sandblaster.

I'm thinking of getting a sandblaster.I have a 5 hp compresser & don't need to do a tractor in an hour or two .Any suggestions onbrand? I want to buy a good one .

I built mine for $100 years ago. It's not the hp of your compressor but it's the CFM, cubic feet per minute of air that it will put out. You'll need at least 100psi constant at the blaster to do a good job. Sand blasters usually list the requirements for the cfm required for the sandblaster.
Take a look at these. Theyre good ones.

Here is the tips that I use. It has the requirements on the page also.
Requirements

I have a very nice cabinet style with an air filtration system (not sure of the brand). My 5hp two stage won't come close to keeping up with it.

My 5HP is too small for my cabinet blaster. Make sure and check the CFM compared to your compressor and go smaller.

I would get a 7.5 HP if doing it again.

John, if you're blasting outside of a cabinet, what kind of protective gear do you need (gloves, helmet, respirator, etc)?
THANKS!

There is no question on respirator use. Silicosis is a terrible business. I use a NIOSH half-face under a hood. It's amazing where the dust gets. I also use safety glasses but that's probably belt-and-suspenders thinking. On one hand it's impressive how much grit you go through pushing it out into the great wide open. On the other hand, it's pretty cheap. My last was from TSC and metal oxide. I have experimented with using a drop tarp with mixed success. Now that I have a cabinet, the free-standing blaster doesn't get used much. I did blast a JD 1020 using the free unit.

YES YOU WILL need all of it for protection. Especially if you are using the white silica sand! A good respirator is a must along with a constant fresh air supply for the white sand. Just speaking from experience. As far as the rest. Unless YOU WANT to feel what the piece is feeling a good heavy pair of coveralls work great.

You will wear the compressor out doing a tractor. You need more CFM and PSI that what you have unless you want to take all summer to get it done. It is good for small parts that only take a couple minutes to do. After 2 minutes you will be out of air and only have 40 or so PSI. You need a compressor with around 60 CFM at 60LBS. You need a portable compressor to get that flow and pressure.

If your close I have one that ill sell u cheap.. I bought one to do our tractors and parts and there is a guy local that comes right to our house, and cob blasts the tractors and parts for 200 a tractor.. Can"t beat it..

I sand blasted a JD disk with a five hp and a 3 hp compressors linked together. Still not enough air volume. I would go with at least a 7.5 hp two stage unit. With the linked compressors one could make great progress until pressure fell below about 100 psi which happened too quickly. Rebound was terrible at the higher pressures and could "eat" thru several layers of clothing. Used a helmet, respirator and heavy gloves but if doing it again would get a helmet with a separate air supply.

I've got a Brut blaster. Usa made and no issues with it. I have the 150. It's done numerous tractors, trucks, trailers, and misc stuff.

I think your 5 hp is going to have some trouble keeping up unless you run a very small tip. I have a 7.5 hp 2 stage. I use 1/8" tips. Compressor keeps up pretty good till the tip wears some.
Looky Here

Sandblasting is the hardest application you can put on a compressor! Unless you have a real heavy duty compressor, you will most likely destroy the compressor if you're doing anything other than a small 5 or 10 minute job.

Any one of the small 100# pressure blasters will work. Mine is a Waterloo. My advise to you though would be to hire it done and then just use yours for the areas they missed or small stuff you don't want to hire out. Even though my compressor will actually shut off during blasting , it is cheaper and sometimes quicker in the long run to hire out the big stuff. That's what I started doing lately.

charlespretzer,
We've used a harbor freight pressure sand blaster for hours on end on our 5 hp Devilbiss 60 gal compressor. We've done 706 tractor with cab and loader,dozer,truck,trailer,field digger, log splitter,rims,body panels,truck frames,bobcat, and probably a few more things that won't come to mind now. Like I said we've run it for at least 6-8 hrs a day for weeks and no problems with either compressor or sand blaster.They say a picture is worth a 1000 words,we've got a few million.lol. It can be done,any one who says not has never tried it. We even use a old bed liner to catch and re-sift the used sand over and over again. Have a bunch more pics,but just don't have them downloaded from the disc's on this computer.
Anyway don't listen to the naysayer. Our compressor is oil lubricated and change it at least 2 times a year for extra protection. One of the best investments we've made. Hope it helps,
LOU

Try it with a 5HP Harbour Freight or similar compressor and it will be an expensive lesson. A Devilbiss is a commercial heavy duty compressor but you better have a few thousands bucks to buy one unless you found a good used one. Also your HF blaster probably holds 100 lbs. at the most, so there's no way you could be blasting continuously for hours. You'd have to stop to refill the blaster which would allow the compressor to cool. With a cheaper compressor, you'd be lucky to get 3 fills through through it before it went south.

