Ugh.. Another idiot asking "What air compressor/sand blaster???"

[djd99]

What kind of gun is that? Just looks like a ball valve with a ceramic tip on the end.. I like that.. I'll probably steal that idea. Much better than the big over sized awkward gun that came with the pressure pot. Pretty much impossible to maneuver it inside the cabinet especially.

Should pick up several of those ball valves as I imagine they wear out quite a bit with the media flowing through them.

I wonder if the large (5/8 or 3/4) rubber line from the pot to the nozzle can be downsized. That also makes it kind of hard to maneuver and I wonder if that lessens the efficiency being such a large diameter. Maybe not since it all comes down to the tip size..

I use a 1/2' carbide Ball Valve on my pressure pot and it seems to work well, However my dad uses the cheap ones at depot and they don't seem to last as long as the carbide ball valves do but there 3 times mores expensive. You can buy the 1/2" end nozzle from tip tools, I usually pick up my ceramic nozzles at Hershey in october. Tip carries more than what's on there website so order a catalog and that should have all the goodies your looking for.

http://www.tptools.com/Default.aspx

 

[Tom2]

Tried out the sand.

MUCH MUCH better results.

I was able to clean the top side of an intake almost completely and only ran the compressor once. Works good until around 60psi, then it gets a little slow.
Still wish I could run it to 130-175. Then it would be extremely effective. But harmful to the pieces if not careful.


The sand doesn't leave a nice polish, but it gets stuff clean..At that point I can glass bead them, or simply paint with aluminum engine paint.



Is there anything cheap and effective like sand that doesn't have the potential health problems of silica?
I know the black diamond would probably work real well with the pressure pot (possibly better than sand) - but, it's just so sooty and nasty - I don't want to run that stuff in the cabinet. Plus it leaves a nasty black film on the part.

 

[A_Pmech]

Hi Tom,

Here's an excerpt from my Do-All V-36 rebuild thread:

After running around 1,200lbs of sand though the valve it still works fine. I find the valves have a live of around 5,000lbs of silica sand.

Part Three, Sandblasting

After a little delay here at the shop, I finally found some time to sandblast the main frame, doors and associated parts.

Repairing the Blasting Pot

Before I could get into blasting, I had to come up with a fix for my sandblaster. The local supply house decided to switch the brand of blasting pot the sell. In the process, they changed the consumables they supply as well. The photo below tells the story. On the right is the ceramic nozzle my blaster uses, which was the last one I had. On the left is the nozzle my local house now carries.

Not to be deterred, or forced into waiting a week for an order, I went back to the plumbing section. There, I bought a new 1/2" valve, 1/2" IPS to 5/8" flare adapter and a 5/8" flare nut.

Once back at the shop, I bored the inside of the flare nut to accept the ceramic nozzle. Then, I faced off the end of the flare nut adapter. A quick test showed everything fit as it should, so I made up some silicone gaskets.

Here are all the parts of the new gun, ready for assembly:

Back in business! New gun on top, old one on the bottom:

What kind of gun is that? Just looks like a ball valve with a ceramic tip on the end.. I like that.. I'll probably steal that idea. Much better than the big over sized awkward gun that came with the pressure pot. Pretty much impossible to maneuver it inside the cabinet especially.

Should pick up several of those ball valves as I imagine they wear out quite a bit with the media flowing through them.

I wonder if the large (5/8 or 3/4) rubber line from the pot to the nozzle can be downsized. That also makes it kind of hard to maneuver and I wonder if that lessens the efficiency being such a large diameter. Maybe not since it all comes down to the tip size..

 

[RAYJAY]

tom just buy the 40 lb HF cabinet with the legs on it

i have one for a couple of years now they work great, you can even upgrade the blasting gun later on

jeff

 

[swaterbenny]

tom just buy the 40 lb HF cabinet with the legs on it

i have one for a couple of years now they work great, you can even upgrade the blasting gun later on

jeff

He already has one. Ben

 

[Tom2]

Hehe.. Yep


Thanks for the nozzle pics.. I'll get something similar rigged up sooner or later..



