The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop What type of sandblaster is everyone using??

Folks,

I'm thinking of buying a new TP 960 Pro Blaster for my shop. From my research so far, it seems to be a great unit. What is everyone else using? Does anyone have this make and model that can attest to it's quality and operation?

Thanks, in advance!!!

I have a slightly smaller model of the same blaster. I bought it from TP Tools as well. It is a high quality machine, comes all ready to use...

Be sure to purchase the carbide tip. It will last far longer than the steel or porcelain tips, it is well worth the money..

The guys on the phone at TP Tools are helpful and well informed. Whenever I need replacement media or accessories, they know the score.

Make sure you have enough air to power it. After I bought my cabinet, I had to upgrade my compressor to a 5 HP, 2 Stage with a 60 gallon tank. That combination makes for a great set up.

Bill,

Thanks for the response. I have a 5 HP, 20 gallon air compressor...doesn't sound like it will be sufficient for "optimum" operation of the blaster cabinet. What brand A/C did you buy? Husky? Campbell Hausfield? Sears? etc??

Thanks again...

Burgie, my blast cabinet was an impulse buy - I was at Harbor Freight (I know - chinese junk) and they had a floor model about 2/3rds the size of that 960 they were selling for $99.00 as it was no longer available. I carted it home, took it apart, resealed it (didn't quite get all the seams sealed as evidenced by the leaking abrasive) - but over all it is a good serviceable unit that I have cleaned a lot of parts with.

I have a Sears 6HP x 60Gallon tank 2-stage unit. I ordered it through a catalog and when it arrived, it was shipped from a DeVilbiss plant - so apparently some of the Craftsman air-compressors are manufactured by them. It works well with the cabinet.

Ken,

Some folks may dog Sears...but I have lots of tools from Sears and I've beatin' the snot out of them over the years and they are still as good as new. Like the other vendors (that charge 5x the price for basically the same thing), they carry a lifetime warranty.

My 5HP, 20 gallon AC is a 2 cylinder oil type single stage system. I bought it in 1985 and it still looks and runs good as new. In fact the only thing I've ever done to it aside from changing the compressor oil every couple years is change the drive belt.

Is your new AC unit an oil type or oil-less? I like the idea of oil-less, but question the long term durability during years of operation. Any inputs?

Thanks, in advance!!!

Burgie, I had a Sears Compressor that was very similar to yours. I found it a painstaking process trying to cabinet blast while waiting for the compressor to keep up.

I bought an Ingersoll Rand 5 HP, 2 Stage , with an upright 60 gallon tank. Under constant use with a medium tip in the nozzle, the new compressor will catch up and shut off ..

There are a couple of pictures of my set up on my web page, click on the link below..

I run a TP model 1500 cabinet in my shop,it runs everyday.It is wise,no matter what one you buy from them is to run a reclaimer and DON'T buy the vac 35 or whatever the model is.Spend the extra money and at least buy a 176-DC dust collector in lou of the vac.The vacs tend not to live under duress and long periods of operation. They are more of an occasional hobby unit.Also it is recommended to run a foot valve and CARBIDE nozzles.The Skat-Magic abrasive is great. The TP cabinets are great,my only regret is that I did not buy 96" cabinet,because I built a full 36" steel extension with a door to fit unforseen long length parts.The commercial line of cabinets are built from 11 ga. steel rather than tin.

Horsepower comparisons on air-compressors made for home-hobby use dont't mean much anymore. Sears, C-H and others use a horsepower rating system which doesn't mean much in real use. Their maximum developed horsepower rating is measured by fixing the motor shaft so it can't turn, turning on the power and measuring the peak current draw at start-up. If you look at the current ratings on some of these tools, they couldn't run on a standard household 15 amp circuit if you had anything else on the circuit without blowing the fuse (or breaker).
Best way to compare compressors is by CFM and pressure. That's why an older 2 HP unit will perform as well as some of the 5 or 6 HP units today.
Some of the oil-less units I've seen use an o-ring to seal a piston, relatively easy to rebuild but don't last as long as an oil crankcase unit.
HLW

Air compressors: probably the best all round model that is available to the average user without going through industrial channels is the I-R type["T"] 30.They come in a large range of sizes and have an industrial pedigree.They offer a few single phase models.I run a 10 HP 120 gal. cast iron,pressure lubed Quincy.

