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Technical Would this tank work with crushed glass medium?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Shakedown St., Apr 17, 2018.

  1. Shakedown St.
    Joined: Sep 15, 2017
    Posts: 129

    Shakedown St.
    Member
    from Boston, MA

    I'm looking to sandblast rust from my '64 T-Bird, and want to use crushed glass medium.

    Found this blaster for sale near to my home, it is a gravity feed but not sure if it would take crushed glass. I've also been warned in the past, that gravity feed blasters take too long and are too weak as opposed to pressure blasters for big jobs.

    All input is appreciated!

    IMG_0799.JPG
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2018
  2. that is not a gravity feed blaster that is a pressure blaster just use a fine grit.
     
    Hollywood-East likes this.
  3. Hollywood-East
    Joined: Mar 13, 2008
    Posts: 1,993

    Hollywood-East
    Member

    Be Very cautious when blasting sheet metal if not familiar! Stay Way Back an at no less than 45° angle... Not a bad blaster..
     
    tb33anda3rd likes this.

  4. shivasdad
    Joined: May 27, 2007
    Posts: 584

    shivasdad
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Texas

    I use crushed glass in one shaped exactly like that. Mine came from Northern tool. Works fine. Make sure you run it through a screen.
     
  5. jbrittonjr
    Joined: Sep 10, 2009
    Posts: 105

    jbrittonjr
    Member

    You will want a compressor that can move some air. The larger the nozzle opening, the more air you need. The nozzles wear larger over time as the abrasive runs through.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  6. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    And if you don't have a huge compressor, you probably won't be able to warp metal with it...built in safety factor! guys get in trouble when they use a screw compressor connected to an industrial sandblaster to work on delicate old sheet metal. A little blaster like that with a typical small home shop compressor will not likely be able to do much damage. Unless maybe someone here has had problems, then they could let me know. I've never had an issue.

    The nozzles wear out, causing it to act sort of like a bigger blaster, that needs a bigger compressor to run it. when the nozzle in mine is still 1/8" diameter, my 2 stage 15 cfm compressor can keep up with it. When it wears much larger than that, it can't. and I have to stop blasting after a little while.
     
  7. You will need a big compressor with a huge tank to keep up the demand for air,the small compressors will work but you will have to stop and let it build pressure back up.

    my sand blaster is very similar to what you are using. HRP

    upload_2018-4-17_10-39-28.jpeg
     
    31hotrodguy and LAROKE like this.
  8. LAROKE
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,079

    LAROKE
    Member

    Yes, a small compressor can be used by you will have a lot of time for meditation and perhaps hallucination if you do it in South Florida in July like I did.

    [​IMG]
     
  9. rusty valley
    Joined: Oct 25, 2014
    Posts: 3,883

    rusty valley
    Member

    also keep in mind that running a compressor nonstop is usually the death of them. they need to cycle to keep cool, so when you are using more air than it can make, it runs nonstop, gets hot and wrecks the skinny little valve springs.
     
  10. metlmunchr
    Joined: Jan 16, 2010
    Posts: 861

    metlmunchr
    Member

    Do your health a favor and stay away from the crushed glass. Dust from crushed glass is pretty much pure silica. Since you're in a large metro area, there should be someone close who sells various blasting media rather than just having to get by with whatever is available at Tractor Supply or similar places..

    Starblast is about the safest abrasive out there for dry blasting as it has only 1% to 2% silica. It also doesn't fracture in use like glass or sand does, so if you put down some poly you can sweep it up and reuse it several times. The Starblast in my bead blaster has been there for about 3 years and works as well today as it did when I dumped the bag in.

    Starblast is a really fine abrasive but its really sharp. As a result, it cuts rust and paint aggressively but doesn't rely on brute force to beat the stuff off the surface as some abrasives do. Warping of sheetmetal via blasting has nothing to do with heat as some people think, but rather is caused by stretching from what is the equivalent of millions of little hammer blows. The more free cutting an abrasive is, the less danger of warping.

    Cost-wise, I can't give you any current price. It's been several years, and I bought 40,000 pounds at one time for a big blasting job and have been using the leftovers ever since. I do remember the Starblast was right at twice the price of common blasting sand, so its not crazy expensive. Wouldn't surprise me if its about the same price as crushed glass, or even cheaper.
     
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  11. Shakedown St.
    Joined: Sep 15, 2017
    Posts: 129

    Shakedown St.
    Member
    from Boston, MA

    Recylcyed crushed glass is silica free, because of the melting process. This is what I was using.

    https://www.glassblast.com/how-can-glassblast-be-silica-free/

    I will look into Starblast, thanks for the reccomendation.
     
    Last edited: May 14, 2018
  12. Shakedown St.
    Joined: Sep 15, 2017
    Posts: 129

    Shakedown St.
    Member
    from Boston, MA

    Good to know! Now it would still work with a smaller home compressor though? I had someone tell me I would need a 127CFM @ 120PSI, an industrial compressor to operate that model blaster. All I really want is 75PSI of force, I have a 5hp 11CFM @ 90PSI compressor attached to an 80 gallon tank.
     
    Last edited: Apr 17, 2018
  13. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Even a blast cabinet with a small nozzle will put a stress on a decent air compressor. That style of blaster will give you plenty of rest time while the compressor rests or fills the tank back up with air. Unless you go rent one of the big gas powered industrial compressors expect to spend plenty of time in the same pose as Laroke showed in post 9. Sometimes that isn't entirely a bad thing as you are usually ready for a break pretty quick anyhow.
     
