Can anyone help with my sandblast setup?

T

Tombo26

Joined
Jun 4, 2014
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Hey guys. I'm having issues with the media flow on my sandblast cabinet. I'm ignorant with this stuff, so my setup is amateurish, at best. Maybe some of the more experienced guys can check out my video and make recommendations? I basically have to blast in short bursts, as opposed to pulling the trigger and spraying. It seems like the nozzle flows smoother that way, but it takes forever. I'm sure I have multiple mistakes in the setup lol, so feel free to pint them all out. I definitely don't wanna mess with a bigger compressor, or 220V though. So hopefully the size isn't the issue. Please check out my Youtube video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MdvHDd78Jo
 
I skimmed your video, I didn't see any glaring issue, but I'm curious how many CFM that compressor is rated for, at what PSI, and what your regulator PSI is set at.

If you have to blast in short bursts, the chances are you don't have enough air volume moving to blast continuously. That might not necessarily mean you can't blast with your compressor, but you'll have to do it at a reduced pressure, and likely with a smaller blast orifice.
 
Here are the specs on the compressor. I did take the tube out of the media, and just blew air. It seemed to have good, constant pressure. I'm wondering if I need a much lighter(?) media? The line does get moisture in it fairly quickly as well, so I might need to find a better water separator?



20160713_153800_zpscwzs4msl.jpg
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Hi! Your shop is cool! Nice work...

Try bigger {hard} line, I use 1" black pipe with 2 drops for moisture removal as well as a moisture remover.

1O scfm is pretty standard for small scale blasting... I have that and it barely cuts it even with tons of breaks and off time to give my machine a break.

Clean your gun regularly! I find the oddest stuff in mine... that might be all that it is.



I hope this helps! I blast a lot and it just takes a lot of time. I like garnet media btw, it is good stuff.
 
Some types of media are very prone to "Bridging" if you will, binding together where it is not prone to flowing. What you might try is a vibration. This will help but not an easy fix.

Also, if you unclip the pick up tube in the bottom of the unit and play with positing it manually, this may work too. I have the same unit and the pick up is poor.

As mentioned the chosen media can be a huge factor as the ratio of media/air is critical for continuos operation. I do not think it is your compressor. It is more than adequate. However, between the tank and the gun, check all of your restrictions. What can easily be overlooked is a fitting, or moisture filter that has a small internal passage that can havoc on the proper operation, you need not only psi, but more importantly for this application, VOLUME. Without volume it can near impossible to create proper suction for good operation. If the passages anywhere between the source and gun are too narrow the volume of air you need to move will not happen.

Good Luck....
 
Last edited:
I have a 33 gallon tank rated at 12 scfm @ 40psi and had the same trouble. After playing with the pick up location, media type, nozzles sizes I finally had reasonable success.....
 
Thanks for the input. I have my PSI cranked all the way to the max, 120. Am I doing this wrong lol?
 
Daniel Fairly Knives said:
Hi! Your shop is cool! Nice work...

Try bigger {hard} line, I use 1" black pipe with 2 drops for moisture removal as well as a moisture remover.

1O scfm is pretty standard for small scale blasting... I have that and it barely cuts it even with tons of breaks and off time to give my machine a break.

Clean your gun regularly! I find the oddest stuff in mine... that might be all that it is.



I hope this helps! I blast a lot and it just takes a lot of time. I like garnet media btw, it is good stuff.
Click to expand...

Thanks lot man! Can you recommend a good moisture remover?
 
The CFM of your compressor is far too small. at 120PSI, you probably get less than 2CFM.
 
Stacy is right. I don't think your compressor is capable of enough air volume to blast efficiently. It's far lower than I would recommend anyone using. It may be possible to utilize it since you have it, but you'll need to reduce the pressure on your regulator, I would try 60 psi, it will reduce your media velocity but should increase the duration that you can blast before waiting for the compressor to catch up.

Changing your line sizes won't help anything since the output of the compressor is constrained to 1/4" line.

Your compressor is about half the capability of what would typically be recommended as the minimum for a small blast cabinet. Blasting is a volume intensive operation.
 
I usually recommend 10 CFM or more for blasting. Your setup will only work for short 5-10 second blasts and then you have to wait for the compressor to refill the tank. In those short blasts, you will barely get the siphon working before you are out of sufficient air flow to throw the grit.
 
I've been researching that cabinet for quite some time now (about 2 years) and always read about the problems it has from the word go. From what I've read all over the internet is this is the way to go to get it working very reliably. http://www.tacomacompany.com/
 
The sandblaster I use at work doesn't have 1/3rd the amount of media yours does and is much much bigger.
Might be something else to try and pull some of that out.
 
