Need a portable blaster - Recommendations?

[Cobra6]

Most of the stuff here is on blast cabinets -

I have a TP Skat blast - but I need a prtable blaster to clean up a rolling chassis '67 Mustang 'vert and an occasional work blaster (once or twice a year) for metal stair handrails outside, etc.

Maybe something like this?

https://www.eastwood.com/ew-100lb-p...MIj9Pp1Z2n3QIVhcDICh25LARuEAQYASABEgKnC_D_BwE

Tell me what you are using that's decent at a good price -

Thanks

 

[dkmc]

That Eastwood unit is a frustrating, time wasting toy.
The way you'll know that, is to go to Sunbelt rentals, or some other rental
outfit, and rent a real portable blaster with a 185 CFM compressor.
Get the job DONE in good time, and move on.

 

[Cobra6]

That Eastwood unit is a frustrating, time wasting toy.
The way you'll know that, is to go to Sunbelt rentals, or some other rental
outfit, and rent a real portable blaster with a 185 CFM compressor.
Get the job DONE in good time, and move on.

Good point - I called United Rentals to see about a rental and they don't even have them available anymore -
Sunbelt has one and it is a beast - $175 + to rent per day - I'm figuring I can buy what I need rather than pay that kind of rental fee -
seems like I can do better -

 

[dkmc]

Good point - I called United Rentals to see about a rental and they don't even have them available anymore -
Sunbelt has one and it is a beast - $175 + to rent per day - I'm figuring I can buy what I need rather than pay that kind of rental fee -
seems like I can do better -

The amount of work you'll get done with the 'beast' compared to the toy, really has no comparison. I'm not understanding what you mean by being able to buy what you need.........for $175??
Couple years ago I picked up an IR P185 Diesel compressor, sort of a basket case. I got lucky, and now it's a good compressor, for a total investment of around $1500 give or take, and not including much for my time.
Then I found a 3cu-ft Clemco pressure pot for $650. Lucky again, it only needed a nozzle and some other small parts.......total about $800.
So $2300 total for a setup that will blast a complete car chassis bare to gray steel in about 1 to 1.5 hours on a good day.
The Eastwood unit will either kill or wear out you and your compressor, and take many, many hours to do 'not near as good' of a job.

IMO, $175 is pretty darn cheap for the beast.

 

[lis2323]

, $175 is pretty darn cheap for the beast.

I agree.

 

[Cobra6]

Thanks - I got it - that's why I asked -

So I can rent these and charge to my customer for the cost - Not a problem -

And even if I need more than a day rental for a car chassis - It sounds like it is worth it -
The calculus didn't make sense to me -

Thanks for the advice - I will heed it

 

[930dreamer]

I need/want and outdoor set up also. I think I'd rent the diesel compressor and a pressure pot setup and demo it for a large project and go from there. Sunbelt rental is less than a 1/4 mile from my shop.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The amount of work you'll get done with the 'beast' compared to the toy, really has no comparison. I'm not understanding what you mean by being able to buy what you need.........for $175??
Couple years ago I picked up an IR P185 Diesel compressor, sort of a basket case. I got lucky, and now it's a good compressor, for a total investment of around $1500 give or take, and not including much for my time.
Then I found a 3cu-ft Clemco pressure pot for $650. Lucky again, it only needed a nozzle and some other small parts.......total about $800.
So $2300 total for a setup that will blast a complete car chassis bare to gray steel in about 1 to 1.5 hours on a good day.
The Eastwood unit will either kill or wear out you and your compressor, and take many, many hours to do 'not near as good' of a job.

IMO, $175 is pretty darn cheap for the beast.

This is as true as it gets. Abrasive blasting is a Go Big or Go Home proposition. I have been hobby blasting for close to 40 years, and started at the bottom as far as equipment.

 

[sberry]

I don't own a cab.

 

[hsvtoolfool]

OccupantRJ, do you restore cars? If so, do you media
blast the larger sheetmetal panels on doors, roofs, hoods,
etc? What CFM/PSI/media did you use to avoid panel
warping?

When I finally get a Round Tuit, I plan to blast floors,
frame, firewall, and other heavier gauge metal on the
old Mustang. But after reading MP&C's Epic Thread and
his experiments on media blasting panels, I'll just use
DA sanders for the larger panels to avoid warping.
Better safe than sorry.

 

[OccupantRJ]

OccupantRJ, do you restore cars? If so, do you media
blast the larger sheetmetal panels on doors, roofs, hoods,
etc? What CFM/PSI/media did you use to avoid panel
warping?

