Topic: RE: How long to Sandblast a CB500 frame?

[chewbacca5000]

Hi Guys,

Last night I sandblasted my CB500 frame down to bare metal to get it ready for paint or powder, but it took me over 3 hours is this normal?  How long should it take to sandblast a frame to bare metal?  What kind of setup are you guys running?

I am considering this compressor from tractor supply

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/ingersoll-randreg%3B-5hp-air-compressor-80-gal



Not sure if doing it myself is the way to go or not.

[trueblue]

Depends on what you are using to blast it, if you are only using a pot blaster then 3 hrs is reasonable.  If you were using a large commercial unit, like I used for my 650 frame it only took me about 15 minutes to do .

[bollingball]

Sounds a little on the long side. what cfm is the one you were using and what media ? I get a 404 code on that link. Is this the one.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200318501_200318501

I bought that one about 6 years ago it is good for a small shop. Make sure you get the pads to mount it on if your shop is connected to your house.It will run 3 or 4 tools all day. That t30 pump is bullet proof.
Ken

[chewbacca5000]

Sounds a little on the long side. what cfm is the one you were using and what media ? I get a 404 code on that link. Is this the one.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200318501_200318501

I bought that one about 6 years ago it is good for a small shop. Make sure you get the pads to mount it on if your shop is connected to your house.It will run 3 or 4 tools all day. That t30 pump is bullet proof.
Ken

So how long does it take you to blast a frame? True blue may have the cheapest path by renting a commercial unit I might be able to blast all my stuff in  a single day.  The down side is you have to do it all in one day, and there is the rust issue.

As far as air my two little compressor are probably around 12 CFM or so.

[chewbacca5000]

Ok I got the link fixed.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/ingersoll-randreg%3B-5hp-air-compressor-80-gal

[Powderman]

Sandblasting takes more air than just about anything in your shop. I would suspect your 12CFM is not continuous CFM. 3 hours is way too long for blasting paint off but powder is much more stubborn to remove and will take longer. My commercial blaster gets $65 to blast a motorcycle frame on a $150/hr rate so that works out to be about 26 minutes.

[chewbacca5000]

So about 30 minutes on a commercial unit.  I'd really like to know what this works out to on a home setup.  It might now be worth spending the cash if I can't get that 3 hour time down to 1 1/2 hours or so.

My blaster will do frame, swing arm, and bits and pieces for around $100 bucks.

My powdercoater will do everything including blasting for $400 he does an awesome job and I can bring him nasty grimy stuff.

It's looking like commercial blasting is the way to go.  I also have a fridge that I will convert into an oven for cheap so the money saving seems to be with the powercoating at home and not the blasting.

Hopefully someone else can weight in with actual times on a home blasting setup for a frame.

Thanks!

[Powderman]

If you plan on having it powder coated professionally don't waste your time blasting it. Blasting is one of the main steps in prepping a part for coating. I and most other professional cpaters don't care if you blast it or not, we will blast it again and you won't get a price break because you already did it. Most DIYers don't do a complete and proper job of blasting and then have a tendency to handle the part getting invisible (until the coating is done) fingerprints all over it. Do the coater a favor and just make sure the part is clean and completely disassembled to each separate part. Your coater may not care if it's nasty greasy, but I guarantee if it is cleaning time will be built into the cost estimate. It's because of this I never give a "quote" over the phone, only a ballpark "estimate" until I have the parts in front of me.

[chewbacca5000]

I am building my own oven and would like to do the whole job myself, but will sub out the blasting to a professional sandblaster if homeblasting can't be done in a time effcient manner.

My modified pressure pot really kicks butt with good dry sand and good dry air.  Unfortunately yesterday I was getting alot of condensation in the lines and lots of clogging.  When running properly it will do a 3/4 to 1" strip wide paint removal as quick as I can move.  Just not sure if the larger compressor will cut time down to and hour or so.

[Vinhead1957]

You need to have a good water separator on the line from the compressor. Sand blasting uses a lot of air and makes the compressor work very hard and this produces a lot of water in the airlines .   A good regulator and separator is a must

[chewbacca5000]

You need to have

Do you think the 5 HP 80 would cut my time down to an under 2 hours for frame, swing arm, battery box and tray?  The pressue pot works great, but I want to be absolutely certain before spending the money.

[kghost]

One thing that's been overlooked or at least not mentioned......

Paint stripper.

Using about $10 worth before you start blasting will dramatically speed things up.

You'll spend maybe 20 - 30 minutes but you get it back in less blasting/air use.

If you're in a cabinet it keeps your media cleaner too.

[jonboycox]

I have a portable 30lb sandblaster and I am running it off of a Big Ass compressor, I sandblast a lot of stuff including tempered glass, bicycle frames motorbike parts, wood and what ever else needs it. I use sand media called white lightening for tough jobs, and for finer stuff I use recycled glass. It takes me 2 hours to do a motorcycle frame including set up and clean up. Probably 1 1/2 of actual blasting. Frames have a lot of hidden corners and it is easy to miss spots on round tubing. Don't touch it with your bare hands after you have finished, brand new nitril or latex gloves only, directly into new garbage bags, paint or powder within 12 hours.

[Powderman]

JonBoy, how many CFM continuous is your big ass compressor? Most of us with big compressors are only in the 13-20 CCFM. My commercial blaster has a large compressor that puts out 320cfm, after splitting between a few guns and the 20cfm the helmets draw they still have 90cfm at the nozzle. Makes my 13cfm seem like a portable unit.

[chewbacca5000]

Thanks Johnyboycox and powderman for great answers.  Without hear from others it sounds like no matter what it is going to take a couple hours.  I think I will focus my efforts on my oven build which I will start after a couple other projects.  You guys know how that goes too many irons in the fire.

If there are any other home blasters that have blasted a frame I'd be interested to know how long it took you.

[jonboycox]

I am working from a 20cfm OMEGA compressor with an 80 gallon tank. We have increased that capacity by running 3/4" steel piping to carry the air to the benches and finishing room. It is not a huge industrial one, but a pretty heavy duty machine non the less. I can run the blaster or an air sander easily enough(air sanders use a ton of air too) but not both at the same time. I find when you aren't recycling the media, like most boxed in blasters do, it cuts faster and more consistently but makes a hell of a mess.