I know its been a while, the new IOS screwed up my phone and I couldn't get my photos off of it...
But I thought I would post a follow up for anyone considering a sandblaster.
First thing is I bought the 110lb HF model. I was skeptical because I don't buy anything beyond hand tools and clamps from them. But after getting it and using it for a few days, it did the job well. As was stated in the reviews on HF I did not like the gun and the ball valves seem cheap but I can work around that if they fail (I'll probably replace the gun sooner than later).
My air compressor is a 60 or 80 gallon Dayton two cylinder / two stage. As mentioned by many in this thread it was woefully inadequate for the job. I spent probably 4 minutes blasting and 6 minutes waiting once the compressor kicked on. I would say that is about the minimum I would event attempt blasting with, unless your a masochist and like waiting or burning up your compressor!
Another problem I ran into was the nozzle sizes that came with it were also inadequate. I bought a bag of coarse and fine grit media and no matter what size I used the coarse would not work at all. I ended up having to dump the whole thing into a 5 gallon bucket and refilling with fine. It worked great then but probably increased the time it took to blast all the parts.
Onto the mess... Also mentioned in this thread is how messy they are. I found this out first hand
Again I've become a major tool junky so the first day I didn't care because I was enjoying watching old rusty parts, grease and paint turn into silky smooth silver steel. That said on day two I stopped by lowes and bought a full body tyvek suit haha. I still somehow managed to get sand in my shoes but it was much better using that and the hood that came with the blaster. I did this about five feet in front of the shop door and the sand still got into my shop, especially the first five feet or so. In conclusion; yes if I were doing this regularly I'd probably out source it. But for one off jobs it wasn't that bad.
I won't go into too much detail but in addition to the blaster I also bought a HVLP spray gun for this project. It was my first time using one and I have to say compared to spray paint it is night and day. Painting with it was a lot of fun and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
I had very little in this drill press and now that I've completely dissembled it and put it back together replacing most of the bearings, handles and stickers, I think I came out quite well. I also bought a Precision Matthews keyless chuck that goes down to 1mm and over 1/2"! This is a 20" Jet 1.5HP and they start around $1000 dollars new and I don't have half that in it. Well if you don't count the spray gun and blaster
Here are some photos. Enjoy
-Clint
Old:
IMG_0565 by Clint, on Flickr
IMG_0569 by Clint, on Flickr
New:
IMG_0624 by Clint, on Flickr
IMG_0625 by Clint, on Flickr
IMG_0628 by Clint, on Flickr
But I thought I would post a follow up for anyone considering a sandblaster.
First thing is I bought the 110lb HF model. I was skeptical because I don't buy anything beyond hand tools and clamps from them. But after getting it and using it for a few days, it did the job well. As was stated in the reviews on HF I did not like the gun and the ball valves seem cheap but I can work around that if they fail (I'll probably replace the gun sooner than later).
My air compressor is a 60 or 80 gallon Dayton two cylinder / two stage. As mentioned by many in this thread it was woefully inadequate for the job. I spent probably 4 minutes blasting and 6 minutes waiting once the compressor kicked on. I would say that is about the minimum I would event attempt blasting with, unless your a masochist and like waiting or burning up your compressor!
Another problem I ran into was the nozzle sizes that came with it were also inadequate. I bought a bag of coarse and fine grit media and no matter what size I used the coarse would not work at all. I ended up having to dump the whole thing into a 5 gallon bucket and refilling with fine. It worked great then but probably increased the time it took to blast all the parts.
Onto the mess... Also mentioned in this thread is how messy they are. I found this out first hand
Again I've become a major tool junky so the first day I didn't care because I was enjoying watching old rusty parts, grease and paint turn into silky smooth silver steel. That said on day two I stopped by lowes and bought a full body tyvek suit haha. I still somehow managed to get sand in my shoes but it was much better using that and the hood that came with the blaster. I did this about five feet in front of the shop door and the sand still got into my shop, especially the first five feet or so. In conclusion; yes if I were doing this regularly I'd probably out source it. But for one off jobs it wasn't that bad.I won't go into too much detail but in addition to the blaster I also bought a HVLP spray gun for this project. It was my first time using one and I have to say compared to spray paint it is night and day. Painting with it was a lot of fun and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.
I had very little in this drill press and now that I've completely dissembled it and put it back together replacing most of the bearings, handles and stickers, I think I came out quite well. I also bought a Precision Matthews keyless chuck that goes down to 1mm and over 1/2"! This is a 20" Jet 1.5HP and they start around $1000 dollars new and I don't have half that in it. Well if you don't count the spray gun and blaster
Here are some photos. Enjoy
-Clint
Old:
IMG_0565 by Clint, on FlickrIMG_0569 by Clint, on FlickrNew:
IMG_0624 by Clint, on FlickrIMG_0625 by Clint, on FlickrIMG_0628 by Clint, on Flickr
