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beginner compressor / blasting question

3K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  hp246 
#1 ·
hey guys, nice forum

i am looking to set myself up a very very cheap diy ghetto blaster for stripping old motorcycle fairings - abs plastic - for the purposes of bedliner repaints. i flip bikes for a living and many of them i repaint them with duplicolor spray can bedliner. while i have found this stuff is relatively **** for use as bedliner, its near indestructable when sprayed on to other stuff properly.

i want to buy everything second hand, cheap

my questions are pretty simple. whats a decent cheap gun to get, or does it matter since this is not a commercial and not a precision application?

what sort of hose should i use for the diy gravity fed system i am going to make - 5 gallon bucket + funnel ftw

what grit sand should i use since the more abrasion the parts have the better the spray on liner works, but i also need to get into fairly tight little corners and curves?

what psi would you guys recommend running it at, and what cfm/size should my compressor be for doing this non stop?

i have a crap older compressor with a leak, that is apparently full of water, and am emglo that is supposed to work, and a bunch of spare motors and parts. ill trade it all for something newer, emglo is large.

is there ANY way to avoid condensation on larger compressors? like will a newer one be much better than an older, or do i just have to run a filter and long line? point me in the right direction

i have about 5 sets of fairings and bunch of tanks.....so you get the idea.
 
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#2 ·
For what it is worth . I use a pressurized sand blaster and would never go back to a siphon blaster . It uses less air volume and much less sand and is much faster and more controllable, but , you problay wouldn't want to use it on the plastic fairings . As far as using a cheap siphon blaster, you can just use heater hose for the sand feed . There is no pressure so it doesn't wear. I just use play sand from Lowe's which is less than $5.oo for a 50 lb bag . BTW. I use an inline filter right at the blaster in addition to my water separator ..
 
#4 ·
Water separator is needed as any moisture accumulation will lead to clogging and lots of bad words..Use something like vitrogrit which is crushed glass as it cuts better and needs less pressure to cut well..makes the job easier..and yes on the pressure blaster..though for small parts a siphon is fine..

Sam
 
#8 ·
err said:
anyone want to answer some of my other stupid questions?
Well, I did answer a couple of them . As for how much air pressure to use, that depends on what works for you . The more pressure you use the more chance there is for distortion of the metal . The larger the orfice the more air volume you will use and the more cfm you need from your compressor. I don't know much about siphon blasters . Borrowed one once and used a 55 gallon barrel of sand to just blast the rocker panels on a car and that is when I built my pressure blaster from an old 20 gal compressor tank, with extensive modification BTW . I use a 1/8" orfice and 17 cfm at 100 psi is barely enough. You were talking about going cheap cheap and that is why i mentioned the play sand from Lowe's. It is clean enough that it has never clogged my 1/8" orfice, and it is dry. The last time I checked the price of blasting media, even at HF, it was expensive. Hope this helps . Allan
 
#9 ·
All compressors will get moisture in the tank. Normal operating practice is to drain the tank regularly. This prevents your tank from rusting out and helps to keep moisture transfer to your distribution system. It is helpful to cool the air as much as possible before it gets to you blaster. This can be as simple as a long metal distribution pipe or as complex as a refrigerated dryer. Finally, a filter/separator just before your blaster will keep any residual moisture out of your blaster.

It may seem like it is a lot of effort to eliminate moisture but you will be much more frustrated with clogs if you don't give it some consideration.
 
#10 ·
my questions are pretty simple. whats a decent cheap gun to get, or does it matter since this is not a commercial and not a precision application?

I don't think it is that critical for what you are wanting to do.

what sort of hose should i use for the diy gravity fed system i am going to make - 5 gallon bucket + funnel ftw

I would think you could find a replacement hose for an existing system pretty inexpensively.

what grit sand should i use since the more abrasion the parts have the better the spray on liner works, but i also need to get into fairly tight little corners and curves?

If you are stripping ABS Plastic, I wouldn't use sand at all. I would expect that sand would chew right through it. I would think something like walnut shell would work for the ABS. Whatever you use, make sure you wear a respirator. Sand can cause a very nasty disease called silicosis.

what psi would you guys recommend running it at, and what cfm/size should my compressor be for doing this non stop?

Blasters hog a lot of air. you will want the biggest compressor you can afford. You may also want to do some research on hooking up multiple compressors. I've heard though have no experience that you can put to smaller inexpensive compressors and tanks together and allow you to put out more air with out beating up your compressor too much.


i have a crap older compressor with a leak, that is apparently full of water, and am emglo that is supposed to work, and a bunch of spare motors and parts. ill trade it all for something newer, emglo is large.

If it has a leak in the tank, I'd be wary of blowing a tank.

is there ANY way to avoid condensation on larger compressors? like will a newer one be much better than an older, or do i just have to run a filter and long line? point me in the right direction

You need to drain the tank or put an automatic drain on the tank. You need a system to allow water to separate. This should include running some lengths of pipe including drops, and using filters. This is really important when using blasters, painting, etc. Certain tools benefit from installing inline oilers. Not a bad idea to have several drops set up for using different tools. For example I have a drop that includes an oiler for use with air impact wrenches, etc. I have a separate drip and line for use with spray guns and my plasma cutter, since oil is bad for them.

Hope this helps.
 
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