looking for a good small sandblaster

[katesaunders]

I'm interested in doing some sandblasting of small pieces of glass, probably only jewelry or tiles up to 6"x6".
I don't have room in my studio for the big set-up, but I could handle the smaller type. My air compresser should be able to handle the job (I use it for mica applications). There are so many varieties of small sandblasters out there and I don't have a clue which ones might be good for glass! Any suggestions? Thanks! Kate

[Tony Smith]

Hi Kate,

Take a look at the Bench Buddy from TPTools at http://www.tptools.com. It's a siphon blaster and works well for small pieces.

Tony

[Bev Brandt]

Hi Kate,

Take a look at the Bench Buddy from TPTools at http://www.tptools.com. It's a siphon blaster and works well for small pieces.

Tony

I'm thinking about sandblasting equipment too, so I'm following these threads. But I'm getting confused and I'm going to drag everyone else down with me, by golly!

Tony, the product you're talking about just a cabinet, correct? One would also need an air compressor as well and I noticed that my smaller air compressor wouldn't do the job for that particular.

I have a Porter-Cable pancake compressor from Lowes: http://www.lowes.com/lkn?action=product ... 5-5-120435 It was cheap and works to power a finish nailer just fine - its primary use. But I'm wondering if this particular air compressor would be up for the task of sandblasting small projects. If so, it might be an option for some people getting into sandblasting.

Then I assume one needs a cabinet and it looks as though cabinets have certain pressure needs. CDV also has some cabinets: http://www.cdvkiln.com/menusand.htm some of which look like they'll work with my size air compressor.

Then to complete the list of sandblasting equipment, one would need a method of dust collection such as a shop vac. Am I on the right track?

Is this what the beginning blaster needs, or am I still confused:
- Cabinet that's "big enough" for the specific work, whether it's jewelry or large panels
- Air compressor that's "big enough" to provide pressure for above cabinet
- Dust collection method such as a shop vac

Confusedly yours,
Bev

[charlie]

yes, you have the correct list of parts.

otoh, i built my blast cabinet. it'll hold a sheet of glass 32x24" or a bowl 18" deep. a sheet of mdf, some twobefores, a 12x20 piece of window glass, a pair of long gloves, and a shopvac adapter.

costs:
mdf: had
2befores: had
glass: had
gloves: hf blasting gloves. $6.50
adapter: home depot. $5.
paint: had
shop vac: had
small florescent droplight: had

it should cost you less than $40 if you can saw and nail/glue things together to make a cabinet.

i got the 40lb pressure pot from hf, on sale frequently at $80. a pressure pot requires less cfpm than a siphon blaster.

i then got the 29g vertical hf compressor. i can't recommend this since it broke after about 9 months, but it can provide 4.5 cfpm at 90 psi, which is quite enough to run the pressure pot. cost was $160 on sale. parts have to come from overseas (read as months for delivery ), so i might break down and buy another one to tide me over, fix this one when the parts come in, and sell it

so i can blast stuff for less than $250 outlay.

[BobB]

Doing a quick search on google I found this and many
more.

http://www.sonic.net/~mizamook/Blastcab.htm

and this one:

http://www.ford-trucks.com/articles/nov ... abinet.php

and this one tells about all the parts needed.

http://www.speedprint.com/Deves50/Sandblasting.html

Why buy when you can make your own?
Have fun.

BobB

[Tony Smith]

Tony, the product you're talking about just a cabinet, correct? One would also need an air compressor as well and I noticed that my smaller air compressor wouldn't do the job for that particular....

Then to complete the list of sandblasting equipment, one would need a method of dust collection such as a shop vac. Am I on the right track?

Is this what the beginning blaster needs, or am I still confused:
- Cabinet that's "big enough" for the specific work, whether it's jewelry or large panels
- Air compressor that's "big enough" to provide pressure for above cabinet
- Dust collection method such as a shop vac

Confusedly yours,
Bev

Bev,

Your pancake compressor will not work with a siphon blaster... While you might get 15 to 20 seconds of blasting at a time, you will quickly become frustrated with it... I would recommend a 5 HP compressor with a 25 to 30 gallon tank.

The Bench Buddy is a cabinet with a built in siphon blaster. Most cabinets have a siphon blaster built into them. The natural upgrade path is to add a pressure pot and feed its abrasive hose into the cabinet through the hole that would normally pass the air hose for the siphon blaster.

You are correct that you will need some sort of dust collection. A shop Vac with a good filter can work for awhile as a starting point, but eventually you should consider a real vacuum that is designed for handling abrasive such as TPTools Vac-36 which has two stage filtration including a HEPA filter. Exhausting the air from the vacuum to the outside would also help control the dust that makes its way into your lungs.

Hope this helps

Tony

[Bev Brandt]

[quote="Tony Smith
Hope this helps

Tony[/quote]

It absolutely does help. Thank you! I now understand how all of the pieces - compressor, blaster and cabinet and dust collection - work together.

And I kind of thought my husband's air compressor wasn't going to do the job. Oh well, at least he and I are of like mind - there's always room for more air compressors and tile saws and workbenches and...

- Bev

[Peggy C]

I've been investigating sandblasting equipment myself and came across some helpful info at http://www.glastar.com. Under a section called "Assembling your sandblast system", there are diagrams and explanations that make it all quite clear.
Best of luck,
Peggy

[Tony Smith]

I hope to have my "Sandblasting on a Budget" presentation on my website in the next few days... standby

Tony