Sandblasting – How to and where to get the equipment.

[Henry Barker]

Hi there,

Many years ago I bought a crappy little TIP blaster pot with ceramic nozzles, you could drive it of a workshop compressor, I have a 6hp 200 litre compressor, and the nozzle size was under 2mm, it was all the compressor could do to keep up, you had to wait all the time for it to catch up….then there’s the health issues, I wouldn’t blast today without an airfed helmet, one of those needs an airflow of about 500 litres per minute.

You could get yourself a good sized blast cabinet, but might find it restrictive in the future.

I went out and bought industrial blasting equipment in the mid 90’s from Clemco Industries, an american company that also manufacture here in europe, I have a large pressure pot, and carbon filter setup with an Apollo helmet, I use a trailer mounted diesel compressor producing 2500litres per minute, 2000litres are needed for powering a 6.5mm 1/4" nozzle the rest supplies the hood….have never regretted buying that setup and its paid for itself many times over.

You can go in here and read about Clemco gear http://www.clemcoindustries.com

.

[Russell Pavey]

Hi Henry

Thanks for taking the time to post and upload the pics.

Looks quite some set up there! Not sure I need to go quite that large – compressor on a trailer etc. – was really just thinking about something that could fit in my garage. Although not sure whether this would be powerful enough to do stone though.

Thanks again

Russ

[Mats Hindmo]

Hi.
I am both an gravestoneengraver and signmaker.

To sandblast in glass you dont need so much if you just are going to dim the surface of the glass.
It will due with a cheap blasterpistol for rustremoving that you find at the hardwarestore or carequipmentshop.

I do this sometimes for gifts and such on bottles and stuff.
You can do the design and cut it in vinyl.
And the gently blast away the polished surface

If you shall do work in stone you need more equipment like the stuff Henry mencioned.
You will also need special stencil that can resist the power from the sand when you blast.

We have a large 3×4 m cabinet where we blast.

[David Rowland]

is this noisy to operate? i know our vacuum kicks out one hellava noise

[Russell Pavey]

Thanks Mats

So basically you are saying that to do the kind of blasting and get the results pictured I would require a large set up. I would prefer to do this in a cabinet in my garage – do you think this would at all be possible?

Russ

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[Mats Hindmo]

Yes it is possible.
You need some good fans and filtering system if you are going to use a cabinet.

As Henry mencioned, a small compressor dont do the job properly and a small cabinet does restrict your joboportunitys sizewise.

If you are working with stone or using the wrong sand it could be wery hazardous.
Stone also require harder sand (Aliminum Oxie)

[Mats Hindmo]

To do work like in your image you can also do a markup with the blaster and then afterwork it with chisels, you get a smother surface for the gold and better result in the end.

[ANDREW S]

Hi Russ,
I do a lot of Glass engraving,
The cabinet was from Glass Scribe
A small silent compressor
Stencils can be cut from vinyl, but to get real detail I use a film from Crystal Galleries – using a UV lamp and a water wash out

Any questions ….. just fire away !

[Checkers]

Hey Russ,
The pic you posted looks like a carved sign. That requires carving chisels or a router, not a sand blasting. Carving is totally different process that requires totally different skills. On the plus side, the process is a lot quieter and cheaper to get into when compared to Henry’s set up 🙂
Here’s what a sandblasted finish would look like…

Checkers
a.k.a. Brian Born
Harrisburg, PA USA

[Russell Pavey]

Thanks all for all your replies.

Not sure that I’d be any good with chisels going on my GCSE Art results.

So if I wanted to have a go at this (without the chisels) what is the minimum equipment requirements would I need – ie compressor PSi, cabinet "toughness", etc.

I plan to mostly be doing slate signs that would be no bigger than say 30x30cm.

Have seen this cabinet on eBay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? … %3AIT&rd=1

– looks like it may do the trick – would this be a good starting point?

Thanks

Russ

[Henry Barker]

Russ reading through some of the posts it looks like a cabinet would be the best for you.

When I started blasting eveybody advised against a small hobby setup, but like many in that position that was all I could afford….that said it wasn’t long before I got proffessional equipment, your possibilities increase many times over, and from a health point of view and time wise it all functions better.

For really small pieces, you might find Machine Mart do a small cabinet? or look out for a second hand setup.

Good luck with it all! 🙂

[Dave Bruce]

Mat, I am looking for a supplier for the glue you use to hold the blast vinyl to stone/wood?

Cheers

Dave

[Mats Hindmo]

For stone we use Intertape/Anchor filler.

They have two different types.
One that is waterbased and one that is solventbased.
I mainly use the solventbased type, it requires good ventilation because its smells a lot and have toxic fumes.

The waterbased glue rinses of with water.

The other brand I know of is 3M (Scotch).
Both brands are equal as products and have a range of sandblastingstencils too.

[Henry Barker]

I have tried 3M Anchor, Aslan even tried something a few years ago, but found that Hartco is the best for us, it sticks the best, in colder weather, always had problems with Anchor here, and I was buying from a guy that supplies the stoneindustry.

Also find that Hartco runs much better through the plotter, Anchor had a plastic liner that never used to track right in our Summa T series, whereas thats not a problem with Hartco.

You have a good supplier in the UK, I have bought from them

http://www.idaconcepts.co.uk

or go to Hartco website http://www.hartcoservice.com

[Kenny Ramsey]

I have been producing etched mirrors. Cut the stencil out of vinyl and a local guy does the sandblasting for me. Some of the designs have been very detailed and time consuming to weed though. How does the process using the UV lamp work and what do I need to do this?

Cheers
Kenny 😀

[william parker]

Hi Russ,
I have only recently joined the boards and came across your question re sandblasting equipment. I know it was some time ago you posted but this may help if you are still into carving into slate.

I have recently bought a blast cabinet (purpose built) and compressor -check out www. compressorman. Also for great information, advice, tutorials, forums, equipment etc check out http://www.cuttingedgesandcarving.

cheers

Bill