Stuck weld, I see your reading comprehension has not improved with age. My post said DEVILBISS 5 hp 60 gal TANK SINGLE STAGE.It is not an Industrial compressor, it"s a Farm & Fleet model. The only rest time for the sand blaster is to refill with sand,at the most 10 minutes.Not much of a rest/cooling off time.Blasting with the sandblaster is about 45 minutes steady.So unless you have done it,don"t try to portay you are the genius of all things.
I have never used a Harbor Freight compressor, have you? Are you sure you would only get 3 refills before the compressor went bad or are you just spouting off on another subject of equipment you have never owned or used,just internet gossip? I am not saying they are good or bad,as I have never owned or used one.Being as to where I know what my tools can do,that is what I told the OP.So just suck it up and go back to figuring out how to fix your little dozer fuel problem.
LOU

I see the older you get, the more arrogant you get. Maybe the result of too many gunshots? Single or 2 stage has nothing to do with it being an industrial compressor although most, not all, 2 stage are industrial units. 2 stage is usually for higher delivery pressure. If it's a cast iron head Devilbiss, it is an industrial air compressor. There are also some lower end models with the Devilbiss name. Why? Because Devilbiss were well known for the quality and durability of their compressors! They made some very large V4 compressors of 20 HP or more. The same reason Home Depot sells power tools with the Ridgid name. Ridgid is famous for the quality of their pipe tools.

10 minutes cooling every 45 minutes can make a huge difference and isn't the same as continuous duty for hours on end. I worked as a sandblasters helper loading sand for about a week at a tank shop while waiting for blueprints. This was a 750 CFM diesel compressor with a sandblaster that held about 500 lbs. of sand. You couldn't fill the sand when he was sandblasting but every time he stopped or moved to a new location, you could add a bag or 2. I also own a pressure blaster and bought a 9 HP gas engine Webster 20 CFM compressor to run it. A Webster is also an industrial compressor. My neighbor borrowed it to sand blast his drill stem fence posts but never let it cool off and the compressor suffered. I always let it cool for a minute or so every ten minutes because just like welders compressors have a duty cycle.

Before you start saying I don't know what I'm talking about, maybe you should see if you know what you're talking about? I would hate to see the original poster spend good money on a compressor only to find out it won't hold up to the demands of a sandblaster. Seems others who responded tend to agree with me. All it would take is for someone to figure they only have a little more do and then boom!, the compressor packs it in. You don't get warranty if you abuse things and not everybody has an unlimited budget like you seem to think.

Is the compressor a true 5HP 17-20 CFM or just one of those deceptive Harbor Freight type 5HP wannabies? A good quality $2000 5 HP 2 stage compressor should be in that 17-20 CFM range and will have a better chance of holding up if you use a 1/8" tip and allow it to rest occasionally. 30 CFM's is better. Jim

You seem not to grasp the program. The OP never wanted a "INDUSTRIAL SAND BLASTER/COMPRESSOR".

You seem to be like the TV commercial" I'm not a DR,but I play one on TV" for his acclaimed intelligence. You seem to be a jack of all trades,and master of none. Notice I used the word "seem"

Since the air compressor I bought is in my possession, I know of what I speak. It has a aluminum body and head, the same one only smaller sets down in the other shop.NO IT IS NOT INDUSTRIAL.Only about 18 yrs old,before the craze of Industrial ratings for consumer fad took place. Glad you enjoyed the pictures of the crawler and stuff we blasted.

Please do us all a favor and "READ" and "comprehend" the OP's post before you interject some stupid un-warranted advice about"This was a 750 CFM diesel compressor with a sandblaster that held about 500 lbs. of sand. " into the mix of unneeded information. He didn't ask if he could use a high out put sand blaster with a airbrush compressor.

Have you figured the duty cycle on our run time?
Just because you were a grunt for the sandblaster,doing the dirty work,by no means makes you an expert on home sandblasters,they are two different types of machines.What works for one,definitely will not work for another. We have used this setup on ours for years,no problems,as I stated to the OP.NO BS,just fact.You on the other hand feel the need to try and interject and try to impress folks on what little you know,because you were a hopper boy and watched the professionals use it.That is what we call in the U.S. as LIMITED EXPERIENCE". Or in Texas as "All hat, and no cattle".
Do yourself a favor and print out our dozer photo so you can finally realize ours is running beautifully,while yours is ready for a dirt nap or another bank loan for repairs.If we were friends, I would be more than happy to send you my check for residuals for repairs without breaking the bank.

By the way the compressor of ours costs 425.00 and blaster was 99.00 Harbor freight, Not Thousands as you so ridiculously commented on, also we don't say they have to have an unlimited budget,you always want to know their bank account information, to see if in your opinion, they can afford it,or maybe to see where they rank against your income.
LOU

I don't want to see the OP ruin his compressor running a sandblaster. Actually someone else commented you'd probably need to spend about $2000 on a good compressor for sandblasting. You were assuming I knew nothing about sandblasting. You were wrong!

"Please do us all a favor and "READ" and "comprehend" the OP's post before you interject some stupid un-warranted advice about..."

Just like when YOU hijacked a thread to criticize someone's music??? Yea, you have so much credibility.... not!

What dozer do you have? All I ever see is a picture of an Oliver loader parked beautifully in a shed. It looks like it has barely worn the paint off the bucket. I actually use my Cat so occasionally it needs repairs. When the weather clears up I'll install the $15.99 worth of parts to fix the transfer pump.

