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air compressor cfm for blast cabinet

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sendithard

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Jul 25, 2018
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florida
I'm in need of buying a blast cabinet and therefor I'll need an air compressor as well.

I only need to take polished stainless steel 4 inch parts and glass bead blast them on one side for a softer finish.

Therefore, my question is do I need the big $800+ air compressor that gets me 10cfm at 90psi or can I save some money and get a $400 compressor that only gets me 5-6cfm at 90psi?

Since I am not blasting rust off I don't think I will need to blast much on a 4" part to roughen it up just a little so I'm thinking the 20 gallon tank 400$ compressor might serve my purpose better.

Thanks.
 
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L.Cheapo

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All but the smallest (read: least useful) blast cabinets use a tremendous amount of air. Even a 10cfm compressor would be undersized for them.

Truth is, you can blast with any compressor. But the smaller ones will make you stop every few seconds to wait for them to catch up, will generate a lot of moisture that will clog up the works, and will probably run themselves to death in short order. Not to mention the noise.

Lets start with which blast cabinet(s) are you looking at?
 
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larry_g

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oregon
sendithard said:
I'm in need of buying a blast cabinet and therefor I'll need an air compressor as well.

I only need to take polished stainless steel 4 inch parts and glass bead blast them on one side for a softer finish.

Therefore, my question is do I need the big $800+ air compressor that gets me 10cfm at 90psi or can I save some money and get a $400 compressor that only gets me 5-6cfm at 90psi?

Since I am not blasting rust off I don't think I will need to blast much on a 4" part to roughen it up just a little so I'm thinking the 20 gallon tank 400$ compressor might serve my purpose better.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just like in race cars, how fast do you want to go? The HP of the compressor directly relates to the square inches per minute you can do. I would suggest that you do your research with some of the blast cabinet sites and learn what hp-cfm is required to efficiently use a given sized nozzle. There is no free lunch here. If you do one part a day then most anything will do. If your doing a 100 parts per day then your going to have to get serious with your equipment.

lg
no neat sig line
 
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matt_i

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I wouldn't mess around with anything less than 5hp.

If you are in production you don't want to go slow.
 
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sberry

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I can use a lot of cheap tools and do but an air comp is worth buying once as big as you will need. I am a 5 hp kind of guy too. You can blast "some" with this, would be ok for small parts.
 
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Citation

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Depending on your needs etc, you might consider two "3 hp" , 10 cfm 60 gallon compressors connected in parallel. That would run about $1200 or less but each would require it's own breaker.

Most prosumer "5hp" compressors are around 14cfm and have pumps rated to around 50% duty cycle. These are often in the $1-2k range. A good, 5hp compressor is going to be will over $2k. It should have a magnetic starter or something similar, draw something like 23 amps and hopefully have a 100% duty cycle pump. Based on the OP's description I'm guessing they aren't really going to be using the same blaster that hard so this may be over kill.

The twin 3hp concept is a cheap way to get lots of air and 120 gallons of tank capacity for not too much money but more hassle in the setup and floor space.
 
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OccupantRJ

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if you blast regularly you will need 20 cfm minimum. I blast a LOT, and regularly. If you do parts in the size range of a slice of bread, a smaller compressor will do, but in very short sessions. The air jet in a suction type cabinet gun determines air consumption, not the blast nozzle. Air jets can sometimes be changed out for smaller sizes.
 
OP
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sendithard

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Joined
Jul 25, 2018
Messages
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Location
florida
L.Cheapo said:
All but the smallest (read: least useful) blast cabinets use a tremendous amount of air. Even a 10cfm compressor would be undersized for them.

Truth is, you can blast with any compressor. But the smaller ones will make you stop every few seconds to wait for them to catch up, will generate a lot of moisture that will clog up the works, and will probably run themselves to death in short order. Not to mention the noise.

Lets start with which blast cabinet(s) are you looking at?
Click to expand...

I'm looking at this small benchtop blaster(I'm a rookie here so I cannot insert links):
Eastwood Modular Blast Cabinet
Item #20464
It says 7cfm at 80psi needed

Sounds like everyone has a high regard for getting a good compressor. If I were to grab that $500 6o gal 3.7hp one from lowes, would that let me get a nice surface finish on 10 polished stainless steel pieces roughly the size of a slice of bread? I'm just guessing here, but I may need a full minute of blasting per day to do 10 pieces, but I've never used one before.

Thanks for the replies all.
 
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OccupantRJ

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Glass beads on stainless will normally give you a dull light grey textured finish if that is what you are going for. Duct tape can be used as a masking material to help protect other surfaces.

Depending on the computer or device used, go to the page you want to link to and click on the page address, then copy that address. Go back to Garage Journal, make the post, then paste the link you previously copied into the body of the text at the point you desire.
 
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