Sandblaster/ compressor help

[scotties22]

How big are your compressor and sandblaster? My husband is going to buy me a compressor for V-day (I know right.....I'm weird. And yes, this is what I asked for). I want to make sure that I get something that has enough CFMs to run whatever blast cabinet I buy in a few weeks. I don't have a lot of space so I am looking at a horizontal model that I can slide under my work bench. As far as cabinets go, are the little bench top models good, or just a waste of money?

Thanks, boys.

[Sasquatch]

You want a 2 stage compressor, 5 hp for sure, 7.5 is better. Your shop won't have 208V 3 phase wiring, so make sure you are buying a single phase 230V motor. These things start around 1500 bucks near me, and run up to about 2500 depending on motor, pump, and tank size. I think 15 cfm at 150+ psi is probably where you want to be looking. You need between 100 and 120psi for most blasting, and lots of air.

I'm looking at Ingersoll-Rand, Eagle, CAS, Quincy, and not too much else right now.


You can get buy with almost any cabinet. But.... some are nicer than others in all kinds of ways. Make sure you can get nozzles for the gun. The smaller the better in this regard - you want a pretty fine spray. I don't know what you have access to - the cyclone brand seems to be a popular choice.

[scotties22]

What type of blasting media do you use?

[Sasquatch]

Glass bead for texture with a little Al/oxide in it for cutting. I've seen good results off Silicon Carbide too. I think it depends on what grit, what pressure, etc. If you were to buy one product, I'd say fine glass bead at 220 grit or so. But it.... almost doesn't matter what you buy - figuring out how to get good results with what you've got is going to take the bulk of the work. If you have the ideal setup, it helps, obviously.

[oklahoma red]

You can buy glass beads with aluminum oxide already mixed in. I know Grainger carries it in 5 gallon plastic pails and I'm sure there are other outlets for it in the KC area.
When these compressors start getting this big they make a lot of racket so be prepared unless you can set it up away from your work area. Some have noise shielding around the compressor head. I'm lucky in that I have a 5 hp Kaeser screw compressor at my business with a nice MBA blast cabinet. Kaeser is a sweet compressor but very pricey (German).
Get the best nozzle you can if you are going to run anything but straight glass beads. AO or SC is tough on nozzles.
You'll definitely need a good dust extractor for the cabinet and clean its filters often. When the glass beads break down they will turn to a very fine flour.
Chas.

[ToddJohnson]

For the record, if you're using a siphon feed blasting setup, the air requirements are much higher than if you're working with a pressure pot. You'll pay a couple thousand dollars+ for a pressure pot rig, but you can go with a comparatively small compressor--5 hp., 60 gal, single stage, single phase. Each one has benefits and draw backs, but plan to spend $3K-$5K total if you're serious about it, and only want to do it once.

TJ

[Sasquatch]

You'll definitely need a good dust extractor for the cabinet and clean its filters often. When the glass beads break down they will turn to a very fine flour.
Chas.

Just gonna repeat this. I suck all the air out of my blasting cabinet all the time with a hepa-type filtered vacuum. This is dust that you do NOT want any exposure to at all.

Some cabinets come with a collection system, and I'd look hard at those.

[ToddJohnson]

You'll definitely need a good dust extractor for the cabinet and clean its filters often. When the glass beads break down they will turn to a very fine flour.
Chas.

Just gonna repeat this. I suck all the air out of my blasting cabinet all the time with a hepa-type filtered vacuum. This is dust that you do NOT want any exposure to at all.

Some cabinets come with a collection system, and I'd look hard at those.

Yes, if you're using aluminum oxide, the dust is extremely dangerous. Your lungs are most vulnerable when emptying old media out of the cabinet, adding new media to the cabinet, and futzing around inside the cabinet with your nozzle, hoses, etc. When you do this, you really really need to wear a respirator. If you're using glass beads, it is not nearly so dangerous for your lungs--you can actually metabolize glass bead--but you still don't want to suck a whole bunch of it into your lungs.

TJ

[The Smoking Yeti]

Is there a specific kind of respirator you need? I imagine my ten year old not-so-amazing one wouldn't work.

[wisemanpipes]

Is there a specific kind of respirator you need? I imagine my ten year old not-so-amazing one wouldn't work.

id go WWI gas mask. better safe than sorry...

[ToddJohnson]

Is there a specific kind of respirator you need? I imagine my ten year old not-so-amazing one wouldn't work.

You can just get a standard 3M cartridge style painter's respirator. It will filter out even the smallest airborne particles, and the filter pads are inexpensive. The charcoal cartridges that attach to either side of the nose cone are more expensive, but you won't need to change those any more often than about every few years.

TJ

[caskwith]

I stick with glass bead mostly for the health reasons. I know my dust extraction will never be 100% effective and I don't want to have to put a respirator on everytime I was to change a nozzle or pick up a dropped pipe/bung from inside the cabinet. Whenever i do any seriously dusty work or cleaning ni the system I do put the respirator on but it is nice to know that I can stick my head in the cabinet now and then and not worry too much.