Need help with sandblasting

I have a 48 inch sandblast cabinet.

It has a gun with about 3/16" opening and pretty fine sand inside.

The sand always was pretty dry to the touch.

However, the gun would always choke on the sand and spit/pulsate, instead of steadily delivering blasting media.

Then at some point, a mistaken individual added large size blasting media that mixed with the sand and would completely choke the sucking tube every time.

So, at this point I realize that I need help. I need to select or buy a proper gun, proper tube, and proper sand blasting media. I do not mind spending the money, I want this system to work.

The typical application would be removing paint and rust from an access panel, for instance.

I have a 10 HP compressor.

Would someone point me towards some resources on what media to select with what gun, etc.

Thanks a lot

i
Reply to
Ignoramus27493
Loading thread data ...

"Ignoramus27493" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com...

I have a 48 inch sandblast cabinet.

It has a gun with about 3/16" opening and pretty fine sand inside.

The sand always was pretty dry to the touch.

However, the gun would always choke on the sand and spit/pulsate, instead of steadily delivering blasting media.

Then at some point, a mistaken individual added large size blasting media that mixed with the sand and would completely choke the sucking tube every time.

So, at this point I realize that I need help. I need to select or buy a proper gun, proper tube, and proper sand blasting media. I do not mind spending the money, I want this system to work.

The typical application would be removing paint and rust from an access panel, for instance.

I have a 10 HP compressor.

Would someone point me towards some resources on what media to select with what gun, etc.

Thanks a lot

i =============================================================================

Go to

formatting link
search for blasting media, and click on catalog page (page 2685). They have a nice summary of the different kinds of media and what they are good for. They aren't the cheapest place to buy from, but they have a good catalog :-). We did mostly tig weld cleanup and making the finish pretty on stainless steel, but some rusty painted mild steel and a bit of aluminum. We used mostly glass beads in the 60-80 mesh range, with a pressure regulator set to about 65-70 psi. More aggressive media like aluminum oxide will cut faster and leave a rougher finish behind, and will chew into aluminum, so I'd start with what we used. You will need a 50 lb bag (or 5 gal bucket) to fill your cabinet, after you drain out all the old stuff. You can always empty the cabinet, charge with different media, and then drain that and swap back, so it's not that expensive to experiment. Just keep some clean 5 gallon buckets with lids to store the media you aren't using. With a 10 hp compressor you will probably want a 1/8" jet and

1/4" nozzle. The jet is inside the gun where the suction tube enters from the side, and the nozzle is the tip where the media comes out. The jet will get worn away on the side facing the suction tube. You can rotate it a few times to expose fresh surfaces, it will still work so long as the end is still square. The worst I saw looked like the whole end was cut at a 45 degree angle, and it still worked but the new one was clearly better when I put it in. I think these are usually carbon steel, hardened. We made a few of our own jets and nozzles from 1045 and quenched into oil from orange heat, but we were more playing than anything. The entire inside of the nozzle will wear away, and as it does it allows more air to pass through and lowers the blast velocity. You can wear all the way through but it takes a while, and you want to change it when the inside is maybe no more than 1/16" oversize. These can be ceramic, which lasts pretty well, or carbide which lasts a long time and costs a lot more. We had a 7.5 hp compressor that would never cycle but would keep the pressure up, using a 1/8" jet and 1/4" nozzle, so start there and let the compressor rest every 15-30 minutes while blasting. Go to the next page after the media at mcmster and you can see what they get for replacement parts. You can get cheaper stuff from Eastwood, and all the usual suppliers like mcmaster, msc, and grainger carry this stuff so shop around. If you are cleaning stainless steel and really care about it not rusting you must use iron free media, so new stuff that has never been used on carbon steel or cast iron or you will embed tiny bits of steel into the surface that will rust and cause pits. The only way I finally got people to stop using the blast cabinet on weekends for their rusty car parts was to scrounge a second cabinet and get it working for all the nasty stuff. Didn't stop everyone but did cut down the rusting on our stainless water tanks in the field, sigh. Oh, sometimes you will get pulsating flow like you saw. There should be a rubber hose on the suction port on the gun, and a straight piece of metal tube on the other end that you shove down into the media. If you cover the gun outlet with your glove and blip the air valve you can backflush this tube and sort of fluff and resettle the media, which can help. If you have to, you can drill a 1/16" or slightly larger hole right where the rubber hose ends on the metal tube. This will suck in a bit of air and can stabilize the suction and media flow, and you can tune it a bit by covering none, some, or all of the hole with the rubber tubing. Keep the cabinet closed whenever you aren't using it, to keep the media as dry as possible. Make sure your takeoff port on your building air line points up, so no water in the line can get to the cabinet. I added a combination filter, regulator, and automatic drain water separator to our cabinet that helped a good deal. Good luck.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Reply to
Carl Ijames

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.