Do I need a sandblaster?

You're on the right track where improving surface condition of materials is concerned. Sand and bead blasting can leave very nice patinas, depending on the media chosen and the pressure at which they are applied. In reality, you'd need a few different medias to accomplish a wide variety of finishing. Some are even non-destructive, such as walnut shell blasting.

There are a couple considerations for you. One is the size of the cabinet. If you buy a small one you're going to find it is too small unless you are restricted to model type work. My cabinet will accommodate an item that is 26" long and I consider the cabinet too small for many of the things that I'd like to blast. While pieces may fit inside the cabinet, it isn't always easy to blast them end to end, even when turning them over and end for end. As items get longer and wider it gets more difficult to access them with the gun.

The second thing for you to consider is the amount of air you'll need. I run a Quincy compressor, two stage, rated at 19.3 cfm @ 175 PSI. My cabinet can keep the compressor running almost continually. If you are desirous of blasting an item without interruption until it is finished, you might give the size of compressor you'll need considerable thought.

There are economical ways to get around some of the issues. You can build your own cabinet if you have any welding capabilities, and use a squirrel cage blower to evacuate the dust from the cabinet instead of using a vacuum cleaner. I have used both systems and prefer the squirrel cage blower by far over the vacuum cleaner system. Your circumstances may prevent going that direction, however, so give that some thought before making a decision. I live out in the country with no immediate neighbors so the dust is not a problem. The vacuum systems are intended to be used with inside discharge, but I found the filtering system way too restrictive and time consuming.

I strongly encourage you to get the setup. You'll be surprised at how much you'll use it if you have it.

Hope this helps~

Harold

Harold has covered a lot of the finer issues associated with a blasting cabinet, so what I'll say is YES, YES, HELL YES, get a cabinet. If you are into any type of refurbishing activity, It will be the best money you will ever spend. Using glass beads, I use mine for everything from mill scale to cleaning .014 carburetor jets and emulsion tubes for motorcycles. Aluminum oxide for heavier rust and such. There are 2 cabinets, one is 32" wide, and the other is 48" wide. Both have dust extraction systems with bag filters. A pair of 5 hp compressors drive the units, to insure continuous use. A 2 hp is on standby if needed. Side money can be made by blasting things for other people, such as aluminum intake manifolds and such. ($15 bucks, 15 minutes) One cardinal rule......Items must be dry and oil free, or you'll clog your system.

RJ

The Hurdy Gurdy Man wrote in news:0u8Mb.4461$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrddc03.gnilink.net:

Yup, they are great. I had a Harbor Freight unit, was on sale for $219 locally, not sure I would get a smaller one than that. Drawbacks, the lighting in the cabinet is poor. You will want dust collection. Resist the temptation to hook up your shop vac to it, while it will work, it will most likely destroy your shop vac in short order. The gun was ok until the potmetal casting broke where the pickup hose hooked up to it.

Harold is right on, COMPRESSOR, BIG COMPRESSOR!, when I first got mine and used it, I was in love, until I found my little compressor wouldn't keep up. I got a two stage DeVilbiss and it does run a lot but I can keep blasting. I since upgraded and refurbished a nicer commercial cabinet.

I like it a lot. Its big enough to do *most* of what I want to do.

Marty

I've been lurking here for a while and I would just like to add one comment. I wouldn't allow anyone to use a blast cabinet for doing intake manifolds. When I was working as a mechanic we let a fellow use the cabinet to do an intake manifold and he didn't clean it properly and the glass beads destroyed the engine. Naturally he blamed us.

If you do bead blast an intake manifold it needs to be cleaned several times with hot soapy water. Cleaning with solvent, as in a parts washer, won't work.

Just my .02. I should just add I think this is the best group on the internet, I've learned a lot while lurking. Can't wait to get into my new shop and start making chips again.

Regards

Bill

Backlash ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) wrote: : Harold has covered a lot of the finer issues associated with a blasting : cabinet, so what I'll say is YES, YES, HELL YES, get a cabinet. If you are : into any type of refurbishing activity, It will be the best money you will : ever spend. Using glass beads, I use mine for everything from mill scale to : cleaning .014 carburetor jets and emulsion tubes for motorcycles. Aluminum : oxide for heavier rust and such. There are 2 cabinets, one is 32" wide, and : the other is 48" wide. Both have dust extraction systems with bag filters. A : pair of 5 hp compressors drive the units, to insure continuous use. A 2 hp : is on standby if needed. Side money can be made by blasting things for other : people, such as aluminum intake manifolds and such. ($15 bucks, 15 minutes) : One cardinal rule......Items must be dry and oil free, or you'll clog your : system.

