From: Mike Davidsen (mike@aspirationsoftware.com)
Date: Mon Apr 25 2005 - 10:05:29 PDT
I'll try to answer your questions piece by piece. The following is just
my experiences with beadblasting and sandblasting in restos I have done.
>I will need to do a lot of sandblasting over the next year or two, for frame
>and body work that I can afford to do. I am prepared to purchase a CHEAP,
>but FUNCTIONAL sandblasting setup. I've got access to a shop with a high
>CFM compressor setup. Also, I've got access to a much larger CFM compressor
>that is trailer-mounted and would probably be better for sandblasting.
>Nobody has a blasting pot/setup I can borrow and I believe that I'm wasting
>money with continued rentals.
>
>
First, you get what you pay for. Rentals are not the way to go if you
are going to do it for a long time or for several projects. I have
bought and used the Chinese made cheapo bead blast cabinets on Ebay, and
they work but are small and not great quality. My current beadblast
cabinet is a homebrew 55-gallon drum custom made into a side opening
cabinet with a lexan viewport and gloves basically duct taped into the
side. Not great, and it was a lot of work to set up, but cheap and well
made. If you want my opinion of what to get, spend $800 or so including
shipping on those setups sold in the big ads in MV magazine (I forget
the maker), and a standup Craftsman compressor that can handle
continuous flow at high volume. You will make up the money in your
productivity in no time.
For outdoor use and big items, a good quality snadblast kit is available
at Sears as well for not too much money. biggest point is you need a
quality compressor again to handle high flow and high volume.
>First Question: do they even sell blasting sand anymore? I've always used
>a respirator for blasting and painting, but it would seem like blasting sand
>is a thing of the past. What is everybody using now for blasting media?
>(cheap stuff).
>
>
They do, but not regular sand. Play sand and old fashioned blasting
sand causes silicosis of the lungs in the long term, so not too many
people sell it anymore for blasting for insurance and lawsuit reasons.
Black Beauty is a new, black colored manufactured sand that is great,
non harmful (still wear you mask), but costs a little bit more. For
cabinet work, glass beads are best for smaller parts. You have to buy
about a pallet load at a time nowadays to make it worth the sellers
while. My local Lowes sells glass beads for blasting, but its a custom
order and it must be at least a pallet load at a time. Look in your
Yellow Pages under "Metal Finishing" and call around to find a shop that
sells sand or glass beads. They may be able to help you out.
>Second Question: Is there a good Harbor Freight or other inexpensive but
>decent quality/capacity setup that I should purchase for my hobby work? I'm
>not looking for a blaster that will be used every day, but I want something
>that WORKS when I need it (once a month, or perhaps less).
>
>
Harbor Freight = Chinese garbage. Real tools are made in USA. See
above for my feelings on setup.
>Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Please feel free to e-mail
>off-list since this is not directly MV related, but I promise to keep the
>list apprised of my progress on the GPW as it goes along.
>
>
>
>
Great, love to see some pics of your Jeep. Good luck getting your
blasting setup done.
Mike
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