[updated:LAST EDITED ON Mar-30-06 AT 01:22 PM (CST) by Robert (admin)]Man, this sucks! Ok, let me start from the beginning. I have my fenders, doors, hood and grille off of my truck and they're ready for sandblasting. Well, I went and bought a $285 compressor from Home Depot the other day. 5.5HP and a 26 gallon tank. I'm not sure what the CFM output was, but ANYWAYS, I also went to Pepboys and bought a Syphon blaster ($30) and I hooked it up and it didn't work really well. I mean, it kept seeming like it was getting clogged up or something. Well after waiting a few seconds for the sand to start coming back through, the PSI would drop on the compressor and it woulnd't take the rust off... THIS IS VERY FRUSTRATING! I was told the $150 sandblaster's wouldn't do any better than that syphon blaster (I've been told that by several people). What should I do? I don't want to buy an $1800 compressor and I sure as heck don't wanna pay $1000+ for my pieces to get sandblasted. Is there any other way to take rust off or ANYYYYYY alternative??? I'm frustrated and would like to start doing my body work, but I can't because nothing is sandblasted. Thanks!
If there is a tool rental place near you you could rent a gas or diesel powered compressor for probably less than a $100 for a day but your siphon blaster is not good for large jobs. The blaster sales propaganda says a 20 cfm or so compressor will work but this is bull. There is no size electric compressor that will hold up to a sandblasting rig for extended use. I have seen them kill 15 hp units. Sure they will do intermittant jobs for years but not all day work. A tool rental place may also have a pressure pot blaster but they are getting shy about renting them because of the danger if used without the proper respirator which can be bad news. If you find one, get at least a 150 lb unit so your not stopping all the time to refill. If your not very experienced DO NOT do flat panels like hoods or doors, you WILL warp them and turn them to junk unless your an expert in metal shrinking.
I have been using a MacBlaster from Mac tools. Its a quart gun. It's great for the small stuff but you need more compressor than you have to run it for any time. I burned up a 5h 30 gal. Make sure you have DRY clean media when you blast that is graded. If you buy all purpose sand from Home D you'll fight it all the way with any rig. I like the Coal Slag it's cheap,recoverable and and it works. 51 Papy Mike
