Compressor for sandblasting

[refit1701]

I have got to get my truck finished!! My buddy's shop has an ancient compressor which only gives us about 2 minutes of sandblasting before a 10+ min recovery time.

He has a smallish sandblasting pot, nothing huge. What size compressor do I need to rent to run the thing?

We need to blast the cab, bed and more misc parts. I may even blast my Pioneer trailer while we are at it.

I would just buy one but money is tight these days....especially after buying the new m37....

[MSeriesRebuild]

I have got to get my truck finished!! My buddy's shop has an ancient compressor which only gives us about 2 minutes of sandblasting before a 10+ min recovery time.

He has a smallish sandblasting pot, nothing huge. What size compressor do I need to rent to run the thing?

We need to blast the cab, bed and more misc parts. I may even blast my Pioneer trailer while we are at it.

I would just buy one but money is tight these days....especially after buying the new m37....

A good blasting rig, even a rather small one will gulp a huge volume of air very quickly as you have already seen with your friends rig.

You will need to know what volume and PSI delivery your blaster needs in order to operate as it should, then chose a compressor that has the capability to sustain it. Anything less will leave you constantly waiting more than you are blasting. Not something you will want to do if rentiing, you will be paying lots of rent on the waiting time.

[Nickathome]

Definitely find out how much air the blaster uses before deciding on the compressor.

Just a guess here but I'd say unless you have a compressor that puts out about 10CFM minimum, you will be waiting more than you're blasting. Its one reason I dumped my old Sears 33 gallon compressor. I think it only put out about 6 or 7 CFM at 90 PSI if that much. I could deplete the tank in about 30 seconds with my pressure blaster, then it would take a good five minutes or so to air up again. Needless to say that compressor now resides in my neighbor's garage. He only uses it to fill car tires and blow debris out of his garage, so for that its perfect. I now have a 60 gallon Ingersoll rand unit that puts out 11CFM. I only used the blaster with it once since I've had it, but I have noticed a big difference. I can almost run it continuously.

[m37jarhead]

After years of fighting all of the above mentioned sandblasting problems I finally broke down and bought a big compressor from Home Depot. About $600 but it sure does the job and I couldn't be happier after all the years
I put up with on numerous Mickie Mouse set ups. Here's the stats:
220 V., 7HP, 60gallon tank, will hold 10.3 CFM at 90 psi. If you do a lot
of work on old vehicles, this is the ONLY way to go. With a rig like this
you can almost blast continuously at 90psi and indefinitely at lower
psi.

[refit1701]

All this advise is very helpful. I personally have a 60 gal, 10.2@ 90psi compressor here at the house which is not hooked up due to our current situation (rolls eyes).

But my bud has a 40 year old setup and I am trying to get him upgraded but it is like leading a horse to water.

I will probably have to bite the bullet and just rent a compressor for a day or two and get the work done so we can move forward on my truck.

[8543bob]

GOOD MORNING ALL,
I HAD A GUY COME IN WITH A PANEL TRUCK, TOWING A COMPRESSOR AND BLASTER, SAND WAS IN THE TRUCK, I LEFT HIM FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS, CAME BACK AND HE HAD DONE THE WHOLE TRUCK, CAB, BED, RIMS, THE WHOLE THING. $300. CK OUT YOUR LOCALS AND IT MAY SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY.

[Oddjob]

The people with the portable media blasting is a good way to go... If you can hand out the cash and you have a place to do it at... I'm very seriously thinking about doing this for the bed and body and leaving the frame for myself... There are even places you can take it too that might even be a little less expensive so long as you don't need it in a rush...

On another note I was just doing some parts for another project this weekend and it's just a long and dirty process... Especially when under powered... Which I am... I will say if you get a sandblasting rig make sure you pick up an extra nozzle they do wear out...

[MSeriesRebuild]

Don't know if you have considered soda blasting, so I'll add this. I would recommend against using soda. We have not used it at all on our projects, based on what happened to a friend of mine, I'm glad too. He couldn't get any primer to adhere to the metal after numerous cleanings. Finally had to sand blast his body over again to get rid of the soda residue. My friend is an experienced body tech with many years in the field, the soda blasting was done by professionals with a portable rig. They have been here wanting to do blasting for us, but we never traded with them.

[Carter]

Charles, thanks for the info on soda blasting, never realised that it resulted in a surface that wouldn't hold paint. Good stuff to know.

When I blasted my truck's frame and other parts I rented a large compressor and pot, got a bulk load of Black Beauty and went to work using a fresh air supplied hood that was also rented from the same folks. it took longer to move the parts around and keep the pot full than it did to blast everything. The drawback to this way of doing it is you need a place to do the work that won't piss off the neighbors with the noise, dust and grit blowing everywhere.



For blasting smaller parts I have this compressor that I got a while back. 220V, 5HP, 17.5 CFM at 175 PSI. with a 60 Gal tank. It wasn't cheap but now there is no more wating for the tank pressure to recover. I bought a 40# capacity pressure blast unit from Tractor Supply to go with it and now blasting is quick, easy and thorough.

[refit1701]

I had also read about the problems with soda when researching. Sand is the only way to go.

We are looking at all options and since the weather guessers can't seem to agree on what will happen on any given day, I have a little more time to plan.

It seems we are permanently locked into the cold and rainy weather.

[rickv100]

I ran into the same problem with air compressors. Following a tip, I purchased a 3phase 5hp compressor off of Ebay for about $300. 3phase tends to scare people off so they tend to go cheaper.

I then swapped out the 3phase motor for a 5hp single phase air compressor rated motor.

Total cost was about $500 but it was a cast iron 2 stage unit with intercooer between stages and 60 gallon tank. Air supply has been no problem.

I kept the 3phase motor in case I ever want to build a phase converter.

Rick

[hbb]

adding addition air storage or air tank in line will help at times!
hb

[Josh]

this is the one I plan to get, and is the same as the $800 one at lowes, just rebadged.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200396621

[refit1701]

adding addition air storage or air tank in line will help at times!
hb

My friend already has two tanks. His compressor is just too old and small.

[refit1701]

this is the one I plan to get, and is the same as the $800 one at lowes, just rebadged.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200396621

That looks good. A few cfm's better than mine! Good price!