What do you guys think of this sandblaster for frame and body blasting?

They have quite a few good reviews(feedback) on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170137830122&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:PIC&ih=007

nobody???

And still nobody.
It all makes sense now.

later

it's a standard blaster...
what you want to know..

The body is a rip-off of ALC's Sandy Jet blaster, with the pull-up style seal. Which is a good thing. The gun is pretty cheap, probably Harbor or Northern quality. If you go with that, I'd upgrade to a real gun, such as this (http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_33176_33176). That is the ALC deadman blast gun. MUCH better then the other style..

To sand blast something as significant as a frame or body, you'll need to use at least a 1/4" nozzle. Do you have a compressor to supply that volume of air? We're talking 15-20 CFM at 100 psi to be practical.

Tom

I saw a unit that looked a lot like that at harbor freight except it had a sand recovery system which I thought would be a nice touch. I see the hose is 3/8 my h.f. is 1/2. Todd is right I tried one of those junk valves and took it back to h.f. I do some little stuff for fun? but I've got a guy that blasts for 65 an hour and I really can't do it for that .

what happens to the nozzels that use a rupper block to shut off, it wears real quick and leaks, then you have to find extra blocks-i use a high dollar cougar valve
you need sand, which now comes in plastic bags, which when left in the sun, gets moisture, then you have to dry it out
you need a huge air comp. regardless of blaster, i usually rent a comp(tag along) if i do a frame, but first choice is take the frame somewhere, rental of comp. almost pays for having someone else do it

what happens to the nozzels that use a rupper block to shut off, it wears real quick and leaks, then you have to find extra blocks-i use a high dollar cougar valve
you need sand, which now comes in plastic bags, which when left in the sun, gets moisture, then you have to dry it out
you need a huge air comp. regardless of blaster, i usually rent a comp(tag along) if i do a frame, but first choice is take the frame somewhere, rental of comp. almost pays for having someone else do it

It took me 300lbs of Black Diamond to wear out the rubber block. When it did, loosen with allen key / wing nut, turn 90 degrees, and tighten. Works fine.. :yes:

mr69,
Having "been there done that", I will only give you one bit of advice. Unless you are retired and have nothing else to do, and own at least a 20 HP compressor, probably even bigger, dont waste your time or money. We have a 10 HP two stage at the shop and it barely keeps up with the glass bead booth. Pay someone to blast the frame and body and dont look back. If you dont believe me, thats fine but ... find a local air compressor dealer that also sells blasters. Ask them if you can try one out in thier yard. Bring along a control arm or something similar to the frame to try it on. Once you see how long it takes to do even that small part, you will understand why it's not worth trying to do it yourself.

If you were trying to just do small parts, its a different story.

Just my opinion,

mr69,
Having "been there done that", I will only give you one bit of advice. Unless you are retired and have nothing else to do, and own at least a 20 HP compressor, probably even bigger, dont waste your time or money. We have a 10 HP two stage at the shop and it barely keeps up with the glass bead booth. Pay someone to blast the frame and body and dont look back. If you dont believe me, thats fine but ... find a local air compressor dealer that also sells blasters. Ask them if you can try one out in thier yard. Bring along a control arm or something similar to the frame to try it on. Once you see how long it takes to do even that small part, you will understand why it's not worth trying to do it yourself.

If you were trying to just do small parts, its a different story.

Just my opinion,

x2

But if you still want one, I've got an ALC Sandy Jet with your name written on it... :D

I am picking sand out of every pore as I type this after sandblasting 4 a-arms, a steering box and a handfull of small parts. This left a beach in my driveway and 2 pairs of ruined safety glasses. If I was blasting the frame... well I did that in my driveway when I was 18 but now no way.

I'd outsource that part of the job...


JT

Sand blasting can be a aggravating experience, until you do it a few times. I fought with it, first the air lines weren't right, so I had moisture in the blaster, fixed them, then went to supplied air.

With out the experience of having done it a lot and supplied air, you stay in a hurry up mode. If you stick with it, it will get easier, but to do just one car, your probably better off out sourcing it.

Here I go again on supplied air:clonk:with supplied air you stay clean, and you can stand in there and look everything over, its just a whole different ballgame.

I explained a few things about blasting on my web site, like how to get around wearing out these rubber stoppers, and what you have to watch out for with a 5 or 7 horse $800 compressor. Like the duty cycle.

Once you get the hang of it, you probably wouldn't consider letting somebody do it for you.

I guess one thing that really sticks in my mind, is running into seam sealer I missed, because you can't blast it out, and an inexperienced sandblaster will sometimes thin that area, or actually blow a hole through it, trying to get it out.

Every once in a while on these car forums, you will see some close ups of a sandblasted body, and you will see the seam sealer after he gets it back home.

A lot of pros and cons, but doing it yourself, you will usually get a lot better job.

Rob

I dont know much about them, but I am going to give it a try. A friend saw on a reproduction show with someone sandblasting with their pressure washer. I need to clean my chevelles belly so I googled it and found quite a few of these out there. They all had raving reviews of the products. I guess the pros are: you dont need a costly high volume compressor, you dont get cancer from inhaling the silicone particles from the abrasive - since it washes away with the water, you can do it outdoors (the lawn) and not omit dust everywhere, You can use a gas powered device so it really can be done out in the lawn somewhere, and the attachment is as low as $65 from Northern Tools. So that being said, I havent tried myself - it sounds too good to be true. I just ordered one from ebay, but like I said Northern stocks the set-up and they claim you can use play sand??? If anybody has tried with or without success, I would love to hear. I guess the only drawback I can see is the obvious - that the newly cleaned metal is wet. I live in Florida, and washed parts dry in about 2 minutes in this heat. I guess crevices could be easily dried with a air compressor and heat gun if necessary. Thanks Dan:D