not entirely OT - need shopping advice

I have one that I'd like to get rid of, it's the Harbor Freight version. $50 + shipping... used just a few times before I realized I wanted/needed a bigger cabinet.

Cabinet is in Lexington, SC.

Lee

Judy...

1st- be sure your compressor is "big" enough. You need at least 60 gallons, and 9+ CFM @ 90lbs. Otherwise, you tax the compressor to death... and have to keep stopping to wait for it to catch up.

The 2nd thing with these cabinets is lighting... It is very hard to see when the dust flies. The first thing you need to do is buy (2) indoor/outdoor floodlight fixtures (single-bulb)... and use the heavy-duty 300-500 watt FLOOD lights. Don't use the SPOT-lights.

For small-stuff... you probably won't miss having a vacuum... but if used alot... you will need some kind of dust-collection system. A shop-vac will NOT do the job for long. I don't care what filters you use- it will eat the motor up- since the air/dust that gets by the filter (and it will) goes through the motor. I don't know what idiot thought that was a good idea.... The amount of light provided above- will let you see what you are doing very well- even without a great vacuum.

For "cheap" sand... go to K-mart/Lowes, etc... and just get Play-Sand (washed). You might have to spread it out in the sun to dry real well before using (PITA- but cheap).. Otherwise, find a local production sandblaster and buy a 50# or 100# bag of the FINEST sand he has. This should be graded and perfectly dry. I think I pay ~$6.00/ 100# bag...

Ray

Judy Sauer wrote:

Thanks for the info - we actually have three compressors in the house (talk about overkill), one is a monster tank in the garage. I plan on running a line from it to the shop out back. The store also has a cabinet light on sale for $7

It is primarily for small stuff - we have a crawl space full of small parts which should be cleaned up, tested, identified and/or trashed.

I have a really stupid question at this point. Where does the sand feed from? I mean, I know it comes out of one of the hoses on the gun, and the air propels it, just like a paint gun, but in these cabinets, where's the siphon pot? Is it siphon? Does the sand recirculate? I've only ever used the industrial at the U-Blast - I don't ask questions, I just blast.

j

Studeman wrote:

that light is worth about 1/2 that price..... go with the HD outdoor lights....

It recirculates at the bottom. The "bottom" under the screen is an upside-down pyramid.

Ray

sand IS DANGEROUS.. silicosis or some such.. VERY good air filter for you needed. Harbor Freight sells 25 or 50# of glass bead for sandblasting, makes a pretty good finish on aluminum, and great on metals otherwise. I used to sand blast alternator windings with glass bead.. you can even with some practice blast paper safely.. (starter windings on a Ford Starter)

--Shiva--

yes, yes.. bottom under the screen is a funnel shape and there is the pick up place for the sand --Shiva--

Sounds like I should be wearing a mask when I blast - they don't supply them at U-Blast, but then everything is vaccuum sealed and suctioned to within an inch of it's life. I won't have quite the same set-up. There is a filter on the box. Went down and had a look at it today - they were prepared to honour next week's sale price today, so I had them load it up. Of course, the one thing I forgot to buy..........sand.

snipped-for-privacy@notanywhere.net wrote:

I thought glass was sand (:-)

yes, but a lot of impurities removed to make glass.. the glass bead is uniform size and doesnt have (IMO) the dust/dirt/shattering that regular river sand does. THe glass bead we used was 80 grit, and it could and was also used in making the reflective stripes on the highway.

River sand if you wash it has a lot of dirt on it, which when blasted makes a nice dust cloud.. plus it breaks down pretty quick. Watched an outside sand blaster once, had a 2" line feeding the air/sand mix, was peeling stuff off of brick work on a building. had twin V8's.. one driving the second, the second being the air compressor. It was taking like 100-150# of sand a minute to do this, too

--Shiva--

I use crushed austrailian garnet from corrosion specialities in atlanta, ga.

I've been using this stuff from Northern Tool

"Black Diamond Blasting Abrasive

Works with all blasting equipment to remove paint and rust or to clean brick and stone. 30-60 fine grit. Safe and cleaner to use. Offers an 80% recoop of material that does not absorb water. U.S.A. "

Jeff DeWitt

I picked up two tractor tires outside of Terre Haute, IN where this stuff is made. The guy I bought the tires from said that he buys the stuff we pay $10/bag for for $30/ton. He doesn't even reuse it, just blasts it out onto his property. I think they shut down their operation though, he said something about it getting hard to buy and was going to break out his big blasting cabinet.

The stuff has a good "tooth"... I let this stuff go through my shopvac and it landed on my Hawk... imbedded in the paint just by sitting on it. I had to claybar my car to get it out. Lesson learned, buy the microfiltration bags at Lowes... they're vacuum cleaner bags used for sanding drywall. Duct tape the back side of the bag and nothing makes it through.

Lee