sand blasters?
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 32,987
Likes: 58
From: Houston, TX
sand blasters? If I buy an air compressor, what would I need to have a sand blaster that works with it? I'm not looking for a cabinet, I would just blast over a tarp and reuse the grit that is caught in the tarp. Are there any good kits for this?
Tony
Tony
Re: sand blasters? I will say that I think the Harbor Freight 40-lb sand blaster SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.
I bought one. Used it once. Didn't work worth a crap. I bought good sand (beads) to use with it too. Fresh & dry. It just didn't work well at all.
-Andrew
I bought one. Used it once. Didn't work worth a crap. I bought good sand (beads) to use with it too. Fresh & dry. It just didn't work well at all.
-Andrew
Re: sand blasters? For small work, a little paint-pot type blaster
will do well enough (and not be a total air hog).
You need a monster industrial compressor to do
big panels fast. For the home shop, you're way
ahead using a rotating tool (like angle grinder
with sanding disc or wire wheel) for anything
flat and saving the sandblaster for the detail /
reliefs that a flat tool can't touch.
I built myself a pretty good 'blaster by following
the pictures in the Eastwood catalog, using an old
dead compressor tank as the hopper and pressurizing
it, and using a garden hose-sized bottom air line
(the pressurized tank with regulator to control
sand feed). I could blow down my old monster tank
in a minute and then have to wait several for it
to get back to pressure. Sand blasting is all
about airflow.
I stripped off the hardware and tossed the tank
last year after not having used it in three, and
the wheels rusted off. Hard to wrestle around
80lb of sand and 40lb of iron without wheels,
and my days of wanting to do blasting and Bondo
are pretty much behind me. Still have the paint-
pot gun and a Sears mini-hopper-portable one,
for small jobs.
Sand recycling: I always just used "play sand"
by the bag from Home Depot. Sand gets full of
whatever you removed with it. I used an inclined
screen with a cross-blowing fan, to sift the big
chunks and blow away the lightweight paint/rust/
too-fine sand as it fell. A lot of work to reclaim
a $3 bag of sand, a lot of dust (better downwind
than in the blast stream though).
will do well enough (and not be a total air hog).
You need a monster industrial compressor to do
big panels fast. For the home shop, you're way
ahead using a rotating tool (like angle grinder
with sanding disc or wire wheel) for anything
flat and saving the sandblaster for the detail /
reliefs that a flat tool can't touch.
I built myself a pretty good 'blaster by following
the pictures in the Eastwood catalog, using an old
dead compressor tank as the hopper and pressurizing
it, and using a garden hose-sized bottom air line
(the pressurized tank with regulator to control
sand feed). I could blow down my old monster tank
in a minute and then have to wait several for it
to get back to pressure. Sand blasting is all
about airflow.
I stripped off the hardware and tossed the tank
last year after not having used it in three, and
the wheels rusted off. Hard to wrestle around
80lb of sand and 40lb of iron without wheels,
and my days of wanting to do blasting and Bondo
are pretty much behind me. Still have the paint-
pot gun and a Sears mini-hopper-portable one,
for small jobs.
Sand recycling: I always just used "play sand"
by the bag from Home Depot. Sand gets full of
whatever you removed with it. I used an inclined
screen with a cross-blowing fan, to sift the big
chunks and blow away the lightweight paint/rust/
too-fine sand as it fell. A lot of work to reclaim
a $3 bag of sand, a lot of dust (better downwind
than in the blast stream though).
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 32,987
Likes: 58
From: Houston, TX
Re: sand blasters? I'd be using this sandblaster to restore some of the original parts under the hood of the 69 Camaro, as well as the suspension components and the 12-bolt axle housing. All of them have some level of surface rust and/or pitting. After I blast the parts, I'll be painting them with POR-15.
Tony
Tony
TECH Fanatic
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 1,684
Likes: 0
From: Yarmouth, MA
Re: sand blasters? I have one, like 10 yrs old. works awesome. Was from TP (the cabinet guys) they used to sell them. I got a catalog recently and they aren't in there anymore. As long as its a pressurized one. and holds about 50 lbs. you'll be ok. Its really all in the adjustment of air and sand flow.
Adkoonerstrator
iTrader: (4)
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 21,420
Likes: 0
From: Deep in the seedy underworld of Koonerville
Re: sand blasters? Tony - Make sure you get a good water trap for your compressor. If not condensation will really start to irritate you while you're trying to sand blast. 
Just get the home depot play sand like Jimmy said. You have to dump it outta the bag and let it dry out most of the time but, it's cheap and easy to get. Trying to reuse old sand gets boring real quick.
John
Just get the home depot play sand like Jimmy said. You have to dump it outta the bag and let it dry out most of the time but, it's cheap and easy to get. Trying to reuse old sand gets boring real quick.
John
Launching!
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 271
Likes: 0
From: Wilmington DE
Re: sand blasters? Tony,
If you only have a few things, I would consider an angle grinder and a nice wire brush. I bought a DeWalt and a brush to do the rear when I put it in my Monte. It didn't take too long and I was able to strip it down to bare metal without much trouble. If you have a vice to put smaller parts in, you could use that to hold things while using the brush. Plus the angle grider can be used for lots of other stuff. Just a thought.
Jim
If you only have a few things, I would consider an angle grinder and a nice wire brush. I bought a DeWalt and a brush to do the rear when I put it in my Monte. It didn't take too long and I was able to strip it down to bare metal without much trouble. If you have a vice to put smaller parts in, you could use that to hold things while using the brush. Plus the angle grider can be used for lots of other stuff. Just a thought.
Jim
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TECH Regular
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 472
Likes: 0
From: Fort Gordon, GA
Re: sand blasters? One thing you may want to consider before you start all of this, is what grain of sand are you planning on using for your application? Numbers 3 or 4 will be hard to pull through a small setup but are the grains you would most likely need to do suspension parts to cut through rust. If you use #5 on those you will be using ALOT of sand to cut through the rough stuff. Can give you some info on some homeade setup if you like, just shoot me an email. Pops has a couple different blasters, try sandblasting and painting a rodeo arena. Umm that sucked
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