Home built sandblaster?

[thepoolguy]

Has anyone ever made a sand blaster, I have rented the big ones for when I have to go in and sand blast a pools surface down, but I want to make a smaller one for just projects............... example; now that I am slowing down work wise I want to get started on the mods for the great score I found sometime back in the spring:



Any Ideas are welcome

[Slanted88]

I got a hand held gravity feed blaster. Works great & keeps up with my compressor. Only paid about 25 bucks for it.

[HawgHeaven]

I'd check out Harbor Freight for a cheapo unit...siphon or gravity fed. Also, you can get a siphon gun kit from Eastwood, then pour some play sand in a 5 gallon bucket and have at it.

I'm kicking myself in the arse for getting rid of my pressure fed sandblaster when I moved... I could sure use it now!

[Gunslinger]

I purchased a nice pressure blaster last summer specifically to sandblast my smoker, since my painter flaked on me. I still haven't done it. But I'm going to. I swear.
I would think that by the time you purchase the individual parts, you end up being money ahead to just buy a new one. Or check Craig's List for a used one. Have you considered a baking soda injector?
Off subject I know, but do you do gunite or shotcrete?

[Walking Dude]

but do you do gunite or shotcrete?

getting kinda personal there aint you gunny?

[Texas-Hunter]

Take a look at this... This should do you just fine and should cost less than a new one..

10 gallon portable compressed air tank with the small manifold, gauge, valve, hose and tire valve chuck removed..

Locate a source for ceramic tips that have an orifice of 1/16 or 3/32", and the appropriate brass fittings to hold the tip (or a real sand wand with the OSHA required auto shutoff). Many sandblaster users are using carbide tips for their greater resistance to wear.

You'll need to have a safety pressure release valve at the blaster, set at about 70 psi. You definitely should have a pressure regulator mounted on the blaster, and a water trap (the separator type). With a good pressure regulator located at the sandblaster, you can be certain that the shop air hose isn't creating a pressure drop.

Additional parts:

Air shut off valve (prevents sand from backflushing/gushing backward toward the air nipple when supply is disconnected).

The mix valve at bottom of vertical tank (balances sand discharge with air flow).

Fittings and 3/8" pipe, a filler neck and cap, and a reinforced hydraulic hose for the sand hose (or buy sand hose). Ordinary air hose won't work well for carrying sand.

The welds for the filler neck fitting and the bottom end fitting are critical for safety. Any welding performed on a pressure vessel needs to be done by a qualified and/or certified, experienced professional welder.

If you're not an experienced welder, get a qualified welder to do it for you!!!

The filler neck size can be chosen for safety and sealing properties. A heavy wall thickness tube, with an I.D. large enough to make refilling convenient. A bar handle can be welded to a threaded cap (with a rubber seal/gasket), to make removal of the cap easier.

The tank pressure must be released before removing the filler cap. Close the air shut-off valve and wait for the tank pressure to drop to zero.

A sifting screen can be incorporated into a huge funnel to ensure that the blaster doesn't clog. The farm supply stores have really big funnels.

Operation:

The tank is pressurized through the existing tank side fitting (tank manufacturer's fitting for the filler/tire chuck air hose connector), and through the lower T-fitting. The pressure allows air to pass out the wand and tip, and the mixer valve limits how much sand is mixed into the air stream exiting the tip. The small tip opening maintains an elevated pressure in the tank.

The blasting air pressure is regulated by the pressure regulator, that should be mounted to the sandblaster.

The air flow should travel this path.. inlet, water trap, regulator, safety relief valve, shut-off valve, fitting, pipe, T into tank/drop to lower T.

The bottom fitting welded into the tank's bottom end will be close nippled to the mix valve. The other end of the mix valve is close nippled to the side port of a T-fitting (not the straight thru passage).

Air flow enters one end of the straight through passage, and the sand hose is attached to the other end of the straight through passage. The mix valve regulates how much sand enters the air stream. You'll quickly find the most efficient setting, where you're not reducing the efficiency with too much sand or wasting a lot of air with too little sand.

When you want to blast at a lower pressure, you'll want to adjust the mix valve a little bit.

The best delivery rate for the sand is lighter, instead of heavier. Just enough sand to avoid reducing the exit velocity is about the best balance.

Keep your sand or other abrasive dry. Small clogs can be cleared by removing the tip holder and blowing out some excess sand, but damp sand needs to be emptied and replaced with dry sand. Damp sand will rust the tank, and needs to be avoided.





