Sandblasting Equipment

[BLB27]

I have a 1927 coupe. What type of sandblasting equipment is available for cleaning small parts I will encounter in restoring it? Is there such a thing as a "small" sandblasting unit? If so, where can such equipment be purchased?

[Jonah D'Avella]

I have the same problem. The setup I have is unreliable and costed like twenty bucks.

[Mark Gregush]

Without knowing what you mean by small parts, would be hard to make a recommendation size. Sand blasters are all over the place in size and price. What about the air compressor what are you planing on using? Sandblaster blast thru a lot of air. Try doing a google search and some research on what size you will think you will be needing. Just a heads up, don't use common sand, it contains silica which and lead to some nasty illnesses.

[CudaMan]

I already had a compressor and a shop vac, so I bought a "small" Harbor Freight floor standing, top loading blasting cabinet and 50 pounds of aluminum oxide media. It works great for me. You need the shop vac to pull a vacuum on the cabinet so that media doesn't get blown out of the lid seals. It does a much quicker and more thorough job than using a wire brush, either on a drill or a bench grinder.

I see that the cabinet they offer now is side loading, that would work fine if you have the room. I also see they offer a media reclaiming attachment, I may look into adding that to mine.

I also bought a floor standing parts washer from Harbor Freight, along with around 10 gallons of mineral spirits. Works great to clean the dirt and grease off of parts before blasting.

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=parts%20washer

https://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-cap ... 68893.html

I don't know what your budget is, but IMO these items will quickly pay for themselves in the time and effort saved.

[Jahn_Wright]

Start with a good air compressor--the "oil less" type wears out too soon, makes a lot of noise, and doesn't put out enough air. I had a 5-HP Sears unit with 60 gallon tank which often wasn't good enough. Siphon blasters are sized from desktop to 2-man units with prices to match. Lots of sources from Harbor Freight to Amazon, but be sure you can get replacement parts as nozzles and associated parts wear out. For large parts, find a commercial outfit or try the local monument works. Lots of information at https://www.tptools.com/ -- I have no association with them other than owning one of their older units. Wear respiratory protection! Pressure blasters are a complete topic themselves.

[Steve Jelf]

...don't use common sand, it contains silica which and lead to some nasty illnesses.

True, but there are two safe ways to use it. If you're blasting outside you can wear a hood with an outside air supply blowing into it. I made my hood from stuff on hand and use a shop vac for the air supply. The only thing I bought for my air supply was the hose.

Notice the tarp. I am cheap enough to collect the used sand, screen it, and add new sand to it.

The other safe way to use sand is with a blasting cabinet. The blasting happens inside the cabinet where it can't reach you.

Obviously, outside you can do large items that won't fit in a cabinet. Cabinet blasting has the advantage of being an indoor all-weather operation

Either way, blasting takes a lot of air and you need a big compressor. That's going to be the most costly thing to buy if you do your own blasting.

Compressing air condenses moisture. Water in the lines will put a stop to your blasting. So you need a moisture trap. I made mine from an old air bubble I bought for a couple of bucks at an auction. It also keeps water out of your air tools, of course.

[NU2theT]

As others have stated TP tools know their business and the only folks I deal with. The new 9736 Contender blast cabinet would be my choice if I did not currently have my pictured patriot cabinet. As Steve has pictured, I also am using the pictured 30 gallon accessory tank when blasting.

You want a cabinet coalescing moisture remover kit, #4260-01 and add a automatic low point tank relief (first picture) my relief. is set for 10 seconds every 15 minutes. I'm a big fan of the Quincy air compressors a 60 gallon a5HP 2-stage should be fine for small stuff, with my extra 30 gallon tank it's plenty but if I did not have that extra tank I would have got the 7.5 2-stage for my application.

Go for the optional HEPA vacuum, #VAC-50 as far as abrasives I have been using the speed bead that seems to cut quicker and very low dust in the cabinet. I also use the Gerson signature pro series dust respirator, hope this helps.

[Dan Hatch]

This is a blast cabinet

5559A074-9648-4E80-B296-60159ACCDB20.jpeg (29.09 KiB) Viewed 3083 times

[Dropacent]

IF your time is worth anything, IF your health is worth anything, paying someone to do it for you is the BEST investment you can can ever make. Costs less than buying the sand. Lots of small steel shops, machine shops, monument ( gravestone ) places all do it. It’s actually very dangerous to breath the dust, and homemade safety equipment doesn’t cut it for me. Where do you get the clean air to breathe, Steve ? Around here $50 will do a pickup load. You can’t buy a pallet of sand for anywhere near that. My same guy has a nice small blast cabinet inside, and I give him $20 an hour to use it. I only use that for glass bead. Save your back, save your lungs, please!

[Ken Buhler]

I got this old one from behind a shop with rusty scabs and bent legs. I ground and sandblasted it, then new powder coat, gun, proportioning valve and the other stuff. It has a bright light, vacuum, and three doors. I had the extension made so I can do bumpers or driveshaft tubes. The basket is just expanded screen wired together. Small parts don't fall out, just shoot in as you shake the basket.

