thoughts on buying a sandblasting cabinet for saw prep

[Definitive Dave]

Looking for opinions on a sandblasting setup for doing crankcases and other mag parts before sending them for powder coating. A lot of the crankcases I get are downright nasty (mike can tell ya). I would rather be able to clean them to a reasonable level before sending them off.
I am not really looking for a pro setup, I have a local Harbor Freight and wonder if their setup is adequate for a couple hours use on a monthly basis.
No idea what all is required.
Mike said to use black beauty media and my current air compressor is a 35 gallon model that runs the largest 1/2" Snap On impact with authority, but might not be enough for a blaster?
Any and all thoughts welcome, I would like to spend money once and not spend more than is necessary.
thanks
Dave

 

[olyman]

ANY! blasting equip.. pulls air!!! and can be bunches,, esp as the tip wears!! not a thing wrong with the HF ones....after all,,you aint blasting the inside of the cabinet directly,,and hopefully wont be using sand.....glass beads work well,,and are easy on stuff....

 

[srcarr52]

I haven't used Black Beauty media before but it seems to be a crushed glass which in my experience does not hold up as well as beads and etch the surface more.
Stay away from Black Bull media that you get at Harbor Freight or Farm stores, their "glass beads" is crushed glass and turns to dust in no time. I currently have this in my blaster and I wish I would have spent a little extra money for a better media.

I'd look for a used cabinet. Consumables and blaster parts are cheap, it's the cabinet that is costly. Most of the cheap cabinets are just vented, decent ones will have an air handler with them to pull the dust out of the cabinets. A cheap woodshop dust collector will work decent in a pinch and can be found used for cheap again. Some smaller cabinets use a shop vac but they do not have the CFM to clear larger cabinets.

Blast cabinets do not need a lot of pressure but they do need lots of volume. Any oil-less compressor will not stand a chance. You'll probably want to put a regulator on the cabinet that steps down your line pressure to around 90 psi or less. Anymore and the media breaks down faster. At 90 psi, you'll still need a lot of CFM. Sometimes the cabinets will have specs on the required volume per gun orifice size.

Check out Skat Blast or Trinco for more information.

The best blasters IMO are Trinco or Empire which have media recycling systems so they run off only a coffee can of blast media until it's pretty much dust.

 

[drf255]

Interested in this as well. Good Thread.

 

[1Alpha1]

My younger brother bought a sand-blasting cabinet from Harbor Freight several years ago. It's pretty good-sized but I don't know the actual interior size. Anyways, he's been happy with it. He's used it quite a bit and no problems.

He runs different types of media in it, as the job calls for. He has a typical up-right air compressor, 240V, 90 gal., 150 psi, two-stage I think.

 

[Definitive Dave]

my compressor is 110 I only have a 50 amp service to the garage
I checked out the Trinco site, that stuff looks hardcore professional.
I sent them an email. gotta check the other places mentioned still
Dave

 

[pioneerguy600]

I have this one, I bet its a lot like the Harbor Freight one you fellas can get in the States, it needs to be sealed well when putting it together cause they will leak dust no matter what medium you are using. It has two 5 hp,240v, 60 gallon DeVilbiss twin head compressors running air to it. They use a lot of air to do a good job on paint removal.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Dave, there is a brand new cabinet near me I can get you on the cheap.

 

[Mastermind]

I have a bench top HF model. After sealing it up.......it works great.

 

[fordf150]

I have a HF bench top too. When you assemble it buy automotive seam sealer and seal every possible joint. Seal the inside and the outside. I use an old shop vac for dust collection. Works ok at best. Glass beads are awesome for sheet metal and delicate items but won't remove even light surface rust. Black beauty is fantastic for aggressive rust/paint removal and the plus to it is it's only $20 per 50lb bag. No need to worry about it breaking down or not lasting at that price. Be careful on sheet metal and soft materials. IMHO you need 16cfm for even mild blasting but in the past I have used a 30 gallon 115v oilless compressor. 5 minutes blast time....20 min waiting on it to catch up

 

[Four Paws]

x2 on Skat Blast. They are local to Ohio. Check out TP Tools. Name brand stuff allows for readily available consumables. I bought mine used and love it. I made some modifications to it so it works better for me.

