Suction Sandblasting Kit

[sargentrs]

Anybody ever used one of these? http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... 3137_23137 Just tried it out and I'm not impressed. Maybe I'm doing something wrong. Got plenty of air, 110 psi at about 8 cfm. Got good air pressure coming out of the nozzle. Stuck the tube in a bag of play sand. Shot sand good for about 2 seconds then just air. Seemed to blast a little longer if I just snatched the trigger over and over about once per second but even then only got about 30 seconds of sand then just air. Pull the tube out of the bag and sand runs out of it so it was getting some in there. Any opinions?

[fordman]

the sand you are using is probably too course. and it clogged up the blaster. i am guessing.

[sargentrs]

Probably. That's what I get for trying to save money I reckon. I guess I'll have to buy "blast media". Thanks.

[stephen44]

i find that even if i buy play sand - I still have to sift it - so it does not block - I use a sheet of window screen material - it goes without saying that any moisture will cause clumping

[Whateverman]

the play sand is likely too coarse ,usually use silica sand for sand blasting- its a little lighter than play sand - it also clumps up worse due to moisture

[sargentrs]

So where do ya'll get your blasting media? Order it and have it shipped or can you get it locally? My local home improvement/lumber supply don't carry it. All input appreciated!

[sargentrs]

Thanks Robroy! That was going to be my next question. Have a friend who'll loan me his pressure pot blaster so my next search was going to be what type of media. I don't have heavy, flaky, rust, fortunately, but I do want to make short work of it. I was perusing Northern Tool and saw that Black Diamond media and the price was right. Glad to hear it was available at Tractor Supply as there's one not too far from me. Another friend had recommended glass bead media but it's a little pricey and I feel I'll be going through a substantial amount. I had started cleaning my frame with a cup brush on a grinder and was able to remove most rust with a quick swipe. However, the areas around the spring hangers, cross members, etc do not lend themselves to wire brushing very well. Thanks for your input and reference!

[hdpusher]

Pull the media feed hose off the gun and look at the position of the airjet. I had the same set up and the air jet was forward partially blocking the passage for the media into the gun. Unable to move it back I ground down part of it to assist the free flow media and it def helped.

[sargentrs]

Thanks HD! Makes sense. I'll check that out.

[sargentrs]

Well, at least it came in handy. A friend loaned me his portable blaster. It was his dad's and he got it when his dad died a couple of years ago. Hasn't been used in 20 years. It's just a plastic pot with wheels and hose comes from the bottom to the gun. Kinda looks like this HF one http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-a ... 37025.html Anyway, the gun wouldn't work so I took the suction pipe off mine, hooked the hose to the bottom of the pot and it worked like a charm. I went to the local tractor supply and got 150 lbs of their fine blend, http://www.tractorsupply.com/tools/sand ... b--3907798 Blasted for about 5 hours but it got too hot for this old fat man so I quit for the day. Got one side done, the cross members across to the other side and about 2/3 of the inside of the opposite channel. Taking the day tomorrow for church and R&R and then back on it bright and early Monday morning. On vacation this week and the goal is to get the frame blasted, POR-15'd and painted Eastwood Chassis Black. Then start cleaning on the front and rear suspension parts.

[Ranchero50]

I've found suction sand blasters only work if you can pull air and sand up the tube together. Bury the tube in the sand and it doesn't work real well, make a hole and lay it in sideways so the sand that you blast recycles back down to the suction hose and it works well. If it blocks, give the suction hose agood yank with the air off and it'll work again. PITA. You have to flip the sand on occasion so the fines work there way to the bottom of the jug.

Jamie

[robroy]

Good day Randy!

I'm glad to hear that the Black Diamond stuff worked out well! Can't beat $8 per 50 pounds, right?

Five hours is a long time to sand-blast. I can relate to how HOT it gets, and the more safety gear you have on, the worse that is!

Robroy

[sargentrs]

Thanks for insight Jamie! Tractor Supply has a much better suction blasting gun that features a vent tube and a much larger hose. Now that I've used my friend's portable, it's a Sears model, I won't be going that route again, though.

Happy 4th to you Robroy! Just finished blasting today. Another quality 4 hours. Got an earlier start today. Also got smarter and picked up one of those white paint suits and wore shorts and a T-shirt under it. Even with that, respirator mask, safety glasses, ball cap and a face shield that stuff got everywhere! I still can't figure out how it got IN my socks and down my back. But she looks a lot better now. Took a total of 7 bags and about 9 hours 'cause she was so cruddy and I take frequent rehydration breaks. I thought I had it scrubbed down pretty good with the purple power and the pressure washer but after blasting on it, some of the crud still had to be scraped and then reblasted. Glad that's done though. Tomorrow I plan to pressure wash it again, with Purple Power, and then wipe it down with laquer thinner. Wednesday should be ready for POR-15!

Thanks to all who posted tips and tricks!

[fordman]

so what did you blast? just the frame or the whole rolling frame? and it took 9 hours to do it all? or is there still the axles and springs left to do?

[sargentrs]

Just the bare frame, fordman. And yeah, I've still got all the parts to do. It took so long because of the equipment, inadequate cleaning and the fact that I'm old, fat and lazy I do pretty good for the 1st couple of hours but then I need to take frequent breaks. Can't hang with it like I could 30 years ago, or even 10 years ago. Didn't get started on the 1st day until about 10am because my wife and grandkids decided they needed to sleep in and she flat out told me if I woke them up she'd kill me. By 12 it was unmercifully hot, for me (about 95*), and I'd need to stop about every 30 mins and cool off and rehydrate. By 2pm it was murder and I could only handle 20 mins without cooling down. Cheap equipment meant I went through nozzles pretty quickly and had to stop and change them. I was pretty surprised at how fast I could go through 50 lbs of media and refilling took a couple of minutes. Second day I started by 8:30 and I was still in the shade until 10. That was more pleasant. Took a little time to flip the frame and had a shaky moment when it started to roll toward the garage as I was flipping it. Had to holler for help I've got a sloped driveway and had it pushed up to the middle and wheels blocked. When I had it halfway flipped cart, hoist and all started rolling down hill. Lost another 30 mins getting it flipped over and pushed back up the drive. Should have been more diligent with cleaning, especially around the front cross member. As I blasted that I saw all the caked on crud the blaster wouldn't take off so I had to scrape it and then blast some more. Since I was doing it in the driveway, I had extensive cleanup which I include in the time. With all the circle jerking I probably only spent about 5-1/2 hours actual blast time and tried to do a pretty thorough job. If it wasn't for needing the hoist to flip it I would have pulled it around to the backyard, been in the shade and said to heck with cleaning up the sand that fell.