: RJ

: > > I've been thinking about purchasing a small and inexpensive (Harbor : > > Freight, to be precise) sandblasting cabinet but as I've never used a : > > sandblaster I'm wondering if it'd really be what I'm hoping. It : probably : > > wouldn't see so much rust removal duties as it would the removal of mill : > > scale from hot rolled steel items like angle iron and flats, but I was : > > hoping it could also be used to achieve nice matte finishes on steels, : > > aluminum, and plastics depending on the abrasive used. Traditionally I : > > rely heavily on things like wet-dry sandpaper and those abrasive plastic : > > Brillo-esque pads on the end of an angle grinder, but it seems like a : > > sandblaster would be more efficient and do a better, more uniform job. : Is : > > this going to be the case? Or am I really going to be asking too much : of : > > a Harbor Freight sandblasting setup? I suppose I could get one : someplace : > > else instead, but money's tight and I'm not planning on using the : > > equipment too heavily anyhow. Would this sort of device do the job, or : > > should I be looking to other methods? : >

: > You're on the right track where improving surface condition of materials : is : > concerned. Sand and bead blasting can leave very nice patinas, depending : > on the media chosen and the pressure at which they are applied. In : reality, : > you'd need a few different medias to accomplish a wide variety of : finishing. : > Some are even non-destructive, such as walnut shell blasting. : >

: > There are a couple considerations for you. One is the size of the : > cabinet. If you buy a small one you're going to find it is too small : unless : > you are restricted to model type work. My cabinet will accommodate an : item : > that is 26" long and I consider the cabinet too small for many of the : things : > that I'd like to blast. While pieces may fit inside the cabinet, it : isn't : > always easy to blast them end to end, even when turning them over and end : > for end. As items get longer and wider it gets more difficult to access : > them with the gun. : >

: > The second thing for you to consider is the amount of air you'll need. : I : > run a Quincy compressor, two stage, rated at 19.3 cfm @ 175 PSI. My : > cabinet can keep the compressor running almost continually. If you are : > desirous of blasting an item without interruption until it is finished, : you : > might give the size of compressor you'll need considerable thought. : >

: > There are economical ways to get around some of the issues. You can : build : > your own cabinet if you have any welding capabilities, and use a squirrel : > cage blower to evacuate the dust from the cabinet instead of using a : vacuum : > cleaner. I have used both systems and prefer the squirrel cage blower by : > far over the vacuum cleaner system. Your circumstances may prevent going : > that direction, however, so give that some thought before making a : decision. : > I live out in the country with no immediate neighbors so the dust is not a : > problem. The vacuum systems are intended to be used with inside : discharge, : > but I found the filtering system way too restrictive and time consuming. : >

: > I strongly encourage you to get the setup. You'll be surprised at how : much : > you'll use it if you have it. : >

: > Hope this helps~ : >

: > Harold : >

: >

-- William Cavers Department of Engineering Mathematics Dalhousie University Halifax, NS (902) 494-6120

Bill, you are very correct in your observations, a secondary cleaning operation is needed on certain items. Tapped bolt holes must be cleaned out, along with external bolt threads, or severe galling will occur upon installation of the fasteners. Glass beads are so fine that a visual inspection will not do it. I use cylindrical brushes, liquids, and air to clean threads, and quite often, run a tap through, just to be sure.

RJ

Traditionally I

do you have a big compressor??? thats what will control the flow of the sand for the sandblaster.. i have a 1 hp craftsman compressor and attached a pistol type caninster sand blaster to it and it was useless for anything other than beating me back in the face with sand( i tried two types of sand, med. and fine grade, no luck with even getting paint off the car in the rusted area.. just went back to a wire brush...

Lots of great comments, more experience than mine.

I have a small (24"?) plastic glass bead blast cabinet and a large (38") steel sand blast cabinet and find that to be a decent mix. The 38" is OK but it has an end door and for the same space I would buy the lift-top style to do again.

I have read you can't use regular blast grit in a plastic cabinet as it will eat the cabinet quickly.