The Tip Holder:

What I had used for the holder were the fittings from the same supplier that I gotten the tips from. The tip holder consisted of a piece of hex brass, tapped female NPT at the hose side, and threaded (outside thread) to receive the other half of the tip holder.

The second piece was another hex brass part, that was a close fit for about the bottom half (larger tapered diameter) of the tapered ceramic tip, and screwed to the brass section mentioned above.

I've seen blaster wands over the years that used the same tapered ceramic tip and holder, which also had a spring release shut-off handle (that covers and seals the exit hole) incorporated into the design.

Or you can get a complete sand blaster wand from Harbor or Grizzly.

[oggy]

You already have experience with rental blasters, doing relatively big jobs you said, like swimming pool surfacing and restoration. You already know much about this, so I am puzzled by this question. But I will offer what I have on this anyway, since you asked. I'm no expert in this sandblasting thing, know that first. I have fabricated and made makeshift up to near professioinal type sand blasters over the last thirty years. Some were impressive looking and marginal in performance. A few looked like they had been pushed out of flying airplanes, and would quit, but never did. Several did what was asked but needed to be coaxed and talked to making their worthininess a question as to liability or asset in their end results. But everyone of them worked. And all of them com pleted the tasks they were made for. Yes there were problems but these mostly could be traced to human ijits, and not to anything mechanical or fabrication faults.

Tex letter covers your specific request pretty well. I'll add a thought or two here then go. In every blasting situation I've been in some way part of or involved in, whatever the problems and difficulties we experienced, if and when there were any, nearly all of them had in some way a least a part of the problem, was the actual capacity of their compressor system to do the work required. Not always as the major focus but nearly always as some part, or factor in the difficulty. I have only rarely been of the opinion any of my systems had sufficient air to do what there was to do well. Not always mine or anyone's fault, you're stuck with whatever you have to work with usually. This task requires huge amounts of air volume and pressure, but not so bad in the really small BY stuff that takes a few B-days to finish a small project with. Adequate equipage is $$$.
There are available comp heads (the pump part) that have a larger than expected recovery and volume rate. They are rated for moderate sand blasting. Most even big units aren't rated at all for sandblasting. Requirements are just too big. These hi volume and flow pumps and entire machines I mentioned are available I saw at Lowe's and likely similar places too. That's not a recomendation cause I can't say. It's information to give you some way to compare things.

[thepoolguy]

I'd check out Harbor Freight for a cheapo unit...siphon or gravity fed. Also, you can get a siphon gun kit from Eastwood, then pour some play sand in a 5 gallon bucket and have at it.

I'm kicking myself in the arse for getting rid of my pressure fed sandblaster when I moved... I could sure use it now!

Thanks HawgHeaven, it may come down to just using a bucket, hose and gun

I purchased a nice pressure blaster last summer specifically to sandblast my smoker, since my painter flaked on me. I still haven't done it. But I'm going to. I swear.
I would think that by the time you purchase the individual parts, you end up being money ahead to just buy a new one. Or check Craig's List for a used one. Have you considered a baking soda injector?
Off subject I know, but do you do gunite or shotcrete?

Gunny, Since your'e not using yours........ lol
NO GUNITE-------------> Only SHOTCRETE from batch plants, Use to do gunite untill the shells started desolving from the beam down (Sand and cement only)

[Gunslinger]

Only SHOTCRETE from batch plants

Don't know about any of the rest of ya, but if you've never witnessed this process, it really is a work of art. And talk about working you ass off. I would say that this is as hard as work can get.

[thepoolguy]

Don't know about any of the rest of ya, but if you've never witnessed this process, it really is a work of art. And talk about working you ass off. I would say that this is as hard as work can get.

I held that nozzle for 8 years, its tough, I have been thrown off scaffolding's, bridges you name......... that hose gets a clog in it and you are going places......literally!!!! Thank the lord that I have some good people from the other side of the border to do that for me now.

[thepoolguy]

Take a look at this... This should do you just fine and should cost less than a new one..

10 gallon portable compressed air tank with the small manifold, gauge, valve, hose and tire valve chuck removed..

Locate a source for ceramic tips that have an orifice of 1/16 or 3/32", and the appropriate brass fittings to hold the tip (or a real sand wand with the OSHA required auto shutoff). Many sandblaster users are using carbide tips for their greater resistance to wear.

You'll need to have a safety pressure release valve at the blaster, set at about 70 psi. You definitely should have a pressure regulator mounted on the blaster, and a water trap (the separator type). With a good pressure regulator located at the sandblaster, you can be certain that the shop air hose isn't creating a pressure drop.