I may even consider buying another smaller compressor from CL for around $100. Like the retched 30 gallon Crapsman that puts out around 5-6CFM. Then run both compressors outputs to a Y, regulator, then pressure blaster. Then I'd be getting real close to 20CFM.


Of course the problem with that would be the insane amount of noise they would both make..Plus the extra space another compressor would take up.

I think the electric consumed wouldn't be too bad. 4HP from the Husky, 1.6 from the Crapsman..Still less than the roughly 7HP a good 2 stage consumes.

 

[35mastr]

But you would be wayyy better off with a 7 hp two stage than you are now.

It would be better on the electric as it would not be kicking on as much.

 

[Tom2]

Has anyone here had any experience with the 7HP Campbell Hausfeld?

23.7/22.2SCFM @ 90/175 PSI

$1,749

Anyone know how loud it is?

I would imagine with a 7hp/31A motor this sucker fills those 80 gallons in a flash. Unlike the 4HP/16A on my current one. It takes a little while to fill up. Which, I'm patient enough to live with.


I just can't help but wonder if I had a compressor with more power - I could sandblast car parts/frames and stuff on the side to help pay for the whole setup. Although, I know even with 23.7 CFM it's probably still no where near what the big shops/pro sandblasters use.

 

[brats.n.harleys]

that nozzle set up is awesome, gonna have to try that tonight, what are you running trough that though? ive used a 1/4'' pex ball valve for a while with black diamond, WITH NO NOZZLE, it sprays like hell but uses SOOO much air, i can only get about 40 seconds, using a 60 gal compressor with a 30 gal pressure pot. great idea

 

[35mastr]

For that price you can get an IR or a Quincy two stage.

 

[djd99]

Tried out the sand.

MUCH MUCH better results.

I was able to clean the top side of an intake almost completely and only ran the compressor once. Works good until around 60psi, then it gets a little slow.
Still wish I could run it to 130-175. Then it would be extremely effective. But harmful to the pieces if not careful.


The sand doesn't leave a nice polish, but it gets stuff clean..At that point I can glass bead them, or simply paint with aluminum engine paint.



Is there anything cheap and effective like sand that doesn't have the potential health problems of silica?
I know the black diamond would probably work real well with the pressure pot (possibly better than sand) - but, it's just so sooty and nasty - I don't want to run that stuff in the cabinet. Plus it leaves a nasty black film on the part.

Why are you so afraid of silica sand, it's been used for years and as long as you take the proper precaution it works very well. I've been using it for everything I sandblast and wouldn't use anything else, it works extremely well stripping everything and I only use a cheap white mask. Been doing this for 20 years now and my fathers been doing it for 45 years and still doing it to this day. Right now he's blasting simplicity deck he restoring with silica that he buys at home depot.

The point is many of us are still using it and as long as your not directly inhaling it, It's one of the better medias to use for stripping just about anything. It's in my pot right now...........

 

[krooser]

The quietest compressors will have a pump speed of 900 rpm or less...

 

[Tom2]

Did some more blasting today. Again, pretty good results with the sand.

I switched to course black diamond. It worked for a couple minutes, then ended up clogging the nozzle. It's a little too course for the small nozzles that came with the pressure pot.

I'm probably gonna dump it out of the pot in the morning and switch back to sand.


I plan on putting the cabinet on casters so I can roll the whole thing outside on nice days.


Hard to see what I'm working on in the cabinet.. The glass is pretty fuzzy from the factory, an dI know it'll just continue to degrade.

When warmer weather hits I'll just use the pressure pot and spray the parts outside in big rubbermaid tubs. Then you can really see what you're doing.

 

[Tom2]

Well, the tip completely blew off of the pressure blaster gun. Cut clean through the metal on the stop. What a joke. They sell replacements are Tractor Supply, but what's the point.. It'll just break a couple hours after using.

I'm gonna head to the hardware store and fish through some fittings and see if I can make a similar gun as posted above.

