rcx132
Philip
- Messages
- 2,705
- Location
- London, UK
Almost there with having a decent home blasting setup! HUGE thanks to everyone on these forums that gave me tips to get here!
So here's the setup. Cabinet is an SBC220, Chinese, it's the biggest available before the prices jump. It's a good size for car work. Funny enough these cabinets go for the same price used as they are new!!
The blast pot sits on a drum so that I can reach the levers while blasting. I was thinking I could later plumb in a remote lever that switches the pot on off so the pot could go back on the floor. But it's nice to have the pot nearby so I can adjust the media flow.
The pot is a LOT faster than using the suction gun. Suction gun is more convenient for small jobs where I can't be bothered to get the pot out or have to keep refilling the pot.
I went for a Silverline extractor. They all look the same to me (Clarke, Axminster), probably made in the same factories, the Silverline was cheapest and 3 year warranty. The cabinet doesn't work well without an extractor, apart from the dust, the cabinet leaks without extractor.
Originally had one of these bolt on Chinese extractors, it was powerful, small, had a built in collector and filter, very convenient, but it broke. I considered buying another one but suspicious of the fact that the ebay seller has sold as many spare motors as actual units! I'm also suspicious of their duty cycle as they spin very fast.
I had to get a 100mm air vent spigot to get the extractor to attach to the cabinet:
As suggest by other members, fitted a mesh (200 mesh size) to stop media loss.
I cut a hole for the blast pot hose and fitted a grommet. The dust extractor suction stops escaping media. I put my hose in through the side of the cabinet. Had I known better I would have put the hole next to the glove so it follows the line of your arms. I think that would make the hose more manageable.
I originally used one of these deadman valves on the end of the pressure pot hose. It didn't last long, after blasting two parts the media had eaten through the stopper and nozzle! Waste of £20 !
So, advice on this website is to fit a tungsten tip without any valve, and switch off at the pot (which is why the pot is at chest height on a drum). I pressed the carbide tip into a pipe fitting. The pressure pot hose was way way too stiff for me so fitted regular braided hose. It might not last. This setup has made it easy to blast and reach everywhere when doing complex parts.
Picking media wasn't easy!!! I couldn't find a decent guide. I found this image very useful. In the end I settled on Aluminium Oxide because it lasts, works fast, is reusable (i.e. can recirculate in the cabinet) and removes rust which softer media won't. Expensive at £30 a bag and I got two bags. It's been fine on my car parts even on aluminium, I just keep a distance between the part and the blast nozzle. I went for F60 size, it seems a bit fine to me, next time might try bigger size. The pressure pot manual says not to go bigger than 120 grit.
For bits that won't fit into the blast cabinet I've been blasting them outside on a tarp. I've used Sealey grit so far, but it's expensive, £20 a bag. Yesterday arrived a pallet of crushed glass, works out £3 a bag delivered if you order by phone! I've gone for fine-medium grade, but noticed Martyns Bargains who sell these pressure pots, they recommend medium grade, so maybe that would have been better. I think bigger is better but too big and you get blockages.
Wrapped up to protect from the rain:
To save media and time, I've been using electrolytic cleaning before blasting. At first I used caustic soda as an electrolyte but I got fed up of burnt hands and my toddler walking upto the tank, it's dangerous and nasty stuff, people loose their eyesight with that stuff. I switched to washing soda. It's not as good because it doesn't remove grease or old zinc, but it removes the rust quickly. Here's my tank:
The parts come out rust free and with paint loosened, but there's smut on them. Might be ok for painting, but my bits are off for zinc plating so they still need to be blasted to get the smut off. Personally I wouldn't paint over the smut but it might be ok.
I've been using a lab power supply as it lets me regulate the current so the parts don't get over cooked.
I've now got two big compressors which is what seems to be needed for painting (gun + air fed mask). I can't comment how well they will work for blasting as one of the compressors just packed up on my first day of using my new setup. I'm going to install forced cooling in the little shed. Behind the blue compressor is another 14 CFM 3 HP compressor !!
Before finding a second compressor I was topping up my main compressor with two little compressors to get more air (all three connected to one feed). But these little compressors don't even give anywhere near the air flow they claim. If you think two 9 CFM little compressors will do better than a big 14 CFM compressor, well in my experience they don't!
This is a very useful table from Ace Engineering, it shows you what pressure you can blast at depending on your compressor and which nozzle you have. I found that at 90 psi the pot blasts super fast but the parts get hot and most people won't have a compressor to keep up. I haven't yet found the optimum pressure.
I upgraded to a decent regulator, the cheaper ones were restricting air flow, when I upgraded all my tools started working better!! There's also a water filter full of desiccant to dry the air. This was essential when I was using the big Sealey grit as it used to clog, but now I'm using finer media it's not needed and the desiccant gets used up too quickly so may give up. The two filters on the end are for breathing air, for the air fed spray mask.
