Beauty is skin deep

[sodaworks]

If your going to do your own sandblasting I would highly reccomend a pressurized unit.

[davet426]

So i looked at the two. Why pressurized:?

[rogerz]

Because I have a siphon feed unit I am going to say that the pressurized units keep the sand flowing till the end. The siphon ones seem to suck a hole in the media and stop flowing till you shake it '>   It can really frustrate you.

Right Terry?


rz

[sodaworks]

That's one of the problems with a syphon system. The presurized sandblaster's are much more effiecient. When I used a syphon system it usually took about 6 hours and 5 bags of sand to sandblast a machine. Now it takes me about 2 hours and 2-3 bags of sand. Harbor freight sells a pressurized unit that holds around 75# sand for under a 100 bucks. The pressurized units also allow you to adjust air and sand volume. I found that with the syphon system I wasted more time blasting, more sand and had a bigger mess to clean up.

[BryanH]

(davet426 @ Dec. 03 2006,7:57)

QUOTE

i suppose a lot of you have a shop or send out for sand blasting. I was thinking about purchasing a siphon feed for the garage. After reading this post I know I want one!

If you do this at home, do you use a tarp build a catch?

Is the media reusable or do you spread it through the yard to help with the flowers?

The one below is a Maxus 10.5 cfm @ 90 PSI. Says it give approx 150 minutes of blast per 90 lbs bag of media

Any help would be aprreciated.

I bought a 40lb pressurized unit from Harbor Freight.  Use it in my side yard (it's gravel) on a tarp to catch the sand.  The media can be reused. But I'm told only once.  It needs to be screened before reusing.

150 mins per 90lbs seems like an exaggeration to me.

[bubba]

BryanH... what is the secret to getting this blaster to work consistantly... I have the same one, and it seems like I spend more time messing with it to make it work than actually using it. I usually end up using my little gravity feed Craftsman

[BryanH]

Hey Ken - I'm no expert but given Harbor Freights quality, I'm wondering if you may have got a bum unit. What's your problem?  Is your media dry?  It took me awhile to get used to it, but basically you pick the nozzle size and then there are three valves settings that need to be adjusted. Check this media blaster thread out for details on how to set them.

[bubba]

I am using playsand, and it has been in the tank and sealed for awhile. It should be pretty much moisture free. I'll have a look at that thread, but basically it seems like it runs out of sand, even when its full. I'll get air, but no sand. I haven't tried it in a few months, but last time I got soo aggrevated,  I almost pushed it off the loading dock at work...

[Alecigio]

Bubba, the problem might be with the sand you are using. You should go to a NAPA or Carquest and get some recycled glass sand for sandblast. It is pretty cheap and works good. There are different grades. Soft, medium and extre rough. Medium should be fine, soft is more like dust. Good luck.

[bubba]

Really.... I thought it was just playsand...   '>   I tried an autoparts store we deal with at work, and they didn't have anything special. Guess I need to get to a bigger store...

Thanks