Sand blaster or vapour/wet blaster

[Blobber]

So its time to get something but I cant decide between a dry blasting cabinet or vapour/wet blasting cabinet? what's everyone's thoughts?
How much air do I need realistically? im not short of space or power so it can be a single or 3 phase compressor

 

[dave h 2]

Realistically it depends on how big your choice of blast cabinet nozzle is.

 

[Fazerruss]

Depends on the finish you want and if you want the parts to be wet or dry.
For bare aluminium parts I would say vapour because when done right th finish is similar to new cast components.
For steel parts that will be painted I would say dry media blast because it gives a very good surface for the paint to adhere plus there won't be any water leaking out to ruin your paint job.

 

[Bullet2012]

im not short of space or power

one of each then

 

[minimutly]

My large stainless cabinet is currently used as dry blasting, but it was originally made for vapour, and still has the Venturi nozzle in it. Any experts of this kit on here? How exactly does it work - pressures needed etc?

 

[Jelly_Sheffield]

So its time to get something but I cant decide between a dry blasting cabinet or vapour/wet blasting cabinet? what's everyone's thoughts?

If you go for vapour blasting make sure you confirm that's what you're buying...

A friend of mine was in the market for "a wet blaster" and accidentally bought a water injection blaster because it was such a good deal.

Whilst I think it's awesome on the occasions I borrow it, and it has the advantage of being usable outside a cabinet...

It is not at all what he actually wanted, consumes way more air, water and media than a similarly sized vapour blaster would, and doesn't have a recycle making it even worse.

 

[brightspark]

a decent comp giving 28cfm and use a 3.0mm jet with a pressure pot can be used outside blasting or in the cabinet and use a 4 inch woodchip extractor any larger and your looking at a 6.0mm jet and a 90cfm comp to run it

 

[julianf]

I have very limited experience, however -

My pressure pot seems to run ok on a single 1ph compressor (16a) with a 3mm nozzle.

...but

The 3mm nozzle means you do need to spend more time than you want to sieving the media.

A larger nozzle would mean more air but less labor.

When I finally sort my hydrovane, I'll likely increase the nozzle diameter in order to use cheap media without the sieving.

Note - even with 3hp of air, the ricochet off the work was enough to etch the visor on my breathing kit in a total loss environment.

 

[brightspark]

I have very limited experience, however -

My pressure pot seems to run ok on a single 1ph compressor (16a) with a 3mm nozzle.

...but

The 3mm nozzle means you do need to spend more time than you want to sieving the media.

A larger nozzle would mean more air but less labor.

When I finally sort my hydrovane, I'll likely increase the nozzle diameter in order to use cheap media without the sieving.

Note - even with 3hp of air, the ricochet off the work was enough to etch the visor on my breathing kit in a total loss environment.

it dont matter what size nozzle or grit you use it still needs sieving once its been through . the iregular worn grit with bits of paint and rust in is hard to regulate and a pain in the a.rse stopping and starting and can block up easily

 

[julianf]

it dont matter what size nozzle or grit you use it still needs sieving once its been through . the iregular worn grit with bits of paint and rust in is hard to regulate and a pain in the a.rse stopping and starting and can block up easily

As you know, i have virtually no experience in this area -

I was blasting in the open, so total loss, no reuse.

I found that the bag of kiln dried not sand sand from my local store was uneven enough that i feared it not going through without sieving.

Maybe it would have been fine. Maybe it would have been quicker to unblock the nozzle a few times?

 

[brightspark]

one use bag of sand on my gear once its regulated it will run all day long without touching the valve any iregularity and blocklage will pee you off and waste a lot of time . been there and got the teeshirt. also if you use a cheap pot with a ball valve and not a decent sand valve there a dead loss 2 heres the one that i make

 

[minimutly]

one use bag of sand on my gear once its regulated it will run all day long without touching the valve any iregularity and blocklage will pee you off and waste a lot of time . been there and got the teeshirt. also if you use a cheap pot with a ball valve and not a decent sand valve there a dead loss 2 heres the one that i make

View attachment 474913

I promised myself a year or two ago to make one of those valves for my pot, but still struggle with the constantly blocking original one. This is on my outside blaster (usually in a "tent" made of a big tarp).
The big stainless tank will take any wheel, engine block etc, and I use a simple Venturi gun with a hose to the grit in the bottom of the tank. Sort of works.
I swapped the v twin 5kW compressor for my Richmond universal mill, and the replacement Hydrovane is yet to be powered up. But one day soon...

 

[Fazerruss]

one use bag of sand on my gear once its regulated it will run all day long without touching the valve any iregularity and blocklage will pee you off and waste a lot of time . been there and got the teeshirt. also if you use a cheap pot with a ball valve and not a decent sand valve there a dead loss 2 heres the one that i make

View attachment 474913

Does your valve have an O ring on the lever shaft?

 

[Fazerruss]

I've just built a mini pressure pot for my sand blast cabinet. it has an automatic filling mushroom valve. Everything works superb and it's massively increased the power compared to the old Guyson venturi gun

 

[brightspark]

Does your valve have an O ring on the lever shaft?

yes

 

[brightspark]

here

 

[Matchless]

What blast hose do people use? mine is around 1/2" bore, it wears through on a bend just after the valve, after a couple of hours use, grit everywhere......................

 

[minimutly]

I've just built a mini pressure pot for my sand blast cabinet. it has an automatic filling mushroom valve. Everything works superb and it's massively increased the power compared to the old Guyson venturi gun

View attachment 474928View attachment 474929View attachment 474930View attachment 474931View attachment 474932View attachment 474933View attachment 474934View attachment 474935View attachment 474936View attachment 474937

Add that to the list of to do's then...
Nice, I like it.

 

[brightspark]

What blast hose do people use? mine is around 1/2" bore, it wears through on a bend just after the valve, after a couple of hours use, grit everywhere......................

3/8th bore on a 3.0mm jet stuffed in . its a a half inch bore heavy duty hose for the 6.o mm jet .using a hose that is 2 large reduces the velocity down the bore before it hits the jet and that accelerates it even faster

 

[brightspark]

here the half inch bore hose at 90cfm and the 3.8th hose at about 20cfm both 90 psi