I’m planning on blasting the frame and some miscellaneous small parts on my SS396 this summer. I’ve seen several recommendations on this message board for the Harbor Freight pressure sandblaster. So I got their catalog in the mail today and the 20lb pressurized unit looks like a great buy at $59.00 (+ free shipping). However, the air consumption rating has me a little concerned. The catalog description indicates “60 to 125 working PSI; 6 to 25 working CFM” . My Sears compressor is rated at the lowest end of that spectrum: 6.2cfm @ 90psi. I was wondering if anyone has had success with this tool at a low cfm rating? If not, any other suggestions for a low pressure blaster, that wont break the bank, would be appreciated.

Your compressor is too small for any real sandblasting use. About the limit on size of a part I would attempt with that small a compressor would be a control arm. 20 pounds of sand is too small for anything but small parts but the Harbor Freight 70 pound unit is okay.

Your compressor will definitely run a sand blaster but won't run it indefinitely.

The 20 lb unit is on sale in the HF stores right now for $44.99.

What size compressor would be adequate but not an overkill?
JimM

I'll give you a suggestion here to chew on. I went exactly the way you're going. With the pressure pot, compressor and enough media to do a frame, plus ALL+ of a weekend day, you will be able to sandblast your frame. If I were you, I'd cart it down to an induistrial sandblaster, pay the $100 or so and stay home and spend your time on other areas of your resto. I love my sandblaster for little projects like window channels and such. I spent a full hour, part of a 30 dollar bag of media, had sand EVERYWHERE :eek: and only managed to get a front framehorn done. Just my experiences. If you really choose to do it yourself, go rent an industrial sized blaster.

Cam

Bryan,

Cam is right... The frame is a massive undertaking. The amount your electric bill would go up for that one project will just about pay to have the frame blasted commercially. I did all of my own small parts control arms, springs ect., with the larger HB blaster. But sent the frame out. Not only the electric bill but you can't or shouldn't run your compressor constantly for several hours like that. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

I used the HF 40 lb blaster to do my El Camino body. I rented an industrial compressor the kind on wheels with a diesel engine powering it. Worked real well but made a very big mess in my buddy's yard.

How many # of sand did you go through and how much did it all cost in the end compared to jobbing it out?

I've got a 110 lb. Harbor Freight pressure blaster arriving this Thursday/Friday. I also have a bare frame sitting in my driveway, and a 5 HP 60 gal.compressor. I got Friday off, for a 3 day weekend......

By the way, I priced out 2 different sources to have this frame blasted professionally. One shop wanted $280, and the other wanted $300.

It's amazing how these topics come up at just the right time! :D

Crankshaft

I used 400 lbs of sand, don't remember the cost, I bought it at ACE hardware. The compressor was actually free, at the time a friend owned a rental business, I had to refill it with fuel and I payed $79 for the blaster which I gave to my buddy to stop him from whining about the 400 lbs of sand in his yard smile.gif . It took all day and I had the body stripped to a shell, all the removed body pieces were blasted on all surfaces.

So the truth comes out :D

I did my frame with a pressure pot blaster similar to the harbor freight one. It was a MASSIVE PITA......I won't ever do it again.
Took the better part of 2 days to blast and paint, 1000lbs of sand....and made a gigantic mess.
I have a 7HP 80gal compressor that puts out 18cfm @ 100psi, it kept ahead of the blaster.....barely.

For the last couple of days I have been blasting my frame with harbor freights 40 lbs. blaster and a 5hp 30 gallon tank. It takes a very long time, I have spent $40 on sand so far and I'm not done. You have to wait for the compressor to catch up. It does take the rust and paint off nicely but the tar is what slows you down. You need diesel fuel to remove the tar. If I didn't buy the blaster already I would have a pro do it.

When I did my frame I got tired of messing with the sandblaster. I used a wire cup brush in my 4.5 in. grinder and knocked of 90 percent of the crud, paint, etc. Then went back with the sander and only used about 40 lbs. of sand and much less aggravation. The wire brush is very effective but throws wires that tend to stick in your leg at times. Wear Goggles if you go this route!

- Doug

It really sounds like a variety of techniques can accomplish the work. I've been looking at chemicals first, but only exposed areas and not near cracks or crevices where it can "soak in". Then using wire and sand for the remanining sections.

It also seems that there are enough small items on a car, like wheels, etc. that the smaller blaster will more than pay for itself.

As for pricing, I've been quoted upwards of several hundred dollars, and while that may be cheap to some, don't forget to add in the vehicle and trailer to haul it there and back, assuming you don't own such vehicle and trailer.

You have to add up all incidentals on both sides of the fence, not just the obvious ones.

My question, what on earth do you do with the sand when your done? Can any be reused?

Thanks

Francis

Dougs70ss,

That's a great tip about knocking all the big stuff off first!

I sandblasted a rearend a couple years back and found that some old coatings are murder to try and blast off (compared to the actual rust). I had used naval jelly and dissolved a lot of whatever the hell it was before blasting. I had a vacuum blaster at the time and it only took a couple of hours to do.

Crankshaft

Originally posted by Crankshaft:
Dougs70ss,

That's a great tip about knocking all the big stuff off first!

I sandblasted a rearend a couple years back and found that some old coatings are murder to try and blast off (compared to the actual rust). I had used naval jelly and dissolved a lot of whatever the hell it was before blasting. I had a vacuum blaster at the time and it only took a couple of hours to do.

Crankshaft

The best way is to get all the undercoating off first but using chemicals or deisel fuel to me sounds like it would make a big mess what I did was use a propane torch and a scraper heat a small area at a time to soften it and scrape it off it gets hard again before it hits the floor and you can sweep it up easily it worked really well for me

Originally posted by zioFrank:


My question, what on earth do you do with the sand when your done? Can any be reused?

Thanks

Francis I had a landscape project going at one time. I just put the sand in the bottom of it. Or, you could just dig a hole in the corner of your yard somewhere and bury it. graemlins/thumbsup.gif I used a shop vac to suck it up. Cal

I used white sand. And a 20.00 blaster that I got at lowes,same as home depot.(Works out of a 5 gal bucket)and blasted my frame that was sitting on blue tarps.I draped them up on the sides to help catch the sand.I was them able to reuse it over and over.I went threw less than two 5 gallon buckets of the stuff.The torck trick is best for removing stubborn undercoating.I have a 5hp 30 gal comppressor I did stop often to let it catch up. took a full weekend at least... :D