Recommendations of a decent sand blaster

evintho · Dec 20, 2009

OK, I asked this question over on the HAMB and got the hot rodder's opinions. Now I need the tool guys opinions!
I need to sand blast the body and frame of my '27 roadster along with various parts from my drill press resto. I need recommendations on a decent sandblaster. Not a high end unit, just something that'll do what I need it to do without breaking the bank! I have a siphon unit which *****........literally! I have a hood and respirator along with a IR 5hp, 80 gal compressor. What'dya think about these chicom blasters?

90 lb Harbor Freight blaster

110 lb unit for $10 more

MalibuLX3 · Dec 20, 2009

I used that 110lbs. blaster. It was alright, but I've never used any other blaster to compare it to.

I did have to replace a few of the valves and the pressure gauge because the cheap ones were leaking air bad. It took care of what I needed it for though.

Just be prepared to have sand everywhere...and I mean EVERYWHERE.

JeepsAreBuilt · Dec 20, 2009

I would recommend staying with a siphon setup. The pressure stuff - the cheap ones, if they plug up, guess what ? You have to stop and tear it down and unplug it. Moisture or whatever.. it'll be a pita. I dont know how the high end pressure pot work out.

I bought this: http://www.tptools.com/p/2320,18_USA-Cabinet-Gun-Upgrade-Kit.html

And it does work ! I'm gonna make a sandblasting cabinet eventually. But you can sandblast without one and this kit works good. It looks just like the cheapo stuff - but it works daylights better

mossyboy6 · Dec 20, 2009

try to get a snap on used gun and run it into a bucket of media.

It does wonders.

As far as the pressure pot systems, they work pretty well if you have dry air.
But the nozzles on those suckers are tiny, so it will take a long time to blast a frame.

orange02ss · Dec 20, 2009

ALC makes some nice sand blasters, I have the 110 model.

Ricoch3T · Dec 21, 2009

I've used the harbor freight ones and now I have an ALC. If you need to do a lot of blasting buy the alc.. harbor freight works ok for small parts but I ALWAYS had a problem with it clogging.
The ALC runs all day if I use a good quality sand (or you can screen sand before it goes in)

Northern tool sells the ALC

shovel · Dec 21, 2009

I've got the HF 110 model. It is a POS, but it works well if you do the following: Use dry air, sift the sand (no big particles), throw the HF nozzle in the garbage and buy the ones on ebay (do a search, you will see the ones I'm talking about). After learning all this the hard way, the darn thing works pretty good. If I had a do-over, I would buy a Texas Blaster (google it!) They have the heavy duty hose made for sandblasting. Good sandblasting primer on their web site. Good luck!

John Timmins · Dec 21, 2009

I bought a blast cabinet similiar to the HF on line but the lamp is worse than HF !!!! It works well with my restoration of old Mercury outboard motors ( I use 100-170 glass bead media at 60 psi and there is no etching on the aluminum)

Doing it over again I would buy a little bit larger cabinet opening and would get a Barrel Blaster. It is a 55 gallon drum blast cabinet that the end door opens. Check it out. :thumbup:

For outside work big stuff, I use a siphon type open top media hopper. Go to an auto paint supply place and tell them you want to see a sandblast catalog. This thing looks like a bucket with legs and it comes with a hose and nozzle gun. I used to do jeep frame and big parts, blasting outdoors, using FINE sandblast media and leave the mess outside. I think this sandblast pot is about $100-125 max.

porschedude996TT · Dec 21, 2009

I have a Craftsman siphon feed that holds 50-60 pounds. I have used it for some time and always told myself that my next one would be a pressure feed unit. I have mostly run it with 80 grit sand and the siphon would always clog up at the line entrance in the hopper. I never found the reason why it would clog, never a dirt clod or a rock and I never reuse the sand so it is alway fresh. The air could have been the problem, but I live in a fairly dry area. I used a 2HP Craftsman air compressor with a 30Gal tank.

evintho · Dec 21, 2009

shovel said:
I've got the HF 110 model. It is a POS, but it works well if you do the following: Use dry air, sift the sand (no big particles), throw the HF nozzle in the garbage and buy the ones on ebay (do a search, you will see the ones I'm talking about). After learning all this the hard way, the darn thing works pretty good. If I had a do-over, I would buy a Texas Blaster (google it!) They have the heavy duty hose made for sandblasting. Good sandblasting primer on their web site. Good luck!

Thanks everyone for the responses! The ALC & Texas Blaster look good, however I didn't want to spend in the $400 neighborhood! $150-$200 is a much nicer 'hood for me!
Shovel;
I checked Ebay for the nozzles. Is this the beast you're talking about? Will it swap right into the Harbor Freight deadman handle?

Tungsten-Carbide blast nozzle

Also, I've got to figure out some kind of air dryer system for my compressor. I've got one small filter/seperator on it now and it just doesn't do the job that needs to be done!

Charles (in GA) · Dec 21, 2009

Sheet metal is easily warped with dry sandblasting. There are companies that do soda blasting of large items such as bodies and to me, this looks like the way to go on large parts. Another alternative is a sandblast attachment for your pressure washer. I've seen this used on a truck chassis and it works. Just tossing out some ideas here.