My compressor is a light duty C-H 5 hp rated 17 CFM but it warns to not run it over 50% duty cycle. I would not have bought it if that was noted on the crate not just the fine print inside, but that was ~ 8 years ago and it is still OK.

It will take longer than you think to clean up a cheap hot rolled angle by blasting alone.

On the topic of dust collection. IMO, forget about the dust collectors that come with the affordable units. In a small shop the shop-vac types will kill you with fine dust. IMO the only kind you can discharge into the air right next to you, and your fine machine tools ways, is a multistage type like a cyclone with a large-surface pleated filter.

My last setup was in the woods with no neighbors so I ran it into a woodshop cyclone dust collector, the cyclone caught maybe 99% of the dust and the air and remaining fine dust was dumped outside behind the shop, where I never saw a trace of it on the ground or on any surface.

I had some luck with a large shop vac with a HEPA filter. Wouldn't use anything less discharging indoors. In my new setup I will use the cyclone dust collector again and want it to discharge back into the shop, but have not decided through what kind of filter media.

Bob

Ditto to what Harold and Backlash said. People will expect to bring you some foul piece of shit that is filthy and/or greasy and expect that you will happily "clean it up" in YOUR cabinet. And they'll expect you'll be glad to do it in YOUR cabinet for nothing or the occasional 6-pak. Nip that behaviour in the bud. Or go ahead and do it for them if YOU like to clean YOUR cabinet.

michael

Backlash wrote:

I have two blast cabinents in my shop, one with 60 grit aluminum oxide, the other with glassbeads. They have turned out to be the most usefull equipment in the entire shop. Second most usefull is my 1X42 belt sander!

Nice job on the cabinet Marty, I always marvel at how you can take what appears to be the worlds biggest POS and make it into something worth having.

FWIW, the compressor I now have I was able to buy because of somebody else's purchase of a blast cabinet. Nicely done home built unit, 120 gallon tank, smallish 2 stage pump(Champion??), and a REAL 3hp motor. The seller claimed it wouldn't keep up with his blast cabinet. The mistake the guy made was that he had the compressor that was rated for

900rpm running only about 300rpm, just barely above the unloader valve govoner speed. I re-pully'd the setup so the pump now runs at about 800rpm, keeps up with my HF blast cabinet just fine especially if I don't try to run at 120psi. The compressor is set to shut off at 120psi, recycles the 120gal tank from 90psi 3 times faster than my 2hp 20 gallon CH unit.

Tom

Tom wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@cedar-rapids.net:

Thanks Tom, I hope that it serves as inspiration. It takes patience and perseverance. I try and make sure the iron I am starting with is worth the effort. But its also fun....

Marty

That might be the hard part for me then... I have a fairly small compressor, it was about the best one I could find in the 110v range at the time since that's all I had available in the garage. I've got 220 out there now (and more money than I had back then, too) and I suppose I could step up to something large if I had to, but I don't mind having to take a break between blasting bursts if I have to. That's how I do it now... extended air tool use just means I have to take breaks, which I should be doing anyhow. I worry that what I have would be just plain too small from the get-go, it's a DeVilbiss 125psi unit rated at 11.9cfm. I tend to buy air tools rated as being quite thrifty with their air usage, but even they tend to require breaks now and again especially when using die grinders and cutoff wheels.

No fear about people wanting to borrow usage of the cabinet, though. I'm a cantankerous hermit, and people tend to avoid me! Oh sure, it gets lonely, but I save lots of time on showering that way.

One thing about the dust extraction, as I hadn't considered that... I can't discharge it into the outside air, that'd be a problem. I do however have a good sized shop vac with a HEPA filter, plus I always use vacuum bags with it as well. Does that seem like a sufficient method of handling it? The bags seem to capture most of anything particularly troublesome, and the HEPA filter would definitely capture the rest without clogging up too quickly. That would be the fastest method of handling the situation for my current setup.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions, it sounds like a blasting cabinet might be the next ideal purchase for my ever growing garage!

[posted and mailed]

The Hurdy Gurdy Man wrote in news:iIvMb.143$ snipped-for-privacy@nwrddc02.gnilink.net:

Not all is lost, go to TP Tools and check out their offerings. Merely get a small nozzle and air jet. Size according to your compressor.

I *think* even the Harbor Freight units come with a small variety of tips?