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Author: Subject: Sandblasters are great!!!!!!!!!!
NS Dev

posted on 13/1/05 at 12:04 AM Reply With Quote
Sandblasters are great!!!!!!!!!!

Just finished making my DIY pressure-pot sandblaster/gritblaster.

It is AWESOME! Why oh why didn't I make one before!

It cost me £50 to build, most of which went on a big airline dryer to get clean dry air to the nozzle. The rest went on a tungsten carbide blasting nozzle, and 3m of michelin blasting hose.

I used an old CO2 cylinder from the tip (free) as the grit/pressure vessel. I cut a hole in the bottom (which is now the top) and welded on a 2.5" pipe spigot so I can screw in a 2.5" bsp pipe plug as a filler plug. I welded on a 1/4" bsp inlet near the bottom (now top) as the pressurisation inlet, and sawed off, then drilled and tapped to 1/4 " bsp, the old brass tap from the top. After welding up various t pieces and salaving a couple of 1/4" bsp 1/4 turn valves from the scrap bin at work, and piping it all up, I gave it a blast with some own dried builders sand. It blasted a complete manta wishbone from crusty scale to bright steel in about 30 secs all over................absolutely brill.

Downside, the 14cfm compressor I now have can only just keep pace, and the air filter/reg from machine mart now leaks like a cracked p1sspot!

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big_wasa

posted on 13/1/05 at 12:32 AM Reply With Quote
Sandblasting?

Any chance of a pic then?As it took me about 10 hours to do my cortina hubs with the bench top cab from screwfix

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scoobyis2cool

posted on 13/1/05 at 12:36 AM Reply With Quote
Is that grease on your brake discs? Don't think that's gonna help you stop...

Pete

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NS Dev

posted on 13/1/05 at 09:53 AM Reply With Quote
I'll try and get a piccy up soon. The difference is that the blast cabinets from xyz suppliers have a "siphon feed" gun, and these are really crap! (I had one and have now thrown it away!)

You need a pressurised grit feed, hence the gas bottle etc.

I'll try and get a piccy up tonight.

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Jeffers_S13

posted on 13/1/05 at 12:52 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by scoobyis2cool
Is that grease on your brake discs? Don't think that's gonna help you stop...

Pete


...least they wont squeak though

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Alan_Thomas

posted on 13/1/05 at 03:31 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by NS Dev
I gave it a blast with some own dried builders sand.


Be careful though the sand breaks down into silica dust which is highly carcengenic. A safer alternative, grant you not as cheap, is 'garnet grit'.

- Alan

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rusty nuts

posted on 13/1/05 at 07:05 PM Reply With Quote
Using builders sand is a big NO NO as already stated, might be cheap but not worth the risk , check out blasting media suppliers. Rusty
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MikeRJ

posted on 13/1/05 at 07:13 PM Reply With Quote
I presume that "sharp sand" is the one that causes the problem as it has lots of quartz in it? I suppose that the brown soft sand used for mortar won't work very well?
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wilkingj

posted on 13/1/05 at 11:15 PM Reply With Quote
Eye Shields, and a VERY FINE filtered breathing mask..

Sand will give you Sillicosis like what Miners used to get.

Its the fine silica dust that gets in the lungs.

As I said, Face Mask (breathing) and Eye protection as a minimum.

I am not even sure that would be enough. So read up and take more advice. Sandblasters are hazardous to your health.



[Edited on 13/1/2005 by wilkingj]





1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk

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Peteff

posted on 13/1/05 at 11:34 PM Reply With Quote
How did you dry the sand?

We used to buy blasting media ready bagged. You could get everything from cut wire to crushed walnut shells. If the sand was damp it was useless as it froze in the pipe.





yours, Pete

I went into the RSPCA office the other day. It was so small you could hardly swing a cat in there.

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NS Dev

posted on 14/1/05 at 08:46 AM Reply With Quote
So far I have only tested the blaster briefly. I have a 6 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot galvanised tank, which will have a sealed perspex top put on it, sealed gloves inserted from one side and foam filtered ai outlet vents. This is currently under construction and will keep the sand and dust safely away from me.

I do plan to use other media in the long term, but safety should not be a real issue with the tank and exit filters.

Peteff - I dried the sand in trays in my kitchen oven, only did 20kg for a start.

It was soft red building sand I used, and yes, it works brilliantly at a blast pressure of 115 psi it rips through 2-3mm thickness of crusted scaly rust in one sweep, back to bare steel, giving a nice matt finish.

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wilkingj

posted on 14/1/05 at 07:31 PM Reply With Quote
Sealed perspex top with soon get so scratched you cant see through it.

Get the spares depot number for Machine Mart, as they do a 14" sqaure (approx) stick on shield, ie stick it to the inside of your perspex, then tear it off and stick on another when you cant see through it any more.
and they are not that expensive.. I think they come is packs of 5.







1. The point of a journey is not to arrive.
2. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

Best Regards
Geoff
http://www.v8viento.co.uk

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NS Dev

posted on 14/1/05 at 07:34 PM Reply With Quote
Ahhh, nice one, Thanks for that!
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