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I have asked for info in the past on this and got some pretty fair advice, differing of course, but all very helpful.... I have pretty much resigned to the fact that I don't want to pay 6000.00 for a 100 cfm compressor or a 2500.00 blast pot and gun. I am just not going to be doing this much blasting here in Hooterville (probably about 1 job a month). I have been looking for pressurized blast pots in and around 400.00 and have a friend with a 24 cfm. 10 hp compressor with a drier on it, which will hopefully get me by. I plan on using a 1/8 inch ceramic nozzel. Now my question: What brands of sandblast pots do I need to look at. I have been looking at several, but would lean towards one that at least a few of you are happy with......I truly would just take my projects to a sandblast company after I mask and prepare them and save a lot of money on equiptment, but I cannot find an operator with an IQ in double digits. Every project is like a new science to them. Even if it is slower, I just need a little control besides a 2x4 for an off switch, if you get my drift. Thanks for your input, Bronzeo.
------------------ Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801 www.imagemakerart.com bronzeo@swbell.net http://www.imagemakerart.com
Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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Hi Jack, I agree with Jerry, for smaller blasting jobs TIP's are just fine. Another decent brand in the 200 to 300 lb. area is a Lindsay.
I bought my 100 cfm rotary vane compressor and Lindsay blast pot for $1200 from a rental company that was downsizing. The system works great. Spent another $400 on a new Bullard fresh air hood & filter canister.
If you are going to be only blasting HDU, check with Mike Bloomquist at GrainFraim products. (800-338-4499) A much smaller unit will work fine on HDU. Mike says you can get set up from scratch for about $2000. (all new equipment)
------------------ Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 ICQ: 21604027 sherwood@up.net
Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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Ditto above. If you get a real steal of a deal on a rotary outfit, Buy it. Otherwise, the 10 horse 24cfm will do the job through the 1/8 nozzle. I use a Campbell/Hausfeld 7 1/2hp 2 stage comp.(about $1400) which pumps about 25cfm at 90lbs pressure and keeps up very well. You are, however, limited to about1/8'' nozzle. It will be a little slower but, for just occasional blasting, it will work fine. I would not recommend anything smaller though. A 5 or 6 horse single or double stage just wont keep up with a sandbaster.
Lindsay, Tip, and ALC make nice pots with dropdown lids and deadman valves. I know of one company which at one time sold Tip pots under another name. Northern Hydraulics (Northern Tools) sells ALC pots. "The Tool Crib" has a nice pressure pot as well. You can get one of these pots in the 100lb capacity for about $350-$450.
My air supplied hood is fed by a "Free Air" oil-less pump(about $700). By using this machine, you wont have to run the hood off the compressor or require filters. The pump, hose, and hood are available from Bullard and the whole outfit will cost about 12 or 13 Ben Franklins. This is a modest investment when considering your health.
Good Luck!
------------------ Wayne Webb Webb Sign Studio creators of "woodesigns" "autograph your work with excellence" webbsignstudio@digitalexp.com
[This message has been edited by Wayne Webb (edited December 11, 2000).]
Posts: 7403 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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Well although what the others say "works" which it does...albeit slowly, I wouldn't even contemplate a TIP pot today! No disrespect intended here to those that own TIP or to TIP, it is firstly hobby quality, hoses, couplings, nozzles etc. You must rely on a separate "Free air" system as your compressor would never keep up with an air hood filter system, and so now you save a few bucks but I promise you you will regret it if you get into more serious blasting...which if it goes well and you enjoy it you will! I speak very much from experience!! I promise I bought a TIP pot and ran it off the worshop compressor a few years back....its hard to get the surface even its slow and no extra capacity for air hood. It sits here in the corner gathering dust and only gets used for glass.
WE have an old (1981) Atlas Copco trailer mounted diesel compressor, and we bought rental equipment that had been in use 6 months so it was like new, Clemco a big US company I believe in industrial cleaning, and a new air hood and filter system also from Clemco, the same that is featured in the Anchor adverts for Blast-lite i the rade mags. 1/4" nozzle (6.5mm) industrial quality, will outlive you and me.....worth the money and piece of mind....don't by twice, try and find thru rental companies or whatever....bankruptcy auctions etc stuff of "proffessional" quality to do a proffessional job...just my experiences and thoughts....but then as a rule I buy top end sign software, plotters, saws and tools as it pays off in the long term.
Good hunting
------------------ Henry Barker #1924 akaKaftan SignCraft AB Stockholm, Sweden. A little bit of England in a corner of Stockholm www.signcraft.se info@signcraft.se
Posts: 1552 | From: Stockholm, Sweden | Registered: Nov 1998
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Patience and persistance will save you a ton of money. I am an extreme bargain shopper and use e-bay quite a bit. I just baught a 600# clemco pot with all hoses, hook ups, tip, and free air filter for $500 bucks. I had to make a 3 hour trip to pick up but it was worth it. I've rented a compressor for the time being but have run across a couple of great deals on diesel compressors. I would have one too if I wasn't beaten to the punch. There is a company in Michigan that seems to have some good deals on this type of equipment. Iron-man-air.com. Also keep your eyes on E-bay my favorite source for equipment due to the fact that most people shopping there are looking for anything but equipment so you have very few bidders bidding against you on the heavy duty stuff. Also be patient. I searched several weeks for a good price on a free air hood with no luck. Thought i was gonna have to break down and spend the $300-$500 on a new one. Finally sure enough I got my Bullard hood for $85. Now for less than $700 I've got a $4000 system. Moral to the story again. Patience and persistance pays off.
