In a message dated 8/21/00 9:40:06 PM Central Daylight Time,
Enterprise@earthlink.net writes:
<< Second: I'm looking to get a small sandblasting unit from Sears (100#
hopper and 1 hp compressor). How much power do I need to do a decent job?
I looked into renting a unit but all I found was a very serious compressor
on a trailer and a large hopper and hose which looked like something from
the fire department. I don't think I need something that big.
>>
David, In my honest opinion; unless you are only planning on doing parts that
will fit in your hand, you'd be wasting your time with the 100# hopper and
the 1 hp compressor. Like you, I occasionally have some stuff to sand blast,
and I've tried just about all of it. The system you are talking about is
most likely a "siphon" system; which means you get a lot of air and a little
sand from the nozzel. This takes - FOREVER - to clean a piece of metal. On
anything over the size of a dinner plate it will get very tedious.
I bought a 5 hp 240 volt air compressor with a 30 gallon tank (roll around),
and even this was not big enough to do much good with a siphon system
sandblaster. I then bought a "pressure" system from Harbor Freight. Paid
around $80 for a 100 pound pressurized pot. This makes a huge difference.
My compressor would go up to about 125 pounds and made around 7 to 8 cfm
(cubic feet per minute). This worked fine, but you had to stop after about 5
minutes and let the air compressor "catch up". I eventually bought a 2 stage
7.5 hp 240 volt upright aircompressor. This puts out 175 psi and pump 10-12
cfm at 100 psi for a lot longer than I want to sandblast. This does the
trick.
I'd personally recommend that you get a pressurized pot - Harbor Freight -
Northern Tools, TIP, etc. and the biggest air compressor you can afford.
There is no such thing as "too much air" when it comes to sand blasting.
If you want to, buy the pot and rent one of the heavy duty air compressors
from the rental shop. It looks too big, but believe me it's not. You'll be
amazed at how much better your sandblaster does with more air.
I'm thinking about buying one of those "water blasting" attachments for my
pressure washer. A lot of the guys on this list have been bragging on the
excellent results they are getting with these units. I can tell you that
standing in the sun, under a sand blast hood (even with fresh air coming to
the hood from another source), is NOT FUN in Alabama in the summer.
Good luck, Tom Campbell - Birmingham, Alabama
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 02 2000 - 09:32:33 PDT