Stick weld,
You know nothing of sandblasting, being a grunt putting sand in the hopper doesn't qualify you as an authority. Such as saying a janitor in a surgical wing is a qualified DR able to do critical surgeries.

Now as for my musical abilities,I am a genius compared to your record.Your lucky to blow your nose without making an echo thru your ears.

Just because our dozer doesn't look used,doesn't mean it's not. It's called preventative maintenance and care.A concept that is far above your IQ.That's why your dozer failed, you failed to do preventative maintenance,as per factory recommended specifications. Ours is not in a shed,it's called a heated garage,on a cement floor,when not in use.It has what we wanted initially and still does what we need done,unlike when we asked first about buying it,and you said it wouldn't do what we expected.Another one of your great miscalculations and ignorant comments.

$15.99 worth of parts, what did you do shear a bolt? If you were to take your own advice, junk it,as it is a money pit and buy new or hire it done,as you don't know how much trouble it is going to cost you.
You can go back in the archives and look at all the movies we posted using our OC46.Just to make it easier on your well trained mind(NOT) here is a easy link for you to click on seeing it working.

LOU
poke here

I stand by what I said about needing a $2000 compressor and the need to give it a rest and using an 1/8" nozzle because I AM the owner of the compressor and sandblaster. I have a 17 CFM and a 30 CFM, both high dollar. I'm the one who pays the bills here and I'm the one who has to cough up the money to replace the compressor if it burns up. My post also reflects my frustration with the deceptive advertising and misrepresentation cheap tool companies use to sell their inferior products. I was sucked in by Sears once on an advertised 3HP table saw that was in reality only 1.5 HP and I've never forgotten it and I don't want someone else to get caught up like I did. Jim

First of all Stick Welding and Lou, I am sick of seeing the two of you ruin posts from people who have legitimate questions only to continue your childish bickering. There has got to be a forum somewhere on the Internet for people who love to argue. Find it and go there!

Now to the OP, if you are in a position to do so and plan to do a lot of sandblasting, buy a compressor with more CFM than you think you need because it can be a long and drawn out process if your compressor can't keep up. You will also be wasting blast media once the pressure drops off. I have a Sears Craftsman compressor that I bought 15 years ago. It says it is a 5hp (probably not), direct drive oilless with a 30 gal tank. It works great for about the first 30 seconds then loses pressure and doesn't take much material off. I did two smallish heating radiators for a friend last fall and what I thought should take me an hour or two turned into 5-6 hours. That made me want a bigger compressor and it is high on my list of new tools to buy when I have an extra couple grand. I want to do one of my tractors but wouldn't even dream of doing t with the compressor I now have. Oh, my sandblaster is a pressurized unit from Princess Automotive (in Canada) which I believe holds 50lbs of media.

Inno , glad you set them two straight. Don't know what provoked all that but they need to get it settled. My compressor is an industrial Ingersol-Rand with type 30 all iron pump and Baldor 5 hp motor and 80 gal tank. I paid $1800 for it new back in 1981 and has been making me a living in auto body/paint since then. What sold me on it was the fact it would pump up and shut off even with the air hose wide open. Rated at 20 cfm @175#. Have done a ton of blasting with it but it's older now, as am I ,and I am just of the oppinion that now it makes more sense to pay someone else to wear out their equipment on the big rusty stuff (antique farm equipment etc) and just use mine when it comes back home for the small hidden areas they miss or the small stuff not worthy of hauling to them. Some of thore rusty rear tractor rims just come out so much better and quicker with the high powered blasters. Now for sheet metal , I use mine with care , clean and no warpage. One can't afford to have all the tools for all the jobs all the time. At least I can't.

BManiac you're right on. Why wear out expensive medium sized equipment on a large badly rusted project when it can be done by someone with a commercial blaster who can whip it out in no time. I've had a couple of projects commercially sandblasted instead of doing it myself and in the end I saved a lot of time and money. These were projects where sandblasting couldn't damage any sensitive parts, though with one project the large sand they used bead blasted a surface I wanted to keep smooth.

On the defense of doing it yourself, sometimes you are blasting around sensitive areas you don't want damaged. In these cases you're better off with your small sand blaster with a small nozzle and finer medium. And you personally know where NOT to go. Jim

Thank you fixerupper! I apologize to the original
poster and others who had to read all the off
topic crap. In my original post I gave my honest
opinion that you should have a heavy duty
compressor if you intend to do sandblasting. I
wasn't giving this opinion just so the poster
could spend a lot more money. Sandblasting is hard
on a compressor and I didn't want to see the
poster destroy his compressor. Many lighter duty
compressors have been destroyed by trying to do
the work of a heavy duty compressor. I have a
Webster model 55 compressor that needs some
repairs due to sandblasting and it's an industrial
duty unit. Kind of the same as using a farm loader
in the same application as an industrial loader.
Sooner, rather than later you're going to run into
problems. Problems cost $$$$. I was trying to save
the OP from problems. Sorry to drag others into my
beef with Lou.