Sand blasting

Eeven a 125 cfm is big enough for doing one truck......the Clemco version of a small pot is called a" Mity Mite" and holds 60 lbs of sand ..IIRC......the normal big pot holds 600lbs.......I dont think a 5/16 or 1/4 carbide nozzle is too expensive......the big 3/8 commercial nozzles were around $600 when I was in the business ,and last a long time at 24/7 use they are lined with silicon nitride, nearly as hard as diamond........One time ,compressors were easy to find cheap ...the State Govt auction always had at least one.......now ,i never see them around,probably because jackhammers dont exist anymore,and dry sandblasting is problematic.........Screw compressors are great ,but if the air end is crook ,its big bucks to fix .....

John

Back in the day when Ingersol-Rand and Compair ruled the roost they ran the pricing. The Chinese have joined the game and prices of consumables have dropped dramatically.

I did a quick search and found that the new standard is Boron Carbide. 6mm tips start at $15

Lang

Nozzle Tips
The tips are the number one part on a sandblasting unit that wears out. It’s no surprise since the nozzle tip is in the most abrasive area of the unit. At the tip, the flow of media is compacted into a more narrow stream so that the output is stronger. They will obviously wear out quicker if your blaster has a high abrasive to air ratio. To reduce the wear on your sandblaster tips, I recommend that you adjust the valve to a less abrasive to air ratio. If you don’t have course grit, you can also replace the standard large chunky hose with a smaller diameter hose like I showed in my sandblaster plans.

Now I will list the different types of sandblasting tips and the rank durability for each (Number 1 being the longest lasting:

The longest lasting carbide sandblaster tip for nozzles.

Carbide Tip: These are the most wear resistant nozzle tips available for sandblasting. They cost a considerable amount more than other nozzles but they typically are more cost effective since they last the longest. They are also more ideal when sandblasting with harder abrasives like silicon carbide & aluminum oxide. You can actually save money by using these over ceramic & steel tips. The cost varies from about $30- $170. There are also different types of carbide nozzles listed below:
– Composite Carbide Tips– A few supply companies manufacture their own highly resistant composite carbide which is the longest lasting tip.
– Boron Carbide Tips– This is the second longest lasting carbide tip.
– Tungsten Carbide Tips– Tungsten is the third longest lasting carbide tip.

Common ceramic sandblaster nozzle tip.
Ceramic Tips: Ceramic nozzle tips are the second longest lasting type overall and are the most common material used. They wear out a lot quicker than carbide but are a lot cheaper with cost around $.50 – a few dollars each.

Siphon steel sandblaster nozzle tip
Steel Tips: Steel can wear out very fast especially with harder abrasive. These are most common with siphon sandblaster units since there isn’t as much pressure resulting in wear.

If I was going to do any more sandblasting ,I would definitely do it inside a cheap shipping container,or maybe two side by side ...too much risk of being done by the council blasting outside....and fines are astronomical.

JOHN.K. wrote: If I was going to do any more sandblasting ,I would definitely do it inside a cheap shipping container,or maybe two side by side ...too much risk of being done by the council blasting outside....and fines are astronomical.

What is the fine for or about ?

Paul

Paul

If you trawl through this BS you will find the various environment restrictions. If you are blasting outside or in an open shed on a rural property or industrial area away from others you will have no problems. A close built industrial area requires noise and dust control, normally inside with dust extractors. No blasting anywhere near the public or housing.

It is not too bad with common sense. One-off jobs done by mobile blasters are done in fairly confined areas with no problems. Dust and noise are the factors.

Lang

www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/pdf/info...9-07-10/sl-2008-0370

While you research what your game plan will be, consider a mobile sand blaster, I did and to me was the best way out. My only minor issue was cleaning up the grit on the ground so in the end I raked it over to being under the area where Lorry gets parked so he has drrrry feet when it rains and has packed down nicely.
I live in a small village in Rural NSW and have great neighbours so I had no problems with 4 hours of noise but I did tell them what was going to happen.

I have been using garnet - 20kg bags packed into a bulk bag. Vane type compressors are often on their last legs and I now have a screw type abt 150cfm which is plenty. The demand for 2nd hand compressors is from grain farmers who use them to clean out the headers. I bought tungsten tips, deadman valve and filtered air supply from England as even with freight ( few years ago) was half the price of what I could get the same thing here.
Mineral sands such as illmanite were often taken off beaches so availablity is not what it was. Point to note with garnet is that the cheap Indian stuff is reputedly taken off beaches and consequently contains salt which in turns leaves a trace under whatever paint is applied. Plan to have a coat of etch primer on before nightfall so that there is no condensation related rust. Smaller items placed on pallets so not blasting the ground and plastic tarp under for re-cycling (via flywire), do this in a breeze so the fine dust is blown to side. The used garnet is used on jobs that don't need such and agresive cut.
Have used glass beads through a "10 gallon" blaster for crankcases with good results.

Effective water traps are essential,unless you live in the desert.......otherwise you spend half you time clearing mud blocks ....and waste lots of abrasive........There is a cheaper abrasive we used to use called "Black Beauty".....crushed blast furnace slag.................its only good for one use ,cant be recycled...but it really cuts thick hi build paint,and is good too with paint thats softened by grease.......Theoreticvally ,garnett can be used three times before its all dust.......but the fines is more abrasive than the fresh grit ,and can be really hard on gear .......but it cuts faster than fresh garnet.,but doesnt leave a key for paint.