Thread: Home made sandblaster

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I recently made a pressurized sandblaster out of an old propane tank. I've never used a pressurized one before. I need some wisdom on setting the valves and pressure. I can't seem to get it to operate correctly. Help!!

Originally posted by dzmkvx
I recently made a pressurized sandblaster out of an old propane tank. I've never used a pressurized one before. I need some wisdom on setting the valves and pressure. I can't seem to get it to operate correctly. Help!!

Do you have any pix of it? or can you explain how your hoses are hook up how many valves you are using..... I've got a one like that and I'll compare your hookup and let you know

MM64

no pics but I'll try to describe it. I used a 4" pipe union on the top with a pipe cap. I drilled and tapped for 1/2" pipe inlet in the side of this for my air feed on top. I have a ball valve and a pressure regulator on this feed to control pressure and flow on top. A T fitting and a 1/2" hose going to the bottom which has a ball valve to meter the sand and a T fitting leading to the gun I ordered from Northern Tool. I'm using about 10 ft. of hose between the tank and gun. I tried the pressure reg. before the T fitting on top and after with lousy results both ways. thanks for any help you can give. I don't have any check valves or relief valve on it. I modeled it after the plans on http://www.inertia.org/acvwjyro/gifs/sandblst.gif accept that I added a valve on top and bottom and pressure reg.

Let me find the book on mine and scan the diagram and take some pix of the blaster and post them...... I'll do it as soon as I can

MM64

Sorry for the delay........ still lookin for the book but here are some pix





Hope this helps

MM64 :cool

thanks mm64
the pics let me know I'm on the right track. Got it to work finally.
but I still have to keep shaking the tank to keep it feeding. Maybe I need one of those mixing valves? I currently have a T
fitting at that point. I also had to add a shutoff valve at the air
inlet as the sand still in the tank would blow out the inlet when I
unhooked the air line.

Hi,
Looks like a nice job on the setup so far.
To make the sand run smoother, make sure it is very dry. Its a good idea to spread it in the sun on a warm dry day then store it in a dry plastic pail with a tight cover. You said you tried a pressure regulator and had unsatisfactory results? My experience with using a regulator has been good, (it helps to even the flow of sand and air). Here again, using a good moisture trap in conjunction with a regulator works well. When sandblasting with high pressure (60 lbs or more, I have had to run up to 90 lbs.) the high volume of air squeezing thru the small hose will cause any moisture to condense and spit out the tip and possibly clog it.
But then again I use a 3/4" line, a 16hp compressor and a 200 gal tank, might be different.