I tried just using a 3/8 ball valve. Figured I could contol the flow just cracking it open..That didn't work.

This black diamond stuff *****. I bought the finest grade and it's too course to run through the equipment and not clog. Going through my strainer there were big charcoal chunks. It's so course, you can't run it through a screen at all.

 

[A_Pmech]

Tom,

You need to run the blast valve wide open. Otherwise, the fast-moving sand will erode though the valve wall in no time flat. The place to control the flow is the air valve on the back of the pot, leading to the venturi.

For blast valves, find a large valve on smaller fittings works well as the abrasive flow goes though the core of the valve without touching it.

The erosion doesn't occur to the media adjustment valve at the base of the pot because the sand isn't moving fast there.

 

[Tom2]

When I turn that valve off, there is still pressure at the gun - unless I close the valve under the tank.
Maybe it was just residual pressure left..but it seemed like that valve did nothing for me..

 

[Tom2]

Thanks for the idea!


Works MUCH better than the old gun. A lot smaller too.

I was able to blast through a whole pot of black diamond with no problems.

Still don't care for the finish though.. Leaves a sooty glitter on everything. Doesn't really clean off either..

A full pot lasts quite a while when everything is set correctly and working good..


Now I've got the syphon setup hooked back in for the more sensitive parts that need glass bead.

 

[A_Pmech]

Glad to hear it! Your new gun looks good.

Around here, the local farm and hardware stores carry silica. You'll have none of that black nastiness with it.

 

[old1mech]

Before you drop your money on a Husky you should see if you can prowl a steel recycle scrap yard, or see if they sort that type of salvage. Sometimes buisinessn redo a line or something and they scrap everything to do with the old one. I recently got a small comp (NOS) never run and have not hooked it up yet. You need to look for an older Curtis, Quincy, American Kellog, Champion, Devilbis etc. 2 cylinder single stage a little more volume or 2 cyl 2 stage (higher pressure) that requires a 5 or 7and1/2 hsp 220/240 vac., hint the compressor flywheel will be 16/18 inches in diameter. I m using an ld Curtis 2 cyl single stage and it cycles on and off while blasting. (5hsp) this comp is rtd for 150psi. and is on a 60 gal tank. While a pressure cabinet is more efficient it is more expensive and requires more air. Good luck! Worthington compressors are no longer produced but parts are still available.

 

[larry4406]

Any concern with these "ball valve" style nozzles not having a deadman type feature?

 

[austin308]

Snadblasting does take alot of air (volume) how about an IR screw compressor witeh a Deutz deisel. Wait that may be slight over kill

 

[Tom2]

Any concern with these "ball valve" style nozzles not having a deadman type feature?

Mine is still working good.


I'll take that IR compressor!

Theres an auction coming up with a 40cfm screw compressor. I'm gonna go for the fun of it. If it goes cheap enough, (say, around $1000) - I'll take it.

 

[k1400]

Hi Tom2,
While researching blast cabinets/compressors I ran across your thread. Sounds exactly like the road I'm going down, even right to the choice of blast cabinet and compressor. Have you gotten the system working any better since your last post? I'll admit to being discouraged, I thought that 2 stage 5hp Husky compressor would run that cabinet just fine.

An idea: run the compressor to max PSI...which means you're storing as much air as you can in that 80 gallon tank.. then put in another regulator downstream to run the cabinet at 90 or whatever you want it. Might make the air in the compressor tank last longer, as opposed to storing at whatever PSI is the upper limit of that cabinet (125 I think it is)...?? I don't know, based only on theory and stuff I read elsewhere.

I'd really prefer not to spend $1500+ to get a blast cabinet to work right, so I'm hoping you've been able to tune your system to work how you want it to.

Uh, since this is my first post on this forum... Hi everyone!

Ken

 

[Tom2]

Wow, this is really funny to see this old thread bump'd up after so long. Especially since I just sold the compressor today! And the cabinet yesterday! What are the odds of that??

I just wasn't getting enough use out of it lately, and could use the money for more important stuff.

