Compressor Upgrade Thoughts

[AaronW]

All:

Have my 3500 down to the frame, and have been thinking about sandblasting. I just kinda assumed (which was dumb) that a 60 gallon compressor would be sufficient, but have discovered just from running an air cutoff tool that the 50/50 duty cycle just isn't gonna cut it. As I've been considering options, a friend mentioned that he's got another air tank I can have, which I think is at least 60 gallons (I haven't seen it yet). SO I thought, what if I got this: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200596493_200596493 , mounted it to my existing air tank, and then piped my existing tank together with the other air tank.

Anyone see any problems with doing such a thing? Experience with this particular brand of air compressor pumps? I've got a 7.5 hp single phase motor on my 16" jointer (I'm a woodworker, mostly), that I could repurpose to run the whole thing, so basically I'd be out 750 bucks plus some hard pipe, to set this up.

Aaron

 

[CalSgt]

You could rent a compressor for a day & finish the job quick for a few hundred bucks...

I just did this at my dads shop using the compressor that came out of my grandfathers body shop. Its about 80-100 gallon tank, 10 HP (3 phase) motor & not sure what the compressor is but the thing is bad ass. The unregulated line gets up to about 250 PSI. I about cooked the sucker blasting a SWB frame with a pressure pot. I would go through a 50 Lb sack of coal slag in about 15-25 minutes and rest it for 20-30 minutes for every fill up.

I went through about 500 LB of fine coal slag (red bag) to do my frame, 50 LB sacks at tractor supply for $11 each.

One piece of advice I can give to reduce blasting time and media is if the frame is greasy to scrape it as best you can with a putty knife before you blast. The soft built up greasy spots take longer to blast clean than they do to scrape then blast.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[AaronW]

You could rent a compressor for a day & finish the job quick for a few hundred bucks...

I just did this at my dads shop using the compressor that came out of my grandfathers body shop. Its about 80-100 gallon tank, 10 HP (3 phase) motor & not sure what the compressor is but the thing is bad ass. The unregulated line gets up to about 250 PSI. I about cooked the sucker blasting a SWB frame with a pressure pot. I would go through a 50 Lb sack of coal slag in about 15-25 minutes and rest it for 20-30 minutes for every fill up.

I went through about 500 LB of fine coal slag (red bag) to do my frame, 50 LB sacks at tractor supply for $11 each.

One piece of advice I can give to reduce blasting time and media is if the frame is greasy to scrape it as best you can with a putty knife before you blast. The soft built up greasy spots take longer to blast clean than they do to scrape then blast.

Yeah, I could certainly come up with a cheaper solution, though renting one around here might be a challenge. I'm more just wondering in general, if now is a good time to upgrade, and if my idea is a good one in general.

Aaron

 

[Doppleganger]

I have seen guys use an auxiliary tank for capacity - one shop I know had a 100 gal tank mounted to the ceiling. If it were mine, I'd use what I had.....do it in sections. You'll have more time hauling/borrowing tanks than you would waiting for it to refill. Air tools (especially DA sanders) eat up air more than this would. 60 gal isnt bad.

 

[Terry Wilkerson]

If your friend is going to give you the tank piping then together will work. Capacity is what its about.

 

[AaronW]

I have seen guys use an auxiliary tank for capacity - one shop I know had a 100 gal tank mounted to the ceiling. If it were mine, I'd use what I had.....do it in sections. You'll have more time hauling/borrowing tanks than you would waiting for it to refill. Air tools (especially DA sanders) eat up air more than this would. 60 gal isnt bad.

Hmm, I suppose that patience is the cheapest option. I figure I was running my cutoff tool for maybe 30-45 seconds, before my compressor kicks on, which got annoying when I was cutting our my rocker panels. But maybe I should just work on being less easily annoyed. Reading I've done on sandblasters suggest that you need at least 18 or 19 cfm. I don't have any info on my compressor, but I'm guessing it's more in the 10-12 range, based on comparisons with other similar compressors.

Aaron