Portable Sand Blaster - Any Good?

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Has anyone bought and used one of these portable sandblasters? It has a 37 Litre (18 US Gallon) capacity and runs at 60-125 PSI.

I would like to sandblast a chassis and firewall; plus some steel 20 inch radius truck rims.

There are larger capacity versions of the same style of unit available.

Would this machine be up to the task?

Kind regards
Lionel

[rob love]

It won't be the sandblaster that will cause the limitation on what you can accomplish, it will be the air supply. You need a very good supply of air. I have a 7.5hp 2 stage compressor, and it does not quite keep up with the sandblasting operations.



If you do have a good air supply, then a pressure pot like you show is a little on the small side, but will get the job done. And, of course, make sure you use a good mask with particulate filters.

[hrpearce]

Lionel, that is the sand blaster I used and as Rob said keeping the air up to is is the problem. When I had three compressors hooked up to a 60L air tank it ran fairly well, but as Ganmain Tony can confirm when the biggest compressor blew up we had to constantly stop to recharge the air tank.

[paulnewman]

Hi,
I have one like that.As stated keeping the air up is the problem so I hooked up a 85cfm compressor to it and made a lot of difference. The problems now are the brass tap on the bottom that controls the sand only lasted a short time,the sandblaster hose wore out very quick so I put a double braid hydraulic hose on it and the sandblaster nozzle assembly wore out so I use the old nozzle off a wet sandblaster unit I had. Cleans quick but a dirty job. Old heavy raincoat gloves and an full hood air fed mask a must.

[Mike K]

Lionel

For the larger pieces like a chassis and wheels/axles and more , do it yourself blasting ,its not a easy operation for the back yard restorer. If you can find a commercial blaster nearby who is reasonable, use them. It's a dirty, messy and very noisy process. You have to buy the correct blast medium as well, most of them use garnet I think. If you do try it, use good ear/hearing protection. I use a local chap, he charges very reasonable rates. You drop off a whole trailer load of bits and he blast and primes it all, usually he charges $100 to 150 which is a great deal. Last time I was at his place, he was blasting the local RSL 25 Pndr . Used to be a Stuart hull there too and a bren carrier

[rob love]

Personally, 6 inches below the soil here, it is all sand. Two buckets full with the tractor, and I have enough for the season. I have to let it dry, then sift it through an appropriate screen. I reuse it a couple times until it is getting too fine, then use fresh from the pile.

If you are buying sand (or whatever medium you decide to use), it does tend to make the whole operation cost just as much or more than taking it to the local blaster. I could not imagine trying something like this in a residential area.

[Russell Boaler]

I have one of these sand blasting units and have used for a number of years. It's great for smaller items but if you're planning to blast large items make sure that you've got pleanty of time on your hands and a good supply of blasting grit at hand. I sand blasted a whole RL bedford cab with mine... it took a couple of weekends. As it is a small unit it doesn't chew through heavy paint or heavy rust particularly fast.

All previous feedback applies... a good air supply is very important as well as some good dry sand or garnet. If the sand isn't dry or the is any larger bits in it the bottom valve can block. The nozzles and control valve can wear out over time.

I took to re-cycling the sand as my supply was limited... buying garnet can be expensive but it's more effective than other products in my view. A good clean work area where you can sweep up the sand and then seive it worked ok. Downside of doing this as the process gets a lot more dusty and the blasting process can take longer. A good hi quality face mask is important. Be prepared to get dirty.

[Tony Smith]

DON'T use sand! Silicosis is a cruel and lingering killer.

Lots of suppliers are out there to supply various abrasive media; Garnet, Rutile, Al Oxide, Silicon Carbide, even Soda (granulated Bi-Carb). All depends on what you're cleaning and what finish you want. But never use sand.

[rob love]

While I fully understand the danger of silicosis, with proper precautions the threat is manageable. An air supplied helmet is best, otherwise a tightly and properly fitting respirator will do the trick.



There is not a lot of difference between the dust of sandblasting and being the rear-most M113 in a company of carriers traveling along the fireguards in Shilo, with the exception that I have proper respirator or air supplied hood when I am sandblasting. In the military we usually got nothing but our combat scarf.

[Mike K]

I would invest in a cabinet , or maybe build a cabinet, lots of plans out there .