Also, I never really was 100% satisfied with that compressor. I'm sure I'll be getting another large compressor in the not too distant future. I'll probably go 20+CFM. Probably one of the approx. $1200 Eatons. Maybe when/if my garage is ever done.


I was totally pleased with the cabinet and pressure pot from Harbor Freight. Surprisingly very nice quality. The Craftsmanship has improved greatly with them in the last couple years.

The compressor was a little loud, took quite a while to fill up, and could never catch up while blasting. If you're a little patient, it worked ok.. I pretty much always ran it to max PSI (175) in the cabinet. 125 is the most for the press/ pot or the blow off valve will screach..Happened a couple times and nearly gave me a heart attack..

The last item I blasted with the pressure pot was an ATV frame using sand. It couldn't blast most of the paint off.. Just the rust and loose flakes. That was pretty dissapointing. You also end up wasting a lot of sand focusing on stubburn areas.

I was only running the air from the quick outlet connections which probably doesnt allow for the best airflow. Had I ran it form the side to some black iron..Maybe my results would have improved. Even still, I wouldn't buy it over again.

I'd either go cheaper (the roughly $400 60 gallon from HD or HF -close to the same CFM for a lot less $) or go to 20+CFM unit.


Good luck!!

 

[k1400]

Thanks for the response! I've got a few questions to clarify what you said:

Good to hear you were satisfied with quality the HF blast cabinet....sometimes HF is a little iffy. You say you weren't 100% satisfied with your set up.. on a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate it?

Can you explain this part?

I was only running the air from the quick outlet connections which probably doesnt allow for the best airflow. Had I ran it form the side to some black iron..Maybe my results would have improved.

Again, thanks for the information! You're helping me make an informed decision.

 

[k1400]

Another question: how did you run the cabinet at 175 PSI, given it has a 125 PSI limit? Did you have a second regulator at the cabinet, or did you just let her rip at 175 PSI into the cabinet?

 

[Tom2]

I just let it rip at 175psi from the compressor. Theres no regulator on the cabinet.

If you look at the compressor - theres 2 3/8 quick connect outlets on the front of it. I just ran a rubber hose from that to my cabinet or pot. What I should have done was run 3/4 pipe from the fitting on the side of the tank. That's how most people do it. Then you don't restrict down the size until the point of use. At only 12.6 cfm - how much of a difference does it really make? I have no idea.. Maybe it would have made a huge difference. Maybe zero difference.

I'd give it maybe a 6 out of 10.. If you don't do a lot of blasting, you'll probably be fine. But if you plan on doing a bunch, I'd go with a better compressor.

Also, my compressor only says 4hp - the new ones are rated at 5hp and have a different HD part #. The CFM is identical though..So I guess it's just a rating change..But if it really has an extra HP, that would help it fill a little quicker I imagine.

Good luck!

 

[k1400]

Thanks for the explanation Tom! Good point about the 3/4" pipe. I've read that pipe also can help with water... allows the air to cool, etc.

I wonder if it would have helped for you to put a regulator at the cabinet and shoot and somethings less... like 90PSI or so. Seems like it would make the air in the tank last longer.

I liked your idea of going in with a HF coupon... I'm gonna try that if I decide to get the HD compressor. Didn't even occur to me to think they'd honor it.

Needless to say, I've started combing Craigslist again for air compressors... I only want to blast fairly small auto parts... suspension pieces, maybe a wheel or two...

 

[Tom2]

The less PSI, the less powerful the blasting was. So I usually just let it run full blast and didn't regulate it.

Craigslist is definitely the best bet. I probably should have tried to be a little more patient and find a good deal there. Probably what I'll do next time..

Not sure if you can use the new HF coupons on compressors..If you can find one that's valid without the exclusions printed on it - they might go for it. You can atleast get 10% off. They have Lowes/HD coupons in the post office moving packets.

I'd honestly just probably go with the 60 gallon before I'd spend more than double for the 80.. Especially the 60 gallons at HF..I think they run near 15cfm (if I remember right). And that's around $400 versus $1079.