media blaster question

Got mine at harbor freight, money well spent, but you need to keep the damn water out.

Get a small shop vac to hook up to it, keeps the dust down so you can see.
 
Let's say I go with one of these:

http://www.harborfreight.com/abrasive-blast-cabinet-68893.html

and then pick up a shop vacuum that I can pipe to outside of the garage with an extra long hose (so the dust is drawn OUTSIDE of my work space). (YES, I ADMIT I DON'T CURRENTLY OWN A SHOP VAC). MikeK mentioned 3X the air flow (which I assume is a function of the shop vac) and other folks mentioned the potential need for extra air.

What size compressor would I want? (YES, I ADMIT I DON'T CURRENTLY OWN A COMPRESSOR).

Thanks, Seth
 
sethkestenbaum said:
What size compressor would I want? (YES, I ADMIT I DON'T CURRENTLY OWN A COMPRESSOR).

Thanks, Seth
Click to expand...

Look for the biggest you can afford, and then get a bigger one.

Air compressors are rated in CFM (cubic feet per minute). Air tools are rated for the CFM they require. Blast cabinets are rarely rated, and consume a large amount of air.

If the air compressor ain't up to the job, the air pressure drops and your blasting ability decreases. So normally you learn real quick how long you can blast and to wait for the compressor to build back up. For a home once in a while blasting setup this is not bad. I have a larger Devilbis and was surprised that it cannot keep up with my bench top blast cabinet.

On a side note, glass bead is great for stripping the finish off of wood. Slow and low, no erosion of the wood.
 
I bought this bead blast cabinet from TP Tools a couple years ago. I got a large ona....will hold up to 70" or something like that. I LOVE it. I do not know how I managed all those years with one. I got some attachments which are great too. I got the roller thing you can put wheels on when you clean them, a metal basket that you can put bolts nuts and other small parts in to clean. I also bought the ******** that fits on the sloped tank that contains the media. It shakes the media down to the suction hole real well. There are only two things about it I didn't like. One, the door latch is a piece of ****...broke right away. I just use a small c clamp vice grip....works perfect. The other thing I didn't like was their vacuum exhaust system. Although it worked ok and kept dust out of the shop, the filter clogs up easily and I was forever taking it apart and cleaning it. P.I.T.A. So, I stopped at Grainger (one of my favorite stores) and bought a s medium size squirrel cage fan for around $65. The motor was sealed from the fan. I put a clothes dryer vent om the outside wall of my shop and plumbed the exhaust thru the fan and out the vent. It works PERFECT. Turns on with same switch that turned on vacuum and ********.

Highly recommend the TP Tools machine. Tips last long time. I buy my normal use glass beads at Northern Tool 50 lb bag for $9. Have finer in bucket if needed....Also walnut shells for wood or very fine work. Easy to interchange back and forth and store in sealed bucket.

Here are some pics.
 

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When picking out a cabinet, try and buy one with side door as well as front lift door. You can then construct an extension either of wood or sheet metal and attach it to your cabinet for longer items such as steering columns or axles. Cabinetsof 36 inch length seemto be the most available. Cabinets with a fluorescent fixture which shines from top also use a plastic sheet and needs changing at times.
 
Both of my cabinets also have the squirrel cage fan for the exhaust. My small Dayton cabinet is in the basement and exhausts into a large cloth bag. This works well, but some of the fine dust escapes the bag and cabinet. My large homemade cabinet is in the garage and exhausts to the outside. I made that cabinet so the 4 foot fluorescent light sets on top of a large clear panel. This way the light itself is outside the cabinet and safe from blasting.
 
For 25 years I had a two stage compressor, and it finally quit. I went shopping for a new compressor, and found that all 2 stage units had a 5 horse motor, and my shop cannot supply enough power for 5 horse, so I bought a 3 horse single stage unit from Lowes. I was suprised to find that it did better with the blast cabinet, and actually shuts off while blasting, while the old machine needed rest time. So CFM is more important than horse power.

My blaster is hooked to a vacuum that is upstairs in the barn, where I dont need to listen to it, and vents to the outside. It works for me.
 
