I want to get a sand blaster for general light duty stuff. Some auto clean up of rust and stuff like de-painting medium sized objects. Old tool clean-up. Maybe some glass etching. Maybe later get a small blast cabinet.
Nuthing like needing a towable compressor. I have a twostage 10 HP 50 gallon Comp. that can hit 175 psi ( I think, I never had it up that high on the tool sid eof the regulater). Dunno what the CFM maxes out at.
Harbor Freight has a decent sized unit, for under 100 bucks, BUT, I am leary of some things from them, and this is one of those things I don’t want hassels with. It may be used for a few hours straight, then sit for months.
Any suggestions or exp. with that HF stuff?
TIA…
“you are dead a lot longer than you are alive”
Noah Aaron MacKenzie, 1990.
Replies
I bought it to do a few auto projects. It actually works pretty well, the components are obviously cheap castings, but it works perfectly fine.
I saw one on spike tv saturday, you take a pressure washer and a special nozzle and it pump sand and water at the same time, reducing all the safety equipment and dust.
.
Most hated person on the net
I've got one. Ran a few thousand pounds of sand through it with no more compressor than you have. I buy used bar joists when I find them. Always rusty.
Your compressor cfm goes way up when you turn down the pressure. That's what you need for sand blasting.
The HF nozzle valve is a POS but other than that, works OK. I use the lower valve, that lets sand out of the tank and eliminated the nozzle valve. Get lots of ceramic nozzles, they don't last long.
Guess you know about the importance of a serious respirator if you're thinking sand. Especially for a smoker.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Yeah, resp. AND a hood type face shield is on the list too. And gloves.I have a cermic nozzle in the shop. I found the pink taperd one makes a handy gouge hone. Sounds like so far, everyone is on the same page as to whether it is a usable blaster."you are dead a lot longer than you are alive"Noah Aaron MacKenzie, 1990.
Yeah, I'm still using the HF hood. Polish the face plate occasionally. TIP sells what's probably a great nozzle valve, but it costs as much as the whole HF unit. The "pressurized" part of the HF unit works just fine once you learn to adjust the outlet valve.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Sphere, your compresser is plenty big, make sure you have a good water seperator or you will clog up the sand inside of blaster. Check out a co. T.I.P. (?) they adv. in Hemmingings Motor News (the bible of old cars and parts). I would look for a unit that would hold a full bag of sand and one that had an easy fill, that did-not need a funnel to fill, 90# bags of sand are heavy. David W
Thanks, my air is dry, I spray lacquer with tha same comp.Don't know fer sure if I'll use glass bead, sand, or alum.Oxide. I guess eventually all 3.I just saw a 50lb unit I think in Northern Hyd. catalogue that might fit my needs..looks just like HF model but about 10 bucks more, plus shipping. Next time I am up near HF, I'll just get thiers.Thanks all again. I'll keep ya's informed."you are dead a lot longer than you are alive"Noah Aaron MacKenzie, 1990.
another vote for the tip brand, i have a 100lb pot 20 years old that i used to restore old cars,still works good. as far a s dry air goes it has to be dryer than air for paint. it acummaltes in the bottom and plugs up. larryhand me the chainsaw, i need to trim the casing just a hair.
Well, I wasn't close enough to HF all week, so I hit a tractor supply, and scored a Clarke 10 gallon..not just a gavity feed, but pressure tank with a water seperater.
I also got 3 spare nozzels ( wrong ones, duh) and 2 50lb bags of Black diamond abrasive. I got it home and was getting it all assembled and stuff and finally went at it...CLOG. Ok, clean it out. CLOG. Try to find the bigger nozzle, it came with 4 sizes...DOH, the biggest is alrady in it ( this is about where I find out the others I got won't fit)..
READ the instructions ( first time for ecverything right?)...Says 80 grit MAX...I go and look at the empty bag and sure enough I got the wrong stuff too..it says 20/40 ...Hmmm?
So, can/should I go with a bigger than 3.5MM nozzle ( if available) or dump the grit and go with 80? Grit was 6 bucks a bag, no big deal.
I want to get it all tomorrow on the way home, so I don't have to head back out SAturday..which option should I take?