Stacy has given you the scoop, your compressor is way underpowered. You have to look at the SCFM rating, and as Stacy said I would recommend a minimum of 10-12 SCFM at 90 PSI for sandblasting. I know you wanted to find another option, but that is the answer to your issue--Sorry
 
That compressor will work fine. I used one with the same specs.

Your problem use to be my problem. I have the same cabinet. The problem is flow, the tube it comes with is shit.

You need to modify it. I went out and took a video of mine for you. Set up something similar and it will work. Just be sure to crimp the hose as in the video.

If your feed gets plugged up with media, put your finger over the nozzle and pull the trigger, it will clear clogs.

Been there done that, give it a try. Mine blasts media like a demon now.

[video=youtube;QBYmk73a_p8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBYmk73a_p8&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
AVigil said:
That compressor will work fine. I used one with the same specs.

Your problem use to be my problem. I have the same cabinet. The problem is flow, the tube it comes with is shit.

You need to modify it. I went out and took a video of mine for you. Set up something similar and it will work. Just be sure to crimp the hose as in the video.

If your feed gets plugged up with media, put your finger over the nozzle and pull the trigger, it will clear clogs.

Been there done that, give it a try. Mine blasts media like a demon now.

[video=youtube;QBYmk73a_p8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBYmk73a_p8&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Click to expand...

Thanks a ton, man! I did end up getting a thicker gauge tubing, from Home Depot, as well as a better water separator and it works perfectly now. I appreciate you taking the video for me.
 
I bought a HF cabinet a while back for what I thought was a very decent price (coupons + sale price, I think it was like $125 bucks or less) and took all the precautions necessary to make sure it would leak MINIMAL media. Also ended up replacing the absolutely useless light bulb with a set of halogen puck lights, and then mounted a water separator/regulator combo right on the cabinet. The compressor I started with was very similar to yours if not every so slightly bigger (I think mine was a 30 gal, 4.5/5.5 cfm or so). At first I thought I was actually doing pretty well with my set up, but it basically degraded from there.

First off, the hoses HF uses are absolute crap. Might were actually ballooning out on the pressure side, and collapsing on the suction/pick up side. Any time I moved just right, the hose would kink or collapse on the pick up side. Replacing these hoses with something more stable is an absolute must. Actually, I ended up replacing the hole gun/take up tube with a campbell hausfield from amazon for about $20, and the quality is MUCH better

I also got tired of hearing my compressor run non-stop when I started blasting, so I upgraded to a 60 gallon vertical that puts out a little more than double the CFM.

I run about 80 psi from the compressor, and regulate that down to about 65 psi on the cabinet, and the difference in blasting has been night and day. Now, I haven't tried it with my old compressor since I upgraded the gun and hoses, but just doing that alone should make a world of difference.

Also, make sure you're emptying your water seperators and draining the water valve on your compressor on a regular basis. Wet media will really hang things up.

In retrospect, what I spent in time and money with upgrading my HF cabinet and getting things dialed in to work half way decently, would have been much better spent on a better cabinet.

Maybe something like this:
http://www.barrelblaster.com/BarrelBlaster1.htm

It's about twice the price, give or take, but much better designed and built from the looks of it, and very likely worth the higher price.


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I modified the hopper to feed out its bottom. Similar to sand pouring from an hourglass.
At the joint between hopper & suction hose an adjustable gap allows air to draw in along with the abrasive.
It never clogs anymore
 
Lieblad said:
I modified the hopper to feed out its bottom. Similar to sand pouring from an hourglass.
At the joint between hopper & suction hose an adjustable gap allows air to draw in along with the abrasive.
It never clogs anymore
Click to expand...

I'd love to see a picture of your set up. This sounds like a fantastic idea.
 
Yep, compressor is too small.
4CFM might work if you were using a pressure pot blaster with a 3/32" nozzle.

A siphon blaster like yours will need 12CFM (plan for 240V to power it) to really work properly, and the air will need to be DRY.
Just like beach sand clumping when it's wet, abrasive media will clump when it's wet. It needs to be dry enough to pour as if it WERE a liquid.
A line dryer helps a lot.
In a pinch, a shaker attached to the bottom of the cabinet will keep the abrasive falling into the cavity created as the siphon hose sucks the media away, which creates an air pocket that collapses by a reverse "puff" of air as you stop blasting.

If you can't go the new compressor route, this pressure pot from harbor Freight WILL work with your compressor if you use a small nozzle (3/32"):

image_20877.jpg
 
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