cudaeh

iTrader: (2)

hey every one,
i just picked up my new toy
clarke 20 gallon sandblaster (portable pressurized stand up kind 65-125psi range)
ive read up on opperations and applications and all that but i must have missed the part where they told me what i should use in is (abreasive wise)
my dad said 'go down to toys-r-us and pick up a couple bags of "play sand" '
but my dad can be a bit of a hick at times.
what im planning on doing with this is removing paint and oxidized metal. pressing project is preping a rear cradel for a ferio for paint. there is a top soil supplyer near me i was going to go down there and request some fine sand but i dont quite know what to ask for.
oh one last thing, i did see some abreasive for sale at the supply place but they were spicific gritts and also $35 per 20 lbs for somthing that will fall on the ground and be swept out onto the drive way when im done!!! i just assumed that this stuff was for blasting cabinet use.
please if any one has any ideas/ imput/ any thing that they have used that has worked well or cheap... please let me know!!
thanks
cuda
kevin

jmX

I'm not gonna be of much help, but I grew up around family that did bead blasting. The stuff may be expensive, but its REUSABLE...you dont just throw it away. Blasting material is meant to be used over and over again. What people I know have always used are little glass or plastic beads, its like fake sand. I think the actual term for it is "bead blasting".

I'm sure if you do a search you can find some of the advantages of bead blasting using proper blasting material.

cudaeh

iTrader: (2)

hummmmm.... well yeah it was going to be the last resort to go for the expencive stuff... i was just hoping that there was an acutll sand that i wouldent have to worrie about re- collecting ( off of the garadge floor) i was just planning on blasting out side and just leave it where it falls.

JackZ28

I've seen people use walnut shells too. That's what was used to blast my wheels.

98 SNAKE EATER

Here's my sandblaster

I do heavy blasting for chassis parts and the best alternative to expensive high grade blasting media is play sand from Toys R Us....

The reason being that it's pre-sifted and sanitized...

If you just got ordinary sand, the larger grains will end up damaging the ceramic tip of the gun

I did that once before when I tried to re-use filthy sand off the ground

Luckily, Sears has a lifetime warranty on their Craftsman Blasters






Rick

BLULS1Z28

iTrader: (1)

go with play sand

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Play sand is the way to go unless you have a reclaim
setup - you need to sift out the big chunks and
extract the dust, which is OK in a closed-box
system but not too practical on the side driveway.
Though I have in the past used a sifter and a floor
fan. Sifter is window screen stapled over a 2x4
frame, shake your sand a gallon at a time and
let it drop in front of the fan, the dust blows
downwind and the chunks stay in the sifter.
The neighbors will love your ***.

Lot of work for something that's like $5 for a
50-pound bag though. Probably worth it if you
had bead or carbide or some other fancy medium.

Best thing you can do for a sandblaster is use a
big feed hose. I have a 3/4" ID heavy duty air hose
hard plumbed to the compressor with a 1" ball valve
that's good for the first 25 feet; after that I use
garden hose if I want to get further away. You
can get hose-to-NPT fittings to bring it back down
to whatever the blaster tank has. Avoid the 1/4"
hose and the quick-disconnect fittings, they are
major bottlenecks and you want high air flow and
business-end pressure.

Stock Sears blaster I got had a steel tip that
wore out quick; the alumina ones will last forever
with sand, but probably wear down over time if
you use carbide grit.

Tim98TA

iTrader: (7)

I think some people are missing the type of blaster you bought.
Here's the million $$ question. What size compressor do you have? If you have the normal 'shop' type compressor, your in for the long haul getting anything done. A blaster, depends on the tip size, uses alot of air. Not just pressure but cfm. The size blaster you have probably will require 40-60 cfm @90-100psi to operate correctly. This is going by either a 3/16" or 1/4" tip size, which your blaster probably came with. If so, also don't uses anything heavier than the 'play' sand or a #4 grit blast sand. You will be stopping often to unclog your tip. DO NOT even try to resuse the sand. More trouble than it's worth.

ss rally red

iTrader: (8)

Tim uses one of these to polish his head.

cudaeh

iTrader: (2)

its a 20 gallon 65 to 125 psi operating pressure sand blaster made by clarke. not to sure of the tip size, but it is ceramic. I have a 30 gallon 6 horse compreser with the sand blaster tip open and the compreser running the sand blaster never dips under 75 psi.We are going to experiment on my friends feiro engine cradle. We will see how that works, and see if the tip holds up. Thanks for the comments about the play sand VS the beads!

Tim98TA

iTrader: (7)

Well if that's the case and that is the pressure you are holding, I am willing to bet you have a 3/16" tip. With that size tip, you will pretty much be forced to use the play sand, or even finer, because of the size of the tip.

Tim98TA

iTrader: (7)

ss menstrual red, SFTU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cudaeh

iTrader: (2)

it came with a couple other ones is there a rule of thumb for tip size vs media size?

jimmyblue

iTrader: (11)

Definitely larger than 2X mesh

Tim98TA

iTrader: (7)

The rule of thumb is not really for the media size but the cfm & tip size combo. The combo of those will determine the amount of media the rig uses. The more cfm you are able to use, the higher the consumption, but better results, of media. We used to handle rigs from 100lb machines to 2ton bulk units. We normally used no less than a 60-75cfm compressors for the small rigs with 1/4" tips, and up to 1600cfm compressors for the bulk units. Course those were set up for dual outlets and 3/8" tips on 100' blast hoses, and 1 1/2" air supply hoses.

Get Shorty

Can't you get "silcosis" (sp?) from blasting with normal sand? Or is it OK when you're outside?

Tim98TA

iTrader: (7)

You can really only get silicosis if you blast all day everyday for SEVERAL years. Very rare disease nowadays with the breathing equipment avaliable. Blasting with an observers hood(non air fed) is OK to do if you only blast every so often.

Windy City

Do you have a Menards around you? They carry blasting media called Black Magic that's like a few dollars for a 50 lb bag and works great.

cudaeh

iTrader: (2)

no not around me but i am making a trip out to kalamazoo (to visit the girl firend) and she has one by her. thank you for the tip ill check it out.

ta12sec

iTrader: (3)

Cuda did you try mound road industrial? at 19/mound by 7-11