Sandblasting Equipment

glenroy3

I am new to sandblasting but have a good job offer to sandblast designs in 300 x 30 ft of concrete walkway also have offers to blast escaveters backhoes and cement trucks i am now looking for new equipment i have looked at surface tek a bit pricey seems goog and texas blaster a bit cheap dont know how good they are
Do i really need a a large capicity pot with 200 lb pressure what do you guys recomend

painter213

Where are you located at? I would recommed that you stay in the area of Clemco, Schmidt, or Marco. For blasting concrete structures you would need to stay in the area of 60-80 psi at the nozzle. If your going to be blasting equipment then you will need around 90-110 psi at the nozzle to be productive. Be careful with equipment that has hydraulic cyclinders and such. You can ruin them quick if you do not protect the cylinders. As for air requirements, I would say a good 375CFM - 450CFM would work just fine for starting out. Any smaller and you will be overworking your air supply and you will have low production numbers. Also, your hoses need to be sized accordingly as well. If your planning on using 1 1/4" blast hose with a 3/8" or a 7/16" nozzle then you will need to supply your blast pot with at least a 1 1/2" air hose. For your basic work I would recommed using a 3/8" nozzle. This will yield good production numbers for blasting concrete drives and equipment. If your going to be doing a lot of tight area work then step your nozzle size down to 1/4"- 5/16". Like I said, for concrete you will want lower pressures. This keeps you from digging into the concrete and making craters. If you want more information, just contact me at painter213@aol.com or give me a call at (205-717-0292). There is a lot of information out there.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

gran_national

Just my .02 cents, but I don't think you'd need 375CFM unless you have a huge portable pot. I have a 300lb Schmidt pot and I rent an Airman 185CFM compressor from the local Hardware store and it works like a charm. For reference, I did a 12' X 20' deck in about 3 hours and a 6' X 12' dump trailer in about 3.5 hours. If you're looking to buy, I'd start out smaller. You don't want to get a $15,000 compressor and a $5,000 pot and find out you're not getting enough work to keep it paid for. That's just my opinion though. Best of luck. Where are you? Send us some pictures when you're done.

painter213

The pot size really has nothing to do with your air useage. If you are using a 185 and you are feeding your blast pot with a 3/4" air hose and your blast pot, say a 300 lb. Clemco is using a 1" air hose, then you are under sized on your incoming air rate. Then you add in for the CFM useage of your blast hood and add in a few leaks and bam, you do not have enough air. This in turn takes you longer to do a job and will cause you to use more materials. 3.5 hours to blast a 6x12 dump trailer is too long Gran national. I used to have a 6x12 and there is not a lot on there to blast. Anyway, I am not trying to stir nothing up here, I am just giving some information. If you want to start out with a small compressor then that is your choice. But you will get better results when you are supplied with good air volume. It is better to have more air than you need, than to not have enough.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

gran_national

Painter213, I do agree with you. I was just saying that the 185 blasts fine for me doing small stuff on an infrequent basis. I don't do it full time, but if I did, I'd probably look at a higher CFM compressor like you suggested. Keep the good info. coming. In my defense, I did have some problems doing the trailer if you read my earlier post on it. All total, I had at least an extra hour in it with moisture problems and media flow. I chalk it up to learning. Gotta start somewhere I guess.

painter213

One bit of good information for someone just starting out doing some abrasive blasting. Get a copy of Clemco's Blast off two book. The book will fit on the dash of your truck and has some very valuable information for air consumstion rates, hose sizing, nozzles sizing, abrasive consumtion rates, etc. The book should be free also. Check with your local Clemco dealer, they should have a copy or two to give out. I still have a copy of the first blast off book One from the early seveties.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

RayGoerdt

A few days behind you all but,

The size of pot depends on how often you want to fill it, the nozzle size determines the air requirements.

I have been cob blasting for several years using a 185 compressor and various size nozzles with no air supply problems.

I would suggest renting your equipment at first, trying different sizes and makes if possible to see what works best for you.

Good Luck!

painter213

As is Corn Cob Blasting? If so, then your air requirements are much different for COB blasting than with abrasive blasting with a grit such as coal slag or sand. With a 3/8" blast nozzle and running 125 psi, your air requirement is rated at 237 CFM. Add in a airfed blast hood and your are around 55 CFM on air supply. At 100 psi, your air requirement is only 196 CFM. With these numbers your abrasive consumtion would be around 1152 to 1393lb. per hour. This is what you need to stay productive. You can run whatever size compressor that you want, but if you want to get the job done quicker and move on to the next, then you need a good air supply. This cuts down on manhours, fuel expense, materials, and so on. With COB blasting, your only cleaning the surface and removing only loose material. If anything has changed with COB blasting in the last few years I would like to know. It has been several years since I have ran any COBS. The last time was on some clean-up on some sensitive power equipment. I've used a little bit of walnut shells as well.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

killzoneq2

Don't know about the rest of you but Painter is going to be a valuable asset to the forum!! Glad to see you here!!!!!!!! And yes, Blast Off is priceless information that you should all have. That is the first thing I read when thinking aout blasting. I emailed one of those large Clemco suppliers and they sent me a price quote and a bunch of Clemco reading materials.

painter213

Thanks Killzoneq2. I just try to help by telling it like it is. I have over 20 years in the field and I work now at instructing others in the trade. It's not a easy trade and when you go out to do a job and you do not have enough air supply to get the job done fast enough, it takes it toll on you and your equipment real fast. I'm here in Arkansas now teaching a spray application class for Polyurea as well. Take care everyone and Goodnight.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

ibsocal

Yes I agree, a asset.also agree with better to have more CFM's then not enough.the book helps with some tech knowledge but it dont tell you how mean and tough it can be in real time.to me real time hands on experience is priceless.and i hope to learn more about polyureas.

painter213

If you want to learn more about Polyurea's, give me a call. I do polyurea instruction and consulting. I just returned from Arkansas from teaching a course.

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)

Mikepb

I have a Pro Blast crs unit It is an incredible media blasting pot. It is made from stainless steel and is very durable

user20594

here is what you can do with a 375 and a 650 schmidt. Manly terminal .com that is from 07

CO2Solutions

???????

user20594

go to manly terminal and look up construction pic

user20594

I coated and blasted 450,000 square foot of steel and concrete this year.

user20594

The Manly terminal was the stat of my 08 season

user20594

I think anyone who is willing to get full of abrasive and the by products of that process can become wealthy. I have done that

painter213

Who was the tank builder Panderson? I have been in tank farms for years. The plant I am in now is doing a huge expansion for ethanol. Did your tank have a tank bottom liner installed?

__________________
Benny Abbott
Abbott Consulting and Coating Inspections
E-Mail: babbott@abbottcoatinginspections.com
Phone: (205-717-0292)