10mm bore hose also makes a very noticeable difference! The pot looses pressure if running on an 8mm hose.
So here's the setup. Cabinet is an SBC220, Chinese, it's the biggest available before the prices jump. It's a good size for car work. Funny enough these cabinets go for the same price used as they are new!!
The blast pot sits on a drum so that I can reach the levers while blasting. I was thinking I could later plumb in a remote lever that switches the pot on off so the pot could go back on the floor. But it's nice to have the pot nearby so I can adjust the media flow.
The pot is a LOT faster than using the suction gun. Suction gun is more convenient for small jobs where I can't be bothered to get the pot out or have to keep refilling the pot.
I went for a Silverline extractor. They all look the same to me (Clarke, Axminster), probably made in the same factories, the Silverline was cheapest and 3 year warranty. The cabinet doesn't work well without an extractor, apart from the dust, the cabinet leaks without extractor.
Originally had one of these bolt on Chinese extractors, it was powerful, small, had a built in collector and filter, very convenient, but it broke. I considered buying another one but suspicious of the fact that the ebay seller has sold as many spare motors as actual units! I'm also suspicious of their duty cycle as they spin very fast.
I had to get a 100mm air vent spigot to get the extractor to attach to the cabinet:
As suggest by other members, fitted a mesh (200 mesh size) to stop media loss.
I cut a hole for the blast pot hose and fitted a grommet. The dust extractor suction stops escaping media. I put my hose in through the side of the cabinet. Had I known better I would have put the hole next to the glove so it follows the line of your arms. I think that would make the hose more manageable.
I originally used one of these deadman valves on the end of the pressure pot hose. It didn't last long, after blasting two parts the media had eaten through the stopper and nozzle! Waste of £20 !
So, advice on this website is to fit a tungsten tip without any valve, and switch off at the pot (which is why the pot is at chest height on a drum). I pressed the carbide tip into a pipe fitting. The pressure pot hose was way way too stiff for me so fitted regular braided hose. It might not last. This setup has made it easy to blast and reach everywhere when doing complex parts.
Picking media wasn't easy!!! I couldn't find a decent guide. I found this image very useful. In the end I settled on Aluminium Oxide because it lasts, works fast, is reusable (i.e. can recirculate in the cabinet) and removes rust which softer media won't. Expensive at £30 a bag and I got two bags. It's been fine on my car parts even on aluminium, I just keep a distance between the part and the blast nozzle. I went for F60 size, it seems a bit fine to me, next time might try bigger size. The pressure pot manual says not to go bigger than 120 grit.
For bits that won't fit into the blast cabinet I've been blasting them outside on a tarp. I've used Sealey grit so far, but it's expensive, £20 a bag. Yesterday arrived a pallet of crushed glass, works out £3 a bag delivered if you order by phone! I've gone for fine-medium grade, but noticed Martyns Bargains who sell these pressure pots, they recommend medium grade, so maybe that would have been better. I think bigger is better but too big and you get blockages.
Wrapped up to protect from the rain:
To save media and time, I've been using electrolytic cleaning before blasting. At first I used caustic soda as an electrolyte but I got fed up of burnt hands and my toddler walking upto the tank, it's dangerous and nasty stuff, people loose their eyesight with that stuff. I switched to washing soda. It's not as good because it doesn't remove grease or old zinc, but it removes the rust quickly. Here's my tank:
The parts come out rust free and with paint loosened, but there's smut on them. Might be ok for painting, but my bits are off for zinc plating so they still need to be blasted to get the smut off. Personally I wouldn't paint over the smut but it might be ok.
I've been using a lab power supply as it lets me regulate the current so the parts don't get over cooked.
I've now got two big compressors which is what seems to be needed for painting (gun + air fed mask). I can't comment how well they will work for blasting as one of the compressors just packed up on my first day of using my new setup. I'm going to install forced cooling in the little shed. Behind the blue compressor is another 14 CFM 3 HP compressor !!
Before finding a second compressor I was topping up my main compressor with two little compressors to get more air (all three connected to one feed). But these little compressors don't even give anywhere near the air flow they claim. If you think two 9 CFM little compressors will do better than a big 14 CFM compressor, well in my experience they don't!
This is a very useful table from Ace Engineering, it shows you what pressure you can blast at depending on your compressor and which nozzle you have. I found that at 90 psi the pot blasts super fast but the parts get hot and most people won't have a compressor to keep up. I haven't yet found the optimum pressure.
I upgraded to a decent regulator, the cheaper ones were restricting air flow, when I upgraded all my tools started working better!! There's also a water filter full of desiccant to dry the air. This was essential when I was using the big Sealey grit as it used to clog, but now I'm using finer media it's not needed and the desiccant gets used up too quickly so may give up. The two filters on the end are for breathing air, for the air fed spray mask.
10mm bore hose also makes a very noticeable difference! The pot looses pressure if running on an 8mm hose.
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