Burgie,

Avoid the oilless units. I have a cheap 2HP one for airing up tires and such - plug it in, charge it up (noisy as all hell) - put it in the bucket of the kubota and haul it across the acreage to air up a flat tire on an old truck that is about all it is good for.

The DeVilbiss unit from Sears takes a 50Amp 230V circuit to start it and does a fine job of keeping up with the blaster and my DA sander and pneumatic longboard sander. The pneumatic cut-off saw makes it work hard and it eventually needs a break to catch up.

I have a Dayton 2-stage industrial unit at work with a 3-phase 5HP Baldor 460V motor on it - no comparison on how much air that 5HP industrial unit puts out compared to the sears unit. But . . . for occational body work, blasting and general home use, the sears unit can be had for under a grand easy while the Dayton unit will set you back closer to three grand.

Sounds like you are asking all the right questions - I wouldn't hesitate to spend as much on the compressor as you are planning on spending on that blast cabinet - while the pain in the wallet will make you wince up front - you will not regret it down the road.

Ken is right on the money as far as oil less goes. Try building a oiless truck engine that has aluminum cyl walls that are teflon coated and see how long it last I bought a oil less or "maintinence free" Sears Pro Grade 32 gal "5 HP" and it was so loud I was afaid the neighbors were going to call the cops. (Plus my wife always new when I had snuck out the the garage, ) As well as that the regualtor was flimsy plastic and you just about needed a wrench to adjust it. I took the unit back to Sears and bought a 60 Gal Campbel Hausfeld from Tractor Suply for around $400. Sears also lies about HP. Ask anyone in the electrical field Power=Volts x Amps Power in this case is in Watts and 1HP=712 Watts So if you look at the nameplate on the motor and do the Volts X Amps / 712 this will give you the actual HP that the motor oporates at under load ie... compresing air. The reason the Sears units are so noisy is they run a tiny motor at 6400 RPM instead of 1750 RPM that is why they wear out so fast. Just remember to drain the tank often with whatever model you choose! Take Care

I find the 960 to be a great blaster, as with anything you wish it was bigger, (you'll try to put every part conceivable in there) but it does a great job. I beleive it comes with foot control and ceramic tip. I did go back for the vibrator to keep the beads moving. As everyone says go for a $800-1000 compressor,with 175# 80gallon minimum, look at recovery rate at higher pressures, that's how I rated mine. Zeke

Yes the oil-less compressors are junk, and they will wake the dead, the compressor I'am using for sand blasting i'am not really sure what HP it really is. I'am using a pressure feed sand blast tank with a 3/8 nozzle for blasting large items and still have 90lbs pressure in the sand tank. The compressor is a V6 cummings diesel, 3 cyl for motor and 3 for compressor (special head) and puts out 210cfm at 110lbs, used 1200lbs of sand through it in 2 days and 5 gallons of diesel doing a complete frame, wheels and what ever else was covered in dirt and greese & rust

I recently purchased the Medium Blast cabinent from Eastwood and I immediatly upgraded my 2HP 20 gallon CH compressor to a 7HP Porter-Cable 60 gallon single stage (also made by DeVilBiss). I really like this blast cabinent. It has both left and right side doors and a foot valve, which makes long blasting sessions easier. I purchased the Porter-Cable Shop vacuum for dust collection and it was pricey, but well worth the money. My biggest problem with this set up was moisture removal from my compressed air lines. Living in Upstate NY and trying to blast in semi-heated garage in winter was a real headache. :mad: The fix was to place a quality Water separator as close as possible to the blast cabinent and run a short rubber hose to the foot valve.