Sand Blaster Suggestions?? (1 that works)

gr8vet

gr8vet

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Hey guys,

I spend more time trying to get the dang thing to work than I do sand blasting! I have one of the small 10 gal pressurized units that is great until it stops feeding material, then it is too much or not enough. Kick, shake, beat, cuss, cuss some more, etc.

Have a cabinet, wondering if one of those gravity feed units may be better. What ya'll using? Brands?

Thanks in advance.

tt
 
I have a pressure blaster I bought from Harbor Freight several years ago. I think it hold around 100lb. It works great. I had nothing but problems with my old siphon blaster and when it did work it was slow.

Biggest problem with a sand blaster moister. You MUST keep you sand dry. Do you have a good moister trap on your air compressor and do you drain the moister from you compressor regularly?
 
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Is your unit a gravity feed type?

I normally just use glass beads and the HF blast media, not sand.

Fortunately I use the same air system from my print shop. High $ IR Compressor, air dryer, filter setup.

Thanks for the input, may have to try one of those.

BTW, where do you normally get sand?

tt
 
I normally buy my sand at Menards. The stuff I get is called something like black magnum. It comes in a clear plastic back and is black in color like the name says. It is a little more aggressive then other sand I have tried and way more aggressive then glass. I run glass in my cabinet blaster. The media that you are using may be the problem if it has moister in it.

The blaster I have is very similar to this one. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=95014 Mine just has a normal ball valve were this one has a deadman valve.

Were is yours plugging, up by the plugging at the valve or tip or down at your bottom valve? If right at the tip is it possible you are running to small of a tip?

Sounds like you are sitting much better than me on air.
 
I bought a $100 HarborFreight benchtop. It really is a POS without ventilation, siphon feed, it's slow and leaks..... I only use it outside so the dust doesn't really bother me... I got my money out of it, blasted my trailing arms and brake calipers... I'll blast another pair of trailing arms then probably put it on Craigslist for $50..... :trumpet:
 
I had one like that laying around unused and gave it away about 2 weeks ago.

Here is about the minimum you need to work right at a good price.
http://performancetoolcenter.com/sb9007.html

I have a Trinco pressure feed cabinet, really fast. Pressure is better than gravity, but you have to have the foot control and a good gun.
Sand is about the worst abrasive to use. I use a product by Dupont, cheap and never clogs, available in 3 different grits.
 
010752 said:
I had one like that laying around unused and gave it away about 2 weeks ago.

Here is about the minimum you need to work right at a good price.
http://performancetoolcenter.com/sb9007.html

I have a Trinco pressure feed cabinet, really fast. Pressure is better than gravity, but you have to have the foot control and a good gun.
Sand is about the worst abrasive to use. I use a product by Dupont, cheap and never clogs, available in 3 different grits.
Click to expand...

That one is identical to the one i posted,except it's red,probably made by the same company.
 
Fuelie74 said:
I normally buy my sand at Menards. The stuff I get is called something like black magnum. It comes in a clear plastic back and is black in color like the name says. It is a little more aggressive then other sand I have tried and way more aggressive then glass.
Click to expand...

Sounds like "copper slag." We have used that on job sites. It is very aggressive, and does not bounce like sand.
 
kwplot34 said:
010752 said:
I had one like that laying around unused and gave it away about 2 weeks ago.

Here is about the minimum you need to work right at a good price.
http://performancetoolcenter.com/sb9007.html

I have a Trinco pressure feed cabinet, really fast. Pressure is better than gravity, but you have to have the foot control and a good gun.
Sand is about the worst abrasive to use. I use a product by Dupont, cheap and never clogs, available in 3 different grits.
Click to expand...

That one is identical to the one i posted,except it's red,probably made by the same company.
Click to expand...

Looks like you got a lot better price too, unless they made it up on shipping. :cool:



010752 said:
.......but you have to have the foot control and a good gun..........
Click to expand...

Correction:
Mine is set up for pressure or syphon, but the foot control is for syphon setup use, not pressure.
Also, a lot of people find that the deadman type gun with the hand lever that covers the end of the tip is a real pain to use. 1/4 ball valve is best for pressure system.

Neighor of mine has a alt/starter rebuild business and has several cabinets, 1 of them (automatic). He has a Trinco like mine also, set up just for syphon feed, He just walks over flips 1 switch for light/vacuum, puts the part in and an alternator case is done in less than a minute. His air, 10hp 3ph is hardpiped in.
 
Blast cabinets are great but you still need dry air. Moisture will make it clog like Fuelie mentioned. I did my frame with a 10 gal pot and it took two days because of the moisture. At times when it was working well, I bet I could have finished the frame in a few hours. If you're going to use a cabinet, I would use glass bead.
 
BB72 said:
Blast cabinets are great but you still need dry air. Moisture will make it clog like Fuelie mentioned. I did my frame with a 10 gal pot and it took two days because of the moisture. At times when it was working well, I bet I could have finished the frame in a few hours. If you're going to use a cabinet, I would use glass bead.
Click to expand...

YES! you do need dry air,but thats a simple easy fix,i have air/water/oil separator in line,and never a problem. I mostly use Scat Blast (glass) but i also have garnet and aluminum oxide for extra dirty parts.
 
I guess I must have it easy. I used to take stuff to work and bead blast it there on night shift and prime it when I got home. Some stuff was as large as a sway bar or diff crossmember.
 
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