I don't know which is worse to do, sandblasting, with all the (for me) preparations and mess or wire brushing with my huge and heavy old angle grinder with a 9" wire wheel. With the sand blasting, I do out on the cement pad on a dry day. No Cabinet! And the sand particles break down into a fine dust that gets in everywhere. It requires my compressor to run almost continually. The ceramic nozzles are long ago worn out and expensive to replace, so Turned them out of 1/2' S.S. rod. It works, not great, but it works. The Wire wheel is heavy and tiring and shoots loose wires all over, but I think it's faster than the sand. In Feb., I happened to brush my left knee and instantly ruined a good pair of pants and gouged about 1 1/2" of muscle and skin, maybe 1/4" deep into my upper leg. So, each method has it's pitfalls. The problem is, I'm not planning to do anymore cars after this. I'm just days away from my 71st birthday and restoring cars is just too much work, so I've tried to do everything in a cheap and dirty way, rather than build a full size blast room.
Terry
 
Why do you guys use glass instead of sand?

Because I am limitied with space...I buy the play sand from Repot Depot and sift it; because it has some larger pieces of sand that stop up the gun. Then I just go outside and blast all my parts and the sand goes into the grass/yard. I wear googles and a mask. I hang a bucket of sand in the tree, gravity feeding the line going down to the hopper on the gun. I modified this gun:

http://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html

Drilled out the hole from the hopper to the gun at max size, I think it was 1/4". Have a 6 HP air compressor.

Finally, I set up a high volume fan behind me to blow the sand, dust and mosquitos off me.

Pepe
 
PepeLoco said:
Why do you guys use glass instead of sand?

Because I am limitied with space...I buy the play sand from Repot Depot and sift it; because it has some larger pieces of sand that stop up the gun. Then I just go outside and blast all my parts and the sand goes into the grass/yard. I wear googles and a mask. I hang a bucket of sand in the tree, gravity feeding the line going down to the hopper on the gun. I modified this gun:

http://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html

Drilled out the hole from the hopper to the gun at max size, I think it was 1/4". Have a 6 HP air compressor.

Finally, I set up a high volume fan behind me to blow the sand, dust and mosquitos off me.

Pepe
Click to expand...

I quit using sand after the first bag. Silica sand is bad for your health, it breaks down too quickly, and it leaves such a cloud of dust in the cabinet that you can't see what you are blasting. I switched to Black Blast from Menards and have greatly increased productivity. It's faster, cleaner, and lasts longer. I just bought two more 50 pound bags yesterday from Menards, and the price has gone up to $10 a bag with tax. I knew the price would go up when the coal fired electrical plant in St Paul switched from coal to natural gas. Black Blast is made from coal clinkers, and the factoy is only a few miles from that power plant.
 
Tom, I think maybe the question involving "glass" wasn't referring to the coal slag that you'r talking about, but the ground glass "beads" that we used to use at the airport. It was actual glass and the cost then was about $35 a bag. I didn't like it because the glass dulled too quickly. it did an OK job.
Terry

Tom Wesenberg said:
I quit using sand after the first bag. Silica sand is bad for your health, it breaks down too quickly, and it leaves such a cloud of dust in the cabinet that you can't see what you are blasting. I switched to Black Blast from Menards and have greatly increased productivity. It's faster, cleaner, and lasts longer. I just bought two more 50 pound bags yesterday from Menards, and the price has gone up to $10 a bag with tax. I knew the price would go up when the coal fired electrical plant in St Paul switched from coal to natural gas. Black Blast is made from coal clinkers, and the factoy is only a few miles from that power plant.
Click to expand...
 
After a gazillion hours with my bead booth.

I lucked into a 1946 vintage compressor (still made today) with a 60's Ajax real 5HP (take 22amps at 220V). Paid $300 from craigslist. The caps on top the cylinder were loose and leaky so it was not putting out enough air. Catches up with by TP Tools booth so it makes plenty of air.

As mentioned. Do not bother with ceramic nozzles- a complete waste. Get carbide.

The older vacuums for the TP cabinets had the motor exposed to the dust at the one end. The bearing will go bad. If you put the HEPA conversion kit it will prevent it from happening.

I added an extra light. You can never have enough light in there. You would be surprised at how many places you miss when the inner glass protector is a little hazy and you do not have the light right.

Get plenty of extra glass protectors.

I have a 960 cabinet. A decent size, but some parts do not fit. I drilled a 3/4" hole in the door so I could do brake rods. At one time I did a temp card board extender with some duct tape for a part.

I am tall and added a 10 box on the bottom so it is more comfy.

Recycled glass is a decent cut. You will find you need different stuff depending.

You can cut down the time in the booth with electrolytic rust removal for some parts like wheels or heavy rust removal. This saves electric too.
 
Home Shop;

How much room do you have?
How much money do you have to spend?
How much will you use it?

You can build a water trap out of a 5 gal bucket for the dust.
How much can you sell it for when your done?
 
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