For sand blasting to do it properly you need a large volume air compressor
( like 10 - 12 cfm minimum), if you are only doing it sometimes it might be
worth while to look into shops that rent out a stall. There is a
compressor company in Calgary that allows hourly rentals of industrial type
sand blasters. They charge $ 20.00/hr and you get an open air stall with
hose, nozzle and unlimited air and sand I believe. If you have a big
project once in a while it is more cost effective to rent the blaster
instead of the capital outlay for a huge compressor that you end up only
using twice a month to fill tires or will use for a total of 3-4 hrs a week
after the big project is done.
You can definitely buy a hobbyist sand blaster and use a small compressor
but be ready to wait alot for your compressor to recharge.
All that said, I have a 20 gallon single stage noisy 5 hp compressor for
air tools ( and wish it was a 2 stage quite 60 gallon monster) but
wouldn't dream of using it for sand blasting unless I was much more
patient.
Malcolm McKean
----------
> From: Ken Landaiche <ken_landaiche@dlcc.com>
> To: shop-talk@Autox.Team.Net
> Subject: Sand Blasters (branched off of the monthly compressor thread)
> Date: Friday, August 21, 1998 3:16 PM
>
>
> I recently used a sand blaster for the second time to make some funky
> half-shafts look like new metal. A sand blaster is some tool for
> restoration! And I want one. The one I used was very simple, just a
> cylindrical tank for the sand, a siphon hose from the bottom of that to
> a handle, which also had the hose from the compressor. I ran it with my
> friend's million horsepower Sears compressor and found that I had a
> minute or two to blast before the tank ran down enough to halve the
> blaster's effectiveness, waited for the tank to fill, etc. The owner
> also said the blaster's ceramic tip was very worn, cutting the unit's
> effectiveness.
>
> So what should I look for in sand blasters? I would much rather have a
> cabinet to contain the sand. But does that limit me too much? In the
> '70s I used a blast cabinet once at the university metal shop. What
> media might a restorer find need for? You know, tell us all.
>
> Ken Landaiche
>
> PS Should I have posted this to Sansblasters@autox.team.net?
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Trevor Boicey [SMTP:tboicey@brit.ca]
> >
> > The cfm rating is the rate at which the compressor can deliver
> > air effectively forever. The tank is a temporary buffer, like
> > a capacitor in electronics.
> >
> > This is important for things like sandblaster or painting,
> > where you use a lot of air for a long time.
> >
> > --
> > Trevor Boicey, Ottawa, Canada.
> > tboicey@brit.ca, ICQ #17432933
> > http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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