[tdump]

50 bucks for a truck load for sandblasting? Where is this place?
I took a few peices ,a add on car trunk,couple fenders,running boards,it was 300 bucks just to blast!
I have a couple old plastic blasting cabinets. If you are buying a new 1,buy a metal 1!
Plastic is junk.
before my shop was even finished,there was a 5 hp 2 stage Quincy setting in the corner! I love that thing!BUT if you have the option,put the compressor outside the main shop in a little "outhouse" as the noise will drive you NUTS.
I would like to know more about that moisture filter made out of what looks like a propane tank?

[NU2theT]

IF your time is worth anything, IF your health is worth anything, paying someone to do it for you is the BEST investment you can can ever make. Costs less than buying the sand. Lots of small steel shops, machine shops, monument ( gravestone ) places all do it. It’s actually very dangerous to breath the dust, and homemade safety equipment doesn’t cut it for me. Where do you get the clean air to breathe, Steve ? Around here $50 will do a pickup load. You can’t buy a pallet of sand for anywhere near that. My same guy has a nice small blast cabinet inside, and I give him $20 an hour to use it. I only use that for glass bead. Save your back, save your lungs, please!

Auugh shucks, the Ralph Nader of Blasting cabinet fun has spoken gentlemen. To be fair this is a Car/Truck web site and I'll bet it's more dangerous to drive a car than it is to operate a blasting cabinet, with glass beads and or aluminum oxide. The sands should be left @ the beach.

Now I'm confused here, a procedure that is so dangerous we should sub out to other people putting them in "harms way" and yet in your last few sentences you pay "your guy" $20.00 and hour to use his. Come on Ace, give us a break

[Dropacent]

Don’t get your shorts twisted , friend. Yes, a $1000+ cabinet with a good vacuum system, probably a $5000 compressor. I’ll do it safe every day of the week. I’ll hand him a $20, sometimes he takes it, sometimes he doesn’t. Even with a good dust collector system, I always wear a good mask. Yes, Mack, they charge $75 an hour for anything. They’ll do a semi trailer or a pallet of parts, they don’t care. They have a guy who does it all day long. A big blaster can do a crap load of stuff in an hours time. Probably two pickup trucks worth! An hour east of me, they will do a whole T chassis and then powder coat it all black for a couple hundred bucks. Send me an email, I’ll give you directions to both places, and there are probably a half dozen others close by. I’ll bet there are similar close by about anyone.
Anyone wants to spend a couple thousand on a big compressor, and cabinet, have at it. You want to do it on the cheap, stand around while your compressor tries to keep up, wifey can watch the electric meter spin, put all kinds of shaky looking welds on a pressurized vessel you are standing next to, put a plastic bubble over your head, breath compressed air out of your oily old compressor, or maybe hook it up to your vacuum cleaner outlet instead, who the hell knows, have at it. Can’t live forever , I guess. Get some damp sand or debris in. Every town I’ve ever lived in had a sandblaster that’s set up for it. It’s a damn nasty job. I can take my couple hundred bucks a year, have someone else do the nasty, I’ll smile about it.
I’m an old man. I’ve had compressors, I’ve had cabinets for years, I’ve just found a lot easier way to do it now. You can’t get back all those minutes, searching for sand, hauling it home, Laying on an ice bag at night, then putting a rig together. Pulling your hair out when it clogs with something you missed, a piece of bag or wet sand.
Listen, this is just my experience and opinion. Someone wants to fell the tree with their daddies ax, dry the wood, turn the spokes, assemble a wobbly wheel, I can always appreciate the effort. I’m the ultimate doityerselfer, but just at the age where sometimes ( often ) it’s penny wise and pound foolish. Look it up.
Again, these are just my opinions. Take it or leave it, don’t get nasty about it.

[Pat Branigan Wisc]

I would recommend a pressure fed blast cabinet. You will use much less air and a much better and faster result. You will only have one hose with a nozzle on it that makes it easier to handle and get into tight areas than the most common siphon type cabinets.

[ivaldes1]

Steve Jelf, et al. You can use a refrigerator cardboard box, duct tape, a piece of plexiglass and some arm holes cut into the cardboard box to make a big, cheap sandblasting cabinet. I've done it before. It works. You are only limited by the size of the box you can get.

[Steve Jelf]

Where do you get the clean air to breathe, Steve?

Mostly it comes from Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Sonora, Baja California, and the Pacific. In the winter it often blows down from Canada. I expect it's just as clean as the air in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and points east.

[Dropacent]

As long as it goes through your shop vac first, you are good to go !

[Dan B]

Get an assortment of wire brushes, a good corded drill, and be done with it! A decent bench grinder with a wire wheel is also invaluable.

I did a frame off restoration on my car and never sandblasted one part.

[Dropacent]

Beautiful Dan! Lotta ways to skin a cat.

[Tmooreheadf]

I use a water pressure washer with $60 suction hose and blast nozzle attachment. Do it outside, no dust, can use sand. Surface rust appears quickly and needs to be primed immediately. Good for frames to small parts. Works ok for me. Only issue is the recovery of the media is almost non existent.