Blasting help required

[Parm]

I've got an ABAC 3hp compressor with 50 L tank, also gotta Halfords abrasive blasting gun.

I know this is wrong and should know better myself but I've tried to use some kiln dried sand through the gun and just can't get it to do anything. Before I commit to buying some proper blasting media is there anything I'm doing wrong. Compressor is set to give as much output as it can

 

[rtbcomp]

Which blasting gun is it? Picture or link would help.

By "can't get it to do anything" do you mean no media comes out, or you do get the media but it doesn't shift the paint?

 

[Parm]

Which blasting gun is it? Picture or link would help.

By "can't get it to do anything" do you mean no media comes out, or you do get the media but it doesn't shift the paint?

This is the unit, it's a SIP maxi sandblasting gun, I cannot get the media out with any pressure for it to be effective

 

[brightspark]

View attachment 48288

This is the unit, it's a SIP maxi sandblasting gun, I cannot get the media out with any pressure for it to be effective

it is a suction gun and pretty crap it will hardly remove bird sh....it never mind rust

 

[rtbcomp]

I've got a professional version of that from Anglo-Scott Abrasives and it works well. Those with the built-in container work better than those with a suction tube.

The problem could be not enough air or the media sticking. Does your compressor have a small 1/4 BSP regulator, what bore and how long is your airline?

 

[Parm]

Not too sure about size of fitting on comp. the one I use is a standard PCL coupling that takes a female fitting on the end of an air hose. The hose is 4m long and has a 8mm bore.

Having a read around this evening I'm begining to suspect that the kiln dried sand may not be so kiln dried

 

[brightspark]

Not too sure about size of fitting on comp. the one I use is a standard PCL coupling that takes a female fitting on the end of an air hose. The hose is 4m long and has a 8mm bore.

Having a read around this evening I'm begining to suspect that the kiln dried sand may not be so kiln dried

run it through a sieve or your fingers if it falls through its dry if it dont its damp. it isnt verry abrasive anyhow as its verry fine . its ok on ally and not to badly pitted rusty steel in a pressure pot at 90 psi

 

[rtbcomp]

I've had damp kiln-dries sand. It's OK when it comes out of the kiln, but if the retailer stores it outside in burst bags it will get wet. I've used glass grit (not beads) from Stacey Processing.

 

[Parm]

I've had damp kiln-dries sand. It's OK when it comes out of the kiln, but if the retailer stores it outside in burst bags it will get wet. I've used glass grit (not beads) from Stacey Processing.

Ok looks like I. Getting somewhere then as I got the sand from B&Q, it is their play pit sand and was stored outside.

Apart from this will the comp and gun work with the set up I've got, if so then I shall order some proper media

 

[rtbcomp]

It's worth trying some proper grit, mine works fine on most paints.

 

[fizzy]

Tesco often have bags of sand for kiddies play areas stored inside! It looks pretty fine. I always sieve everything before it goes in my blaster though.

 

[Parm]

Cheers folks, I will be ordering some grit in the next few days

 

[droopsnoot]

I have the Aldi version of that spot blaster, and a 50l/3HP Sealey comperssor so quite a similar setup. I was using it with the grit that came with it, but I also got a blast nozzle which I wanted to try out so I ordered some suitable blast media from eBay, described as "Medium Glass Grit" and silica-free. As an experiment I ran some of that through the spot blaster and got much better results than I ever had with the stuff that came with it. £15 for 25kg, including delivery.

 

[rtbcomp]

I use glass grit all the time and I'm very pleased with it. I get it direct from Stacey Processing Ltd.

The last lot worked out at 10p/Kg, delivered, for a 1 tonne bag.

 

[norlander]

has it got a srew on nozzle on it? if it has and its screwed all the way on, unscrew it about 4/5 turns and see if more comes out. I can't see from the picture but it looks like gun I have and I had the same problem until I unscrewed the nozzle.
I think you need the smaller micron media, I have a tub of the Karcher stuff and it seems to go better once its been through the gun once.
TBH I've given up on it except for soda blasting little bits, I'd probably perservere with grit or something if I built a proper cabinet to contain and recover the grit or whatever.

 

[normspanners]

know better myself but I've tried to use some kiln dried sand

TUT TUT. Dont you know any H&S people to guide you??
If ya need help with BLASTING------- I will give you my wifes number ------------she is an expert and uses it quite often, as a link between other swear words.

 

[droopsnoot]

I'd probably perservere with grit or something if I built a proper cabinet to contain and recover the grit or whatever.

When I was using the blast nozzle instead of the spot blaster to clean some bits of a subframe, I put the workpiece into a big plastic bag, closed up most of the opening except for a small "exhaust" pipe and a way to put my arm in with the nozzle, and just blasted into the bag. Some still escaped around my arm but not very much, at the end it was just a case of emptying the bag back into the bucket the grit came in. A mate has a proper cabinet that he lets me used, but this particular item wouldn't fit in.

 

[darren.a.roberts]

Wish I could do that with my Range Rover....

When I was using the blast nozzle instead of the spot blaster to clean some bits of a subframe, I put the workpiece into a big plastic bag, closed up most of the opening except for a small "exhaust" pipe and a way to put my arm in with the nozzle, and just blasted into the bag. Some still escaped around my arm but not very much, at the end it was just a case of emptying the bag back into the bucket the grit came in. A mate has a proper cabinet that he lets me used, but this particular item wouldn't fit in.

 

[DanielW]

Get some Baking soda and fill the cup up,if it works with the soda? then the sand is good enough.

 

[droopsnoot]

Wish I could do that with my Range Rover....

For bits of the shell that I couldn't remove, I got another large plastic bag and cut a hole in the opposite end to the existing hole. I taped that to the bodyshell around where I wanted to blast, stuck my arm in the other end and blasted away. Didn't quite go to plan but worked quite effectively with minimal excess. I put a tray below the bag and most of the grit dropped into there.