I built a big blast cabinet from scraps that my brother and I had around the shops. I got a siphon blast gun from HF and I'm not happy with how it works at all. It doesn't seem to carry enough sand to do anything. I'm using strained sand that I bought from Home Depot. The compressor is a 7hp peak, 60 gal, set at 120psi. Any ideas on how to improve the effectiveness of my blaster? Is the gun junk? Am I running enough air pressure? Volume? Should I use different blasting media?
Your compressor is fine. I have a HF blast cabinet which probably has the same gun that you have. I would try a different media before I did anything else. The stuff you have in there now is good and dry right?
Any chance you got something partially blocking the line or gun oriface. Is there moisture in the line that is causing the sand to cake up and partially clog it up? My airline is about 20 feet long and I had that problem. I had to install a filter right at the cabinet. I already had one at the compressor outlet. The one at the cabinet is one of those that uses a filter that looks like a roll of toilet paper. So far so good.
Have been having quite a problem with mine and got suspicious that I had TOO MUCH media in the base. Emptied the sand, refilled to where the siphon tube was just covered and,............PRESTO....CHANGE-O............it improved the media volume substantially........just another possibility to consider/check out........ Ray
I have been sandblasting for years, privately, and commercialy. I currently use blow sand from our local sand dunes. Its free and a mild straining threw window screen is all that is needed. A while back I too purchased one of those HF blast cabinets to use at home. The included gun was crap. I took the gun apart and drilled out the air jet to around an 1/8" and used a larger ceramic nozzle. Placement of the nozzle is important in relation to the air jet to get the proper amount of venturi or siphon effect. Do a little experimenting using common sense and you can get the gun to work real good. HF sells replacement nozzles made of ceramic that last longer than the steel ones. Any sand or media will work fine so long as it is dry and not full of chunky stuff. The key is more air threw the gun. Take it apart and put an eye ball on how it works. Modify from there. Good Luck...
Do not use sand, you can get silicosis lung cancer from that, use blasting media. Even a well sealed cabinet leaks fine dust that you breathe in.
Don, size does matter. I'll head out to the shop in a bit and check which sand I've got. It made a huge difference for me. Wayno
I bought a Tip blasting cabinet many years ago and I love it. They sell parts if you need to replace the HF gun. This is their specialty and I have more faith in them than Harbor Freight. I use glass beads for most everything. I get it cheaper in bags locally. No shipping. I also keep some "black beauty" handy for heavy scale and rust on heavy pieces. It's very easy to change media on their machine. The beads lasts pretty good in a cabinet so initial cost isn't a big deal for me. If you don't have a shop vac hooked up you should get one. I don't find a need to strain the media much but I did get one of their sieves that fit the 5 gal. plastic buckets. I strain it when I change the media. My 2 stage 5 HP compressor is set at 175#s. I can run it down on big items with lots of sides and it does better when it builds back up. I let the compressor catch up if it gets down to 120. Starting at 120#s, my guess is that you are probably working with less than 100 #s once you get going.
I use aluminium silicate on small parts where wrapping isnt a problem, it is aggressive and work with less air, and can be reused one to to times (filter) i only use 110 psi and a small gun with a cup under (need to clean ears, nose and everything after, but i dont have a cabinet) if i trie to use sand blasting sand i need a much bigger gun, and a lot of air - really much air/minute. and the sand and air needs to be 110% dry.
Don, do a search here and on the net for PA-Blaster. It is a type of blaster made using your sipon as well as Pressure Assist. You can buy the blans and get into the User group for $10. The user group is worth it alone for the support.
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