Additional parts:

Air shut off valve (prevents sand from backflushing/gushing backward toward the air nipple when supply is disconnected).

The mix valve at bottom of vertical tank (balances sand discharge with air flow).

Fittings and 3/8" pipe, a filler neck and cap, and a reinforced hydraulic hose for the sand hose (or buy sand hose). Ordinary air hose won't work well for carrying sand.

The welds for the filler neck fitting and the bottom end fitting are critical for safety. Any welding performed on a pressure vessel needs to be done by a qualified and/or certified, experienced professional welder.

If you're not an experienced welder, get a qualified welder to do it for you!!!

The filler neck size can be chosen for safety and sealing properties. A heavy wall thickness tube, with an I.D. large enough to make refilling convenient. A bar handle can be welded to a threaded cap (with a rubber seal/gasket), to make removal of the cap easier.

The tank pressure must be released before removing the filler cap. Close the air shut-off valve and wait for the tank pressure to drop to zero.

A sifting screen can be incorporated into a huge funnel to ensure that the blaster doesn't clog. The farm supply stores have really big funnels.

Operation:

The tank is pressurized through the existing tank side fitting (tank manufacturer's fitting for the filler/tire chuck air hose connector), and through the lower T-fitting. The pressure allows air to pass out the wand and tip, and the mixer valve limits how much sand is mixed into the air stream exiting the tip. The small tip opening maintains an elevated pressure in the tank.

The blasting air pressure is regulated by the pressure regulator, that should be mounted to the sandblaster.

The air flow should travel this path.. inlet, water trap, regulator, safety relief valve, shut-off valve, fitting, pipe, T into tank/drop to lower T.

The bottom fitting welded into the tank's bottom end will be close nippled to the mix valve. The other end of the mix valve is close nippled to the side port of a T-fitting (not the straight thru passage).

Air flow enters one end of the straight through passage, and the sand hose is attached to the other end of the straight through passage. The mix valve regulates how much sand enters the air stream. You'll quickly find the most efficient setting, where you're not reducing the efficiency with too much sand or wasting a lot of air with too little sand.

When you want to blast at a lower pressure, you'll want to adjust the mix valve a little bit.

The best delivery rate for the sand is lighter, instead of heavier. Just enough sand to avoid reducing the exit velocity is about the best balance.

Keep your sand or other abrasive dry. Small clogs can be cleared by removing the tip holder and blowing out some excess sand, but damp sand needs to be emptied and replaced with dry sand. Damp sand will rust the tank, and needs to be avoided.





The Tip Holder:

What I had used for the holder were the fittings from the same supplier that I gotten the tips from. The tip holder consisted of a piece of hex brass, tapped female NPT at the hose side, and threaded (outside thread) to receive the other half of the tip holder.

The second piece was another hex brass part, that was a close fit for about the bottom half (larger tapered diameter) of the tapered ceramic tip, and screwed to the brass section mentioned above.

I've seen blaster wands over the years that used the same tapered ceramic tip and holder, which also had a spring release shut-off handle (that covers and seals the exit hole) incorporated into the design.

Or you can get a complete sand blaster wand from Harbor or Grizzly.

Ken thats what I'm looking for, I had built one out of a 100# propane bottle years and years ago, but have missed placed my drawings for it. I can weld but it doesnt stand up to the pressure test that I want the unit to have, One of the guys that works for me now, is a great welder, so

Thanks Ken

[Richtee]

I held that nozzle for 8 years, its tough, I have been thrown off scaffolding's, bridges you name......... that hose gets a clog in it and you are going places......literally!

Hmmm "recoil" eh... from the mass of material in motion down the hose I'd guess? Wow... yeah I could see how that would launch my skinny ass...

[DangerDan]

Any Ideas are welcome

Have you considered acid cleaning? If this would be your only project for the sand blaster it seems like a lot to go through to remove the oxidation.

[thepoolguy]

Have you considered acid cleaning? If this would be your only project for the sand blaster it seems like a lot to go through to remove the oxidation.

Wish it were the only project.............. more time for cooking.
Besides the grill, I've got to pull the boat lift and jet ski lift out of the water when they drop the lake levels and repair and sandblast and repaint.

Thanks for the help thou.....You a good man DangerDan!

[Kamhillbilly]

Heres a picture of mine built from 30gal propane tank works great

th_HPIM0287.jpg