DIY Sandblasting (1 Viewer)

[greentruck]

code 621,
Interesting thing that in Canada. First healthcare, now sandblasting. We could learn a thing or two south of the 49th. I better not go there or this will end up in Chat P&R and I don't want to do that...

Brent,
Hmmm, now I'm at a place in the Yellow Pages with lots of entries. This sounds like the ticket in terms of leads around here for sandblasting. You actually powdercoated the whole trailer? That's worth considering. I just want it in OD, so that might work.

Dan,
Omaha is around an 8 hour drive one-way. Maybe if I really get stuck, but St. Louis, Chicago or Indy are all closer and could probably help. I was just hoping to avoid leaving town. Thanks, but that's probably good for someone else to know who's closer.

shotgun,
Yeah, and I always prefer a two-way trip when dealing with those folks If the welders can't help, I'll try them.

I'm actually hoping the community college thing works out. They could probably help with the wider fenders I need, too. I've seen wider fenders in various trailer part dealers catalogs, but the wider ones are generally round and the angled ones are narrow like the ones I have.

 

[LDowney]

I sand blast at home frequently. Don'y waste your time with a junk sand blasters like HF carries. I would direct you to TIP tools out of Canfield Ohio, but they only sell the cabinet blasters. Regardless, so with a quality supplier.

The sand blaster I have is a pressure pot type with the top shaped concave so it has a "built in" funnel (like an aerosol can bottom). The sand blaster at the following link looks like mine, but do some research to get a good one so that you are productive and happy with it.
http://www3.shopping.com/xPO-Scott-Campbell-Hausfeld-80-lb-Cap-Pressure-Feed-Sand-Blaster-w-Steel-Hopper

Also from memory, my compressor is ~10 CFM at 90 psi and it runs continuously while blasting, so you will need a lot more aircompressor. Otherwise, you will blast for 60 seconds and wait 5 minutes for the airpressure to build up again.

Finally, the sand just disappears into the grass fairly quickly so that helps with the mess too.

 

[greentruck]

Larry,
Thanks for the tip on the C-H at Sears. Heck, the link you provided came up with an even cheaper one that looks nicer than the $150 one I was looking at the other day: Scott Campbell Hausfeld 90 lb. Cap. Siphon Feed Sand Blaster w/Steel Hopper - - Shopping.com

I'm going to look into my option next week. If I can buy the tools and come in under what others will charge, I may still DIY it. If not, I'll let someone else manage the mess.

 

[PAToyota]

Don'y waste your time with a junk sand blasters like HF carries. I would direct you to TIP tools out of Canfield Ohio, but they only sell the cabinet blasters. Regardless, so with a quality supplier.

TP Tools is definitely a class act. I have a cabinet and pressure blaster from them. They no longer sell the pressure blasters, but here is the place that made them for TP and continues to sell them: Sand Blasters | Sandblasters | Pressurized | Media | Glass Bead | Baking Soda | Abrasive | Industrial Grade | Pressure

 

[greentruck]

PAToyota,
Thanks for the link to the Ohio maker of Sand Blasters. They look like affordable, quality products.

I stopped in at HF today. They have some cheap stuff, that's for sure. A couple of item's are in the $29.95 price point, which is hard to beat on cost. Just a small pack that's fed by compressed air. Even these puny, questionable quality grit shooters still take a higher volume of air than I can supply presently.

Regardless of what I do, if I go the DIY route, looks like a new compressor is in my future, which is not a bad thing.

After several more phone calls, it's not looking good to get someone else to do this small but nasty job. The community college is wrapping up its semester, so no luck there until next fall, at least. I've got a message into a local metal shop, but stuck to asking about widening my fenders, figuring I might be able to ask around from there about sandblasting. I'd bet that it's no more than a 2 hour job with the right tools, which doesn't exactly sound like big profits to anyone.

At least this thread has been useful in stirring up some useful info on what and where you might find the tools or someone to help you with getting a surplus or used trailer ready for paint, depending on where you live.

 

[PAToyota]

Blasting does take air. I'm using a 5hp 2-stage compressor with an 80 gallon tank and have to stop to let the compressor catch up.

I picked up one of the "99" models when TP Tools was selling them and it is a serious piece of equipment - the HF stuff just doesn't compare.

 

[LDowney]

Blasting does take air. I'm using a 5hp 2-stage compressor with an 80 gallon tank and have to stop to let the compressor catch up.

I picked up one of the "99" models when TP Tools was selling them and it is a serious piece of equipment - the HF stuff just doesn't compare.

I have pretty much the same set up (~type 99 model, but with a 6.5hp 2-stage compressor supplying the air).

Also, I tend to pick up tools/equipment one at a time when there are good sales or bargains available. Greentruck, this could be an annoyance to you since you have a project that you want to tie into now. Good luck on this project.

 

[greentruck]

Larry,
Nope, not an annoyance at all.

I talked with a fellow today about getting some wider fenders to cover the Toyota-backspaced wheels that are on the M101 now. He's going to take care of that issue, but knows someone who can give me an estimate on sandblasting and painting the trailer. I'm hoping it's in the ballpark of affordability. If so, problem solved

If not, then I'll be getting a new, phat compressor and I know enough now about what I need to figure out the sandblasting and the painting. Prepping and painting has to be taken care of before I do much of anything beyond wider fenders, as it would for anyone, so the info here will be helpful to putting a trailer together to get off-road with it.

 

[greentruck]

A sandblasting update...

Correction on the price, it was $175 (misunderstanding due to talking to the kid about things). No sweat, I was planning on good tip anyway. I paid him a total of $200, including the $25 tip. Well worth it.

Now that I've got the trailer painted (different thread will be posted on my build when I get time to fiddle with pics) and had to get a decent air compressor for that, I have a couple of more small items that needed the "treatment."

After looking around, I managed to find some light guards to protect my new plastic LED tail lights. I tore a set of lights up on my old landscape trailer and bought a nice set of guards painted black for a good price to keep from repeating that hassle. Looking to get another set just like it, I went everywhere in town. It seems the retailers figured out they will sell more tail lights if they don't sell the guards.

Heck, even searching online, I came up with virtually nothing except some folks selling unpainted guards out there. Good price ($15), but thinner metal than the ones I bought before, which were strong. At least on the M101, the tail lights are up out of the dirt. Maybe I just wasn't using the right search terms, but if anyone knows a source for good quality traielr light guards, that's a good thing to have off-road, too.

The ones I bought were also a little rusty, being unpainted steel. And I had my set of highly sought after original M101 triangular reflectors that were pretty rusty after 18 years bolted to the back end. I had a little more sandblasting to do, so went back to HF.

I was still right about their cheap stuff. Not worth it. But I found a neat little 20 lb capacity upright tank, old-school style item that was on sale, with cheapie hood for $60. The assembly instructions were cryptic, but it eventually went together. Nothing fancy, too small to take on even the M101 unless you had limitless patience, but it works fine.

A little tricky for my ignorant @ss to figure out, so I clogged it first off. Once I got that figured out, it was less than a 10 minute job to do all four items. Be sure you wear a hood and the recommended breathing protection, along with not making the yard a Superfund site.

BTW, the compressor used delivers 5.7 CFM @ 90 lbs. I set the regulator at 110 lbs. The max for the blaster is 125 lbs. Air delivery kept the pump running pretty hard when I was blasting, but pressure was more than adequate. No problem for a small job, but it could use a bigger pump if you did try to take on a project like a trailer that required a long run time.