  14. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    nozzle size....very important. The size of the blaster itself doesn't really matter, what matters is how fast air and sand leaves the nozzle, and that's determined by the size of the hole in the nozzle.

    And they wear, especially the common ceramic type, so you have to measure the actual hole size to see what it is now.

    Like I said, I do ok with a fresh 1/8" nozzle with a 15 cfm compressor.
     
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  15. Shakedown St.
    Joined: Sep 15, 2017
    Posts: 129

    Shakedown St.
    Member
    from Boston, MA

    Perfect, big help thanks!
     
  16. 49ratfink
    Joined: Feb 8, 2004
    Posts: 18,828

    49ratfink
    Member
    from California

    I worked on a car that the owner blasted with a blaster made for blasting cement walkways in new construction. big huge thing you hold the hose over your shoulder. the whole car was work hardened and warped. craziest thing I ever saw.

    don't use one of those.
     
  17. metlmunchr
    Joined: Jan 16, 2010
    Posts: 861

    metlmunchr
    Member

    Thanks for that link. I didn't know the melting process changed the form.

    You may be a little short of air. I've got a chart from Clemco that shows a 1/8" nozzle will use 11cfm at 50 psi. That jumps to 16 cfm at 75 psi.

    It all depends on how much blasting you need to do, and the time frame involved. If you plan to do it all at one time, you could rent a 90 cfm diesel compressor for about $110/day, or $300/week and use a 1/4" nozzle on the same blaster to really get with the program. Might seem expensive at first glance, but doing a lot of blasting with a small nozzle and too small air supply can get really frustrating real fast.

    For comparison purposes, I've got several different nozzles for my blasting rig so it can be used with various compressors. With a 1/4" nozzle and our 100 cfm compressor, I can blast an entire car frame to clean white condition in 3 hours or less, assuming I'm starting with something that's been pressure washed or otherwise free of oil and grease. If I brought the blaster home and bought a 1/8" nozzle for it, I would easily expect to spend 3 days of blasting and waiting on the compressor using my home shop compressor that's about the same size as yours, to end up with the same results. Once you stick your head in a blasting hood, its not just a matter of having whatever time is required to do the job, but rather dealing with the discomfort of the hood which gives a whole new meaning to the word miserable.
     
  18. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    three days to do a frame? hmmm....I haven't had that that experience. It is quicker than that with a 1/8" nozzle.
     
  19. metlmunchr
    Joined: Jan 16, 2010
    Posts: 861

    metlmunchr
    Member

    True, but you've got a compressor that's big enough to feed a 1/8" nozzle. The OP doesn't. He said 11 dfm @ 90 psi which equates to an actual 3.5 hp regardless of whatever the label may say. A true 5hp compressor will do 15 to 18 cfm, depending on the particular model. He'd need roughly 50% more air than he's got in order to operate at 75 psi.

    I'll freely admit my 3 day estimate wasn't based on having actually blasted a frame with too little air, and I don't intend to try it. Running at 40-50 psi is a waste of time, and stopping to allow the compressor to build back up to full pressure so you can maintain 70-75 psi minimum pressure will take more time than the actual blasting time. The ratio is pretty simple really. Using air at 75 psi and 16 cfm, and stopping at say 70 psi for the tank to build back up at 11 cfm to 125 psi, with a 60 gal tank you'd get about 2 minutes blasting time followed by 3 minutes of wait time. This ignores the fact that the compressor isn't going to deliver the full 11 cfm at the upper end of the pressure range, and ignores temperature effects as well. My WAG is that, in steady state operation with the compressor up to operating temperature you'd have something closer to 2 minutes of blasting followed by 4 minutes of waiting. The air delivery being rated at 90 psi would indicate a single stage compressor, hence the assumption of a 125 psi cutout pressure.

    Not that hard to make a 3 day job when a shortage of air makes you spend 2/3 of the time waiting.
     
    squirrel likes this.
  20. J53
    Joined: Aug 8, 2005
    Posts: 238

    J53
    Member
    from WI

    MEDIA not "Medium"
     
  21. adding another tank, or even another small compressor will help. the volume is what is needed for blasting.
     
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  22. squirrel
    Joined: Sep 23, 2004
    Posts: 55,931

    squirrel
    Member

    he was right...media is plural, medium is singular, he was talking about only one type of blasting medium.
     
    Flathead Dave likes this.
  23. 31hotrodguy
    Joined: Oct 29, 2013
    Posts: 2,698

    31hotrodguy
    Member

    Hotrodprimer, what kind of material did you use on your body panels?

    Sent from my SM-G550T using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
  24. Shakedown St.
    Joined: Sep 15, 2017
    Posts: 129

    Shakedown St.
    Member
    from Boston, MA

    Alright, I've been looking into a few sandblasting companies over the past few months. There is a company called MBA (Media Blasting Abrasives) and ALC Keysco, and they give these charts on their website.

    https://www.mediablast.com/sandblasting-compressed-air-chart

    0C1E1942-B36D-46A4-91BF-66321D61BF92.jpeg
    E559535E-185A-4666-AFA7-2B8651579ED4.jpeg

    If these are at all correct for their products, my compressor gets 13.5CFM at 70PSI. I am contacting the company to confirm what the requirments would be, I would not mind their 1/8" but would prefer their 13/64".

    2483E117-07D8-4CAF-B0CB-3FBCCC436F84.jpeg
     
    Last edited: Jul 13, 2018
  25. bigheadbaxter
    Joined: Feb 18, 2007
    Posts: 228

    bigheadbaxter
    Member

    [​IMG]
    I just used medium recycled glass and was surprisingly pleased on this Scout


    Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
     
    tb33anda3rd likes this.

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