The Hurdy Gurdy Man wrote:

I've been thinking about purchasing a small and inexpensive (Harbor
Freight, to be precise) sandblasting cabinet but as I've never used a
sandblaster I'm wondering if it'd really be what I'm hoping. It probably
wouldn't see so much rust removal duties as it would the removal of mill
scale from hot rolled steel items like angle iron and flats, but I was
hoping it could also be used to achieve nice matte finishes on steels,
aluminum, and plastics depending on the abrasive used. Traditionally I
rely heavily on things like wet-dry sandpaper and those abrasive plastic
Brillo-esque pads on the end of an