Charles

c.schulz · Dec 22, 2009

Make your own like I did. Plywood and 2x4s. Bought the siphon set up from a local supplier that was sized to my comp. complete with foot pedal. Bore some holes in one end and attach a vacuum to the other. Mine is 4' tall x 4' wide and 2.5' deep.
Chris

shovel · Dec 22, 2009

evintho - this is the nozzle I was referring to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sandblaster-San...I%2BIA%2BUA%2BFICS%2BUFI%2BDDSIC&otn=10&ps=63

For an air filter/drier, check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Clea...Z230391059867QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools

evintho · Dec 22, 2009

shovel said:
evintho - this is the nozzle I was referring to:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sandblaster-San...I%2BIA%2BUA%2BFICS%2BUFI%2BDDSIC&otn=10&ps=63

For an air filter/drier, check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Clea...Z230391059867QQptZMotorsQ5fAutomotiveQ5fTools

I'm seriously thinking about taking your advice and purchase a HF 110 and upgrading it with that nozzle.

Do you use that air filter kit? It looks like it's more for cleaning the air of particles/contaminants than it is for drying the air. My issue is damp air.

shovel · Dec 23, 2009

Yes, That is the upgrade to what I use. I have an older motorguard that is much like that model. I bought it to keep water out for paint spraying, but have used it for everything! I live on the upper Texas Gulf coast where humidity is 90-100%. It has a filter that looks like a roll of toilet paper. In fact, I have used a roll of the cheap toilet paper once, but wouldn't recommend it. You can find replacement filters on the internet. I buy them 5-6 at a time an that lasts me over a year. The filter will get waterlogged. I swap it out and reuse the filters sometimes (after drying!) if they dot get too messed up. Please remember that this is a poor-boy set up. It will work well for an occasional project. If you plan on using it often, upgrade to the Texas blaster. Good luck and keep us posted.

larry4406 · Dec 23, 2009

c.schulz said:
Make your own like I did. Plywood and 2x4s. Bought the siphon set up from a local supplier that was sized to my comp. complete with foot pedal. Bore some holes in one end and attach a vacuum to the other. Mine is 4' tall x 4' wide and 2.5' deep.
Chris

Please post some more details on how you built this - internal framing, grate, funnel dump, glove attachments, window, door and seal, etc.

c.schulz · Dec 23, 2009

larry4406 said:
Please post some more details on how you built this - internal framing, grate, funnel dump, glove attachments, window, door and seal, etc.

Internal framing is just 2x4 ripped in half as 2x2. Use the 2x2 in all corners and glue and screw plywood to these. The deck with grate is again 2x2 with hardware screen. I used 1/4 with 2 layers with a slight offset to catch the small parts.
The upper light is a cheap 3' light from HD with a window cut to size and plexiglass to cover. For the front window I went with tempered glass. 1/8" and just notched plywood strips for glass and screw down. For the gloves I found the gloves I wanted and cut the arm openings to size then also cut a plywood ring to set around that hole and hose clamped the gloves to the ring.
The door opening is the entire end of the cabinet. If you picture the cabinet has the 2x2s running around the opening. I traced that line on the door and then added 2x2s to the inside of that line on the door for support and a cheap seal.
Funnel was easy. The cabinet sits on a shelf of 2x4s and that sets the size opening for the funnel.Widdest part of 2x4 is horizontal. Start with the widest side then figure width at bottom and then height. Connect the lines and copy for 2nd side. Screw these in place with square slide gate for bottom. Then just copy side dimentions for side panels of plywood. Since I used 3/4" ply I just glued and screwed these pieces together.
Bottom gate is a slide of sandwiched masonite. Paint the inside white and the outside blue green or puple if you want. If you need more pics email me and I can get pics for you. [email protected]

Chris

torqueman2002 · Dec 23, 2009

Take a look at these guys - Hill Billy Blasters' plans: http://www.wittelaw.com/personal/legends/doc9.htm

I took some of their ideas and the plans for the 34" wide x 24" deep cabinet from TP/Skat Blasters [ http://www.tptools.com/d/12_Sandblasting-Cabinets.html ]and made a cabinet using 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood.

I bought some parts from TP - gun, siphon pick-up tube, window frame, and door locks; the rest of the materials were already 'in-stock' at home.

I am going to replace the toilet base flanges used to mount the gloves - they're too restrictive.

The only leaking of blast material, alumn. oxide from HF, is when the door is opened without first blowing the grit away from the door; TP sells a deflector to prevent this - I just live with it.

I don't recall if the HF blast cabinets have exhaust ports to connect a shop vac. to, but this is very effective in keeping the air clear inside the cabinet.

Until I got the 80 gal 4hp 12.6 SCFM@90psi Husky/Campbell Hausfeld compressor, I had to wait for the Craftsman 30 gal 6.4 SCFM@90 psi to catch up. I spent more time waiting than blasting with the CM, very time consuming and frustrating.

This is my first experience using a blast cabinet, I can't give an A-B comparison with the HF units. I do recall thinking what I could afford to buy was not big enough for what I wanted, this is what sent me to the web for plans.

Recommendations of a decent sand blaster

evintho

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MalibuLX3

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JeepsAreBuilt

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mossyboy6

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orange02ss

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Ricoch3T

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shovel

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John Timmins

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porschedude996TT

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evintho

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Charles (in GA)

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c.schulz

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shovel

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evintho

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shovel

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larry4406

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c.schulz

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torqueman2002

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