I do have a small cheap generic SCA brand cabinet , I use it for spark plugs and other small items and its been a handy thing. SCA also sells bags of the abrasive , black stuff. Super Cheap Auto .... do they sell anything that is not made in China

[Lynn Eades]

I have a vacuum blast cabinet. Probably a good unit, but older now.
The vaccuum system is a bit touchy, I imagine a pressure system is better. I find it painfully slow. I have a 12 cfm compressor. It is about the biggest single phase unit on the market and it runs out of puff very quickly. You need a 3 phase compressor or a diesel powered outfit. The other thing I could do, is to hook in a second compressor.
Anyhow Lionel, my advice is to take your chassis, wheels, and other big bits, to the commercial people. Otherwise (I believe)you will decide that your life is too short to waste it holding a near useless gun for hours and hours.
In support of Tony's comments, It is illegal to use silica sand for blasting in N.Z.(in a business situation)
I'm not saying dont buy that set up. You can do the small stuff that the commercial guys might loose while they are trying to chase it around the floor.
My outfit managed to loose one of my carrier suspension springs. This was years ago, when they did it outside. That doesn't happen any more.

Sorry Guys. I don't know why the pictures are upside down (i'm not trying to favour the northern hemisphere guys)

[Tony Smith]

Hey, Lionel.

No specific mention of a sandblster in the listing, but there's an interesting auction in Bundy this weekend with lots of workshop equipment: https://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/bund...cks/1252473810

I see some good stuff in the pics!

[rob love]

Let me try.

[Lynn Eades]

Thanks Rob. It looks so much easier to use that way up.
Btw. the lid lifts on this one so that heavy stuff can be lowered in.

[charlie fitton]

I have one of these very inexpensive sandblast kits that mount on the end of your pressure-washer wand.

Bigger pressure washer is better, but it works well enough to do a few wee jobs. I did a few rims while still mounted on the boat trailer.

Yes - things will rust quickly, to state the obvious. Wipe it down and get the paint on...

[Jacques Reed]

Hi Charlie,

I may have posted this before but this is the chemical we used on ships with our industrial water blaster. Really was great stuff. We water blasted the holds, let the steel dry overnight with fans then painted the next day. No flash rust ever.

Available in Australia too through Wattyl paints and I have 4 litres that has lasted me many years.

Only need a small amount of this in water. I use about a teaspoon in 5 litres. On the ship we had a means of injecting it with the water. After I remove rust be it by molasses, acid, etc I dunk the parts in the solution, let it dry and I can wait even a few days before painting. Again, no flash rust.

Cheers,

[Chris Abraham]

I use a large Wolf Dakota 90 litre 14cfm compressor. I built my own pressure pot from a large Co2 fire extinguisher. Runs like a dream, pressure pots are so efficient. The biggest draw back is not overheating your compressor. With the Dakota you can use it continuously for 12 tank charges but i found that if you get a blower directed on the cylinder of the compressor then you can run it as long as you want without damaging it, as the blower cools it right down. Another trick is to make a pipe system about 6 or 8 upward runs about 2 metres each section that act as a moisture trap which can be drained off after use. You will be surprised how much trouble moisture in a blasting system can cause, a must to build and use.

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello All,

Has anyone bought and used one of these portable sandblasters? It has a 37 Litre (18 US Gallon) capacity and runs at 60-125 PSI.

I would like to sandblast a chassis and firewall; plus some steel 20 inch radius truck rims.

There are larger capacity versions of the same style of unit available.

Would this machine be up to the task?

Kind regards
Lionel

Hello All,

It is has been quite some time since I first posted about the portable sand blaster. I saw one advertised second-hand on a local "Marketplace" and it was for a reasonable price. Supposedly bought new and never used - as the person was waiting for inspiration to get into their motor vehicle restoration. Inspiration exited the building so they put the blaster up for sale.

I just needed to buy a $10 connector so it hooked up to my air compressor hose. Plus, I replaced the unit's el-cheapo hose clamp with a better version and the only air leak was fixed. Oh - and I had to remove a mud-wasp's nest from the air inlet port. Luckily the inlet tap was turned off.

I am aware from your earlier contributions to this thread that I will be on the market for a more "professional" grade ceramic nozzle in the near future. However, I am still in front of the cost of a new unit.

The first use of the unit will be to strip the rust and paint from a truck chassis. After that a couple of ex-military Land Rover chassis too. There are also two sets of truck tyre rims off the REO and the Chevy - both with a dual rear axle; plus spares to blast and restore.

Kind regards
Lionel