When I finally get a Round Tuit, I plan to blast floors,
frame, firewall, and other heavier gauge metal on the
old Mustang. But after reading MP&C's Epic Thread and
his experiments on media blasting panels, I'll just use
DA sanders for the larger panels to avoid warping.
Better safe than sorry.

This true. The blasting I was doing was on pre 1940 vehicles, lots of curved and thicker panels. I would use sand that had been run through the pot several times on frames and such, then blast at an angle at a distance, never staying in a spot more than a second or two, using a 1/4” nozzle at 75 cfm, around 100 psi.

The heat and pressure straight on will warp the hell out of a flat panel. There are a lot of forces at work in blasting, more than meets the eye, stress relieving being one. I would use stripper and a sander on a car as much as possible. I restore shop equipment and use this method regularly as much as possible on larger cabinets and such. I cabinet blast any removable part that is not thin sheet.

 

[hsvtoolfool]

Gotcha! Thanks. To me, MP&C's most surprising conclusion
was how high PSI alone can apply enough force to stretch
even 1950s era sheetmetal. I seem to remember that he
tries to keep the PSI below 50 and use a more aggressive
but lightweight garnet media. I'll have to look up the grit
and PSI again when the time comes.

Speaking of thicker sheetmetal on old cars, a local guy trailers
an unrestored, original-condition 1927-ish Packard coupe to our
bigger car shows. It's an amazing time capsule. Belonged to a
local doctor for house calls. Anyway, I'm always shocked at how
thick the sheetmetal is on the car. I have no idea of the actual
gauge, but the fenders feel like they're 10 gauge.

 

[Jvvmusme]

The amount of work you'll get done with the 'beast' compared to the toy, really has no comparison. I'm not understanding what you mean by being able to buy what you need.........for $175??
Couple years ago I picked up an IR P185 Diesel compressor, sort of a basket case. I got lucky, and now it's a good compressor, for a total investment of around $1500 give or take, and not including much for my time.
Then I found a 3cu-ft Clemco pressure pot for $650. Lucky again, it only needed a nozzle and some other small parts.......total about $800.
So $2300 total for a setup that will blast a complete car chassis bare to gray steel in about 1 to 1.5 hours on a good day.
The Eastwood unit will either kill or wear out you and your compressor, and take many, many hours to do 'not near as good' of a job.

IMO, $175 is pretty darn cheap for the beast.

agree

 

[Dave88LX]

Had the same question.
I'm looking to restore a mower deck (among other projects), so I don't need an extravagant blaster, but, don't want to rent one either. Want to be able to work on things at my leisure when I have an hour or two here or there.

Are there any decent pressurized pot options in the ~$500 range?

 

[DAustin]

 

[dkmc]

Had the same question.
I'm looking to restore a mower deck (among other projects), so I don't need an extravagant blaster, but, don't want to rent one either. Want to be able to work on things at my leisure when I have an hour or two here or there.

Are there any decent pressurized pot options in the ~$500 range?

There certainly can be on the used market. However, once again, compressor CFM is what does the work. Anything under about 25-30 CFM and it'll be a prolonged project with a lot of time waiting for the (smaller) compressor to catch up. A probable comparison might be painting a garage with a pencil eraser size brush or a 5" wide brush. Both will get the garage painted. Which would you choose?

 

[Jswain]

It's a mower deck, any of the pressure pots you can buy will have you done in ~hr if you can figure out your ****, 2 hours if not.

Not going to argue bigger is better but you don't always need a 5 inch strip to restore a few square feet.

I have a 10gallon(I think) pressure pot, I removed the shut off cap at the end of the hose so it's always on if I have the air on and control it with the valves on the pot. That plus I believe an 1/8" nozzle ~ 80psi and I can blast as long as I want without having to wait. Strips probably 1.5-2" back about 12" from the metal. Screen the media before you put it in the hopper.

Don't shut off the air going through the hose until the media valve at the bottom of the hopper is closed, and the media in the line is all evacuated. Reverse is also true, do not open the media valve at the bottom of the hopper until the air is flowing through the nozzle

 

[Dave88LX]

I have a Quincy QT-54 compressor so I should be OK in the air delivery department.

I think the rest of your post will make more sense to me once I have one and see what you are talking about. I've only used media blast cabinets, and gravity-fed hoppers in the past.

 

[Jswain]

Just size the nozzle appropriate to your compressor, then size the media appropriate to your nozzle and you will be fine.

Like you said once you get the unit in front of you my post will make more sense as to what the valves do