 hp, 30 gallon air-compressor.

So, yes, for $400 you can probably get a very small rig that will do very small jobs very slowly. But chances are pretty good that you'll be disappointed in it.

Incidentally CFM = cubic feet per minute and SCFM = standard cubic feet per minute and if there's a difference in them, I don't know what it is.

 

[john_bud]

Incidentally CFM = cubic feet per minute and SCFM = standard cubic feet per minute and if there's a difference in them, I don't know what it is.

The temperature it is measured at. If all they quote is CFM and not SCFM, you know a lying marketing weasle wrote the words and they are not to be trusted.


I have a 100# pressure blaster that was about $350 12 years ago. One tip is that you make a window screen sieve and screen out the large chunks from the sand or you will be breaking down the equipment often.

You really need about 15 scfm at 175 psi for and entry. Yeah, i used a 3 hp 20 gal compressor at first and it "worked". Sort of. when the air was full.

But when the pressure drops below about 80 psi the cutting action drops super fast and all you are doing is making dust.

Speaking of dust. Did you know that silicosis is a condition caused by breathing sand dust? The dust gets in your lungs and hardens up like cement and no O2 can pass from lung to blood. It's a bad deal, so wear a respairator, not just a dust mask.

jb

 

[em14]

What are you planning to clean by blasting? As john_bud said .... if you are willing to blast a small amount then wait some time while your compressor rebuilds the lost pressure you can use a small compressor ... it's all about the pressure and the cfm required and the ability to deliver it. Craig list is a good place to look for air compressors and blasters when you get ready to buy ... I have a 5hp 220 v 20+(the mfr claims) cfm 2-stage compressor with an 80 gal. tank that I use for everything in the shop .... I have sand blasted car frames and it took sometime to do one, but I did not have to wait for the compressor to rebuild the tanks air supply. I also use a bead cabinet a lot as I find it is much more convenient to use for the smaller stuff. Before I got this I used a Sears 3 hp portable and one of their little siphon sand blasters and it was just too small for most things I needed to do. It boils down to what do you expect to accomplish and what trade offs you are willing to except. Blasting,as you said, beats the daylights out of a wire brush most times. ... remember that sand has got to be dry!
Leo

 

[sunspot]

So $400 is no good. That's information gained.
So a Texas Blaster=$400
Protective gear=$100
Compressor=$ ????

Bird and TCBoomer. I will not be using it on a continuous basis. The 2 stage pumps are a bit out of my reach at this time.
What do all of you think of a Porter Cable unit? $385.00
Or will a non-pressure fed unit be better?

John, I remember reading about the lung issues. I do not have any problem buying good safety equipment. Thanks for the reminder. Safety is first.

Em14, I have time to wait. I have a few farm implaments to clean up and about 200 of stair rail and about 100 sq ft of the stair risers to do. I don't have to do it all in a day.
BTW, Craigs is not used much in Birmingham. I tried it a number of times and gave up. At least for farm stuff. I'll give it a try for a compressor.

 

[Bird]

Dana, Porter Cable makes some good products, and admittedly most of my experience with oilless compressors were those made by DeVibiss, but I really don't think any oilless (or oil free) compressor will last long at all for sandblasting. Most of them warn against running them continuously for more than 10 minutes. Personally, I think you'd be wasting your money on that compressor if you tried to use it for sandblasting.

 

[Egon]

For those wanting to save their media you should be able to find plans for sandblasting cabinets or buy one. They are quite common.

SCFM is air at a designated temperature and moisture content used for reference point. I think?

 

[wushaw]

I am not a fan of oilless compressors, they are some noisy machines, I inherited one and some days I just wish it would give up so I can have a good reason to go ahead and get what I want.

On the budget you have I would still go with a oil type compressor. Hearing protection is not required with it running.

 

[Bird]

For those wanting to save their media you should be able to find plans for sandblasting cabinets or buy one. They are quite common.

SCFM is air at a designated temperature and moisture content used for reference point. I think?

You're right on both paragraphs, Egon. If all you're going to do is items small enough to fit into one of the cabinets, they're great. I had one that used glass beads instead of sand and when I was in the business of repairing air tools, it sure was handy for the things I couldn't clean with the wire wheel on the 6" bench grinder.. It was a pretty expensive cabinet, but in my case, it was provided to me at no cost by my brother.

 

[Egon]

I made good use of one at work.