Good luck!
------------------ Bill Jarvis Rookie432@AOL.com
"A customer is someone who deals with you. A GOOD customer is someone who refuses to deal with anyone else. Make GOOD customers."
Posts: 81 | From: Cambridge, Ohio, USA | Registered: Oct 2000
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If you're only going to do one or two a month, I wouldn't buy any equipment. Just mask it and take to someone else to blast. A local cemetery near me is used for this kind of work all the time. Alot less hassel and much higher profit.
------------------ David Otero Ace Signs Albuquerque, NM
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My perspective is different. Having done my own blasting in the past, I found the process loud, dirty, and dangerous (in regards to blasting with silica) and because I was not blasting on a regular basis, that it just didn't pay to do this myself. I sold my blaster (a TIP) last year, after not using it for three years; I take my prepped and masked materials to a local monument shop. Their price for blasting has been very reasonable, and my time is more productive doing other tasks. Give some serious thought to how much blasting you are really going to do, and whether you like doing it (I definitely did NOT!) before investing in equipment.
------------------ "A wise man concerns himself with the truth, not with what people believe." - Aristotle
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. - Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson)
Cam Finest Kind Signs 256 S. Broad St. Pawcatuck, Ct. 06379 "Award winning Signs since 1988"
Posts: 3051 | From: Pawcatuck,Connecticut USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Often times rental yards have an area on their premises that they use for sandblasing and you can rent the equipment on their property.
My TIP equipment is great for doing an occassional tile. Signs....try something else.
Sometimes something will not work properly on my computer, and if I keep rebooting it will eventually go right. No matter how many times you ask this question, I'm afraid you'll never get enough air out of that compressor.You need more air and a bigger nozzle.
------------------ The SignShop Mendocino, California "Where the Redwoods meet the Surf"
Posts: 6712 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks guys for the replies. Rick, I know that I'm in the catch 22. Not enough bus. to justify the cost of the one that I need. I used to not let that stop me, but now I have a huge shop filled with tools that I rarely use. Cam and David are right on the sub-out deal, but as I said, I haven't been able to trust them to get it right yet. I'm setting on a job of tempered glass doors, which is an especially fragile job, using a more fragile resist and really needing eye attention in a big way. I just need more control. A large compresser and a 1/4 nozzel, I don't feel are going to have this control....I have been watching for a good unit to hit the auctions, but haven't caught one yet......I guess I'm telling myself that I need 2 different tools. I have seen the large units work, and they don't seem to offer a controlable down pressure.....Does anyone feel that I can blast out 20 square feet of Redwood properly, in maybe 30 to 40 minutes with a 1/8 inch nozzel and 24 cfm, or am I fussing in the wind? I know this would seem like an eternity, but again, I'm only going to deal with this 1 or 2 times a month. Rick, I really respect your judgement and knowledge here, but I guess I'm just trying to get by with an all purpose machine that I can afford to own. Again, thanks for the replies. Jack
------------------ Jack Davis 1410 Main St Joplin, MO 64801 www.imagemakerart.com bronzeo@swbell.net http://www.imagemakerart.com
Posts: 1549 | From: Joplin, MO | Registered: Mar 2000
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Jack, I don't think so. 1/8th inch nozzle would probably take at least triple that time with mediocre results. For redwood you really need minimum 100cfm compressor and a 1/4 inch nozzle. Believe me, you'll be frustrated to the point of giving up.
I know where you're coming from using others to blast for you. No matter how many times I told them what to do, they just couldn't do it right. Now a monument blaster should do a good job as monuments are blasted very similarly, but I didn't have one close enough that had the time to do other work. I found a guy that let me rent his blaster. In one way it was nice because I blasted at his site, no mess here at the shop. But he had a 35 hp electric compressor with a 400lb pot and 1/4 inch nozzle and even that didn't give me enough air to blast redwood efficiently.
A smaller unit with 1/8 inch tip will work fine for glass and HDU blasted thru a GrainFraim. (Blasting HDU without the GrainFraim gets a little tricky to keep the background flat with a 1/8th inch tip) For the few redwood signs you say you want to do, I would consider 21st Century Signs or Cedar Works to do your sign. Both will blast only, or sell you the completed sign.
I am moving more in the direction of HDU with the GrainFraim. With a little practice and a few tricks, you can make HDU look so much like redwood its scary, and it doesn't crack or weather like redwood. I also like the idea of blasting with aluminum oxide instead of silica sand... so much safer healthwise, and I can blast indoors with aluminum oxide. Here in Upper Michigan, that alone is a big plus.
------------------ Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 ICQ: 21604027 sherwood@up.net
Posts: 5396 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I bought a TIP pot and ran it off the worshop compressor a few years back....its hard to get the surface even its slow and no extra capacity for air hood. It sits here in the corner gathering dust and only gets used for glass.
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