[Bob Carriere]

Speaking from experience.....


Get the 10hp compressor with a large horizontal tank....Princess has one..... like others have said get a big one and get only one... I had to change the motor to single phase... draws about 60amps on start up..... you need a good service panel. Please install the compressor away from you work site... use 1 inch steel pipes to bring the air to the work area... they sound like a harley Davidson when they start... fine if you do not mind jumping unexpectedly... mine is in the attic of the barn Thank God for hte foresight.....

For sand blasting stick to a 100 pounds pressure tank again from Princess..... Yes it will last only about 10 to 12 minutes... but on a hot summer day... wearing a plastic coated hood and a dust mask even with air pumped inside the hood you will be glad to take a break every 12 miinutes to reload. Keep you sand blasting to small parts.... well relatively small parst like rims... bumber brackets..... rear fairleads that weight about 75 pounds....

Build yourself a steel table outside to put the parts on.... wood will not last....

Invest in a needle gun.... again from Princess.... you would think I live there.... my wife thinks so!!!! comes in handy to remove heavy scale like what I found inside my rims....cake don old rubber, cotton fabric and rust cakes...... sandblasting would be a waste of time......

Watch the sales and get the small cabinet at $222 or so and use aluminun oxide it cuts fast...leave little pitting....you will need to by a dedicated small shop vacuum to install to remove dust/fumes and it willnot last long sucking aluminum oxides dust.... mine is still running... a year old..... and buy new large and longer rubber gloves the OEM will not last long they rip at the sew in extensions.....

For the hull of the UC or other large objects like a frame etc..... either trailer the parts to a shop to have it done in a day or rent a large diesel/gas rotary compressor and suitable large large pot.

Around Ottawa blasting a frame while you wait is about 250 to $300.... shop the rural areas that do work on trcuks or old farm tractors.

I did my own frame and spent almost $200 in white quarts sand and it is a hard and hot job..... personaly I would not do it again and by the way I still have to do the axles.... had I trcuked the frame over it would have been done all at once.

The small pot is almost necessary for all the other smallparts... the odd ammo box you will find later... a new headlight pot you just got for $2 bucks at a flea market, etc.

One final caution......If you are married.... please think of undressing behind the barn and dumping the sand out of your shorts before going into the house to have a dumpster.... or at the very leat you will be vacuuming the washroom floor.....

I still can't figure out how sand can get into my ears... while wearing a hood equipped with a seperate air supply...... twoline running one to the hood and one to the pot take a lot of CFM.. therefore 10hp....

Wear long heavy jean shirt....tape your cuffs with electrical tape....take of the watch.... wear heavy winter insulated gloves so if you move a part and you hand gets in the way.... you can feel it...... pinches like hell......

Have a good time... watch your lungs NO Matter what medium you use and if you are lucky your work area will look like a Winter scene by the end of July........

Remember it is only a hobby...... so says my wife!!!

Bob C.