Is there anyone who could help me with sandblasting two items sometime this weekend?
They’re two house ornamentations and i dont think would take too long, i just dont know how to use the machine nor am I machine shop certified.
Any help is appreciated! Can pay for your time
The vapor hone belongs to Metal Shop @Team_Metal_Shop . Super easy to use, Probably have someone show you how to use it.
As @Photomancer has stated the machine is super easy to use. Here is a simple guide to using it.
Generally the unit is already connected to the air compressor and you can verify that by looking at the top left air gauge on the outside of the unit to see that it is registering at least 100 psi.
On the control panel on the same left hand side, there is a black twist knob that you will use to turn on power and light up the inside of the unit.
On the right side is the latched closed door to the unit, unlatch the door insert the items you want to clean and then re-latch the door. While the door is open, you will see two hoses. Once looks just like a typical garden hose and the other is two hoses connected by a large brass nozzle. This larger of the two hoses is the one that ejects compressed air, high pressure water, and a zinc oxide particle that eats away rust, paint, etc.
Once the door is re-latched, you can insert your arms into the two long sealed gloves. I always bring a rag with me to wipe off my hands arms because invariably you will get a bit wet, when removing items from the blast cabinet.
With your arms/hands inserted into the gloves, pickup the larger brass nozzle and hold it much like you would a large pencil/marker. On the floor in front of the cabinet is a foot pedal, much like a sewing machine. When you depress the pedal the compressed air/water/zinc oxide will forcefully come out of the nozzle, hold it tight.
Avoid having the nozzle flow hit your rubber gloves directly, but use one hand to hold your item being cleaned and the other the brass nozzle. I typically spray for a few moments, rotate the item, then spray some more. The closer the nozzle is to the surface of the item, the faster the item will get cleaned.
To check the progress of your work, you can occasionally stop using the nozzle, grab the garden hose and spray both the item and the viewing glass to get a better view of your progress. Depending on the condition, size, and complexity of the shape of the item, blasting can take just a few minutes. Larger more complex shaped items may a bit take longer.
When you are done and ready to remove your items from the cabinet, please use the garden hose to clean the inside of the cabinet by spraying the walls, and ceiling of the unit. I tend to spray the door before I even open it, to make sure all of the collected zinc oxide is drained through the floor grates, since the water and the material are recirculated.
Given that the water and blast material is recirculated, you should ensure that the items you plan on cleaning are not visibly dirty, oily, greasy, or have an excess of loose chipped paint. A rough cleaning of the item should be done before using the Vapor Hone to clean your items.
With the inside of the cabinet sprayed down, re-latch the cabinet door, turn off the power with the black twist knob, make sure the foot pedal can’t be tripped over by the next person and your are done.
Note: Depending on the material you are blasting, I’ve found that certain metal items once blasted will acquire a very light surface rust in minutes after blasting. I use a parts cleaner (non-toxic and no smell) called Evap-O-Rust on a shop rag to wipe this light surface rust off before I paint the item.
I will be there wed night, probably sat afternoon, Max @Mrholthaus is there many evenings. Ask anyone in metalshop or automotive and they should be able to get you started
Its pretty easy to use
Turn on switch on left side
Put parts in cabinet.
Reach hands into the rubber gloves and grab the blast nozzle with your dominant hand
Point it at the part
Hold the part with your other hand
Step on the foot pedal to start blasting
Sometimes the blast media settles to the bottom and you are mostly just getting the part wet. I usually press the nozzle into my left hand and step on the peddle for a few seconds before blasting, that stirs up the abrasive.
The part must be degreased before blasting.
You wont be able to see much while blasting so stop once in awhile to look at the part.
There is a garden hose in the cabinet to rinse the window for viewing and rinse the walls and part when finished
If the pump starts cycling rapidly you are either low on water or the drain into the settling tank on left side is plugged up, lift the hose out of the tank, if water not coming out its plugged, bang on the side of the tank and that usually unplugs it. If bottom settling tank is less than half full get a 5 gallon bucket of water and fill it to over half full
Close the door!
Details… details….
I only mention it because of the number of folks I’ve seen not close it.
The important takeaway from this is the drain valve tends to stick. It’s pneumatic. If you are knocking the side & it doesn’t free up, put your peepers in the cabinet to see if the water level is above the valve. If you add water before checking that, it will flood once the valve decides to free itself.
This is all great info, thanks everyone!
One more little detail. The insides of the gloves tend to be really nasty. IIWM, I’d bring a pair of my own gloves to wear inside of the machine “gloves” - kitchen dishwashing gloves if you have them.
Just sayin’ …
Where is the fun in losing out in that experience of wondering what sort of mystery toe jam one’s fingers are feeling?
This also goes for the parts washer in automotive…yum.
Yeah, I’m pretty suspicious that my 2011 kidney cancer was due to all of that ‘toe jam’, solvents, etc. encountered in my high school auto shop classes.