The orifice size in the gun (nozzle) dictates the volume of air you need.
If you are not interested in/able to upgrade your compressor, stick with a smaller unit. A 35 gallon compressor is probably only 6cfm@90psi. Size your purchase accordingly.

Run high quality glass beads to avoid pitting the magnesium.

 

[fordf150]

Run high quality glass beads to avoid pitting the magnesium.

That is what I was getting at with the comments about the black beauty. We use it to remove rust on frames and rocker panels. It is pretty aggressive stuff and digs into the steel. Can't imagine what it would do to mag cases especially with an inexperienced user.

Blasting is a skill when it comes to delicate parts

 

[Jacob J.]

When I got my blast cabinet- I was living about a mile from the old Hannah Nickel mine in Riddle, Or. That crushed Nickel is good media for fast rust and paint removal, but it's hard on soft, non-ferrous metals. It lasts a long time and was really cheap. I ran coal slag for a while and it does fairly well but creates a lot more dust.

 

[Justsaws]

The spec plate on your compressor will tell you how much time you will be waiting between blasting cycles. Do not know if HF gives any specs for the cabinets or not. ?CFM@90psi, the higher the CFM the less cycle time.

What types of line filters do you have on your compressor? Particulate, oil and h2o is what you would want for non ferrous blasting as there is no up side to impregnating tank rust into the alloy as it is being cleaned. You will find the rust later after it has made a nifty corrosion whole under your powder coated finish.

Glass bead. Glass bead. Glass bead.

Think about how you are going to remove the air and float particulate from the cabinet while blasting, the float particulate is what you do not want to be breathing or field spraying all over your shop. Some folks use a shop vac, some folks go nuts with hepa setups. Cheap folks put the shop vac outside the shop along with the blasting cabinet when in use.

Looks like HF says 9.5CFM@90PSI to operate. Also looks like about $160.00 plus tax at the store with the coupon. They have the filters so maybe a total price of $260.ish as long as you have a suitable compressor and dust extractor. Figure another $20.00 for a couple tubes of sealer, which the might also have. Did not look to see if they offer different size nozzle inserts, get a set of replacements when you get the cabinet.

For your specific use it should be fine, set it up right and it will be a blast to use. It is what I plan on having as well, it is on the looooooonng list of things I am sure I need at my house.

 

[raumati01]

I was talking to the guys at the paint shop and they suggested that paint stripper might be an option, the paint on saws is like glass and pretty hard to remove. I'll be interested to see what others have to say and I bought a powder coat kit and want to restore a few saws.

 

[Sty57]

x2 on Skat Blast. They are local to Ohio. Check out TP Tools. Name brand stuff allows for readily available consumables. I bought mine used and love it. I made some modifications to it so it works better for me.

The orifice size in the gun (nozzle) dictates the volume of air you need.
If you are not interested in/able to upgrade your compressor, stick with a smaller unit. A 35 gallon compressor is probably only 6cfm@90psi. Size your purchase accordingly.

Run high quality glass beads to avoid pitting the magnesium.

I fully agree on these, I've had one for years and love it.

 

[Definitive Dave]

wow thanks guys a lot of good info and offers and whatnot to absorb
Dave

 

[Sty57]

Your biggest thing is going to be the size of compressor you have. I have an 7 1/2hp 150 gal tank and mine still cycles a lot, just think of using a Blowgun for 10-20 min strait.

 

[Definitive Dave]

finding a decent compressor for a 110 hookup maybe a real chore

 

[fordf150]

finding a decent compressor for a 110 hookup maybe a real chore

use what you have. You will still get to blast for 2-5 minutes before the pressure drops to low. then it will be a waiting game for the compressor to catch up. Might even find a couple of old compressors with bad pumps and plumb the tanks together to get you more volume. when i had my cheap Farm & Fleet 60 gallon 9cfm compressor i plumbed in a 120 gallon tank for blasting. when i restored my 77 f150 i blasted everything on the truck....frame, axles, cab(inside and out), core support( i got tired of wasting time and sent the bed out to be blasted by someone with the proper equipment)....all of that with a $500 compressor plumbed with the 120 gallon tank as additional storage. The added benefit of plumbing in extra tanks is that if you pull the air from the last tank in the series there is less water/oil for your filters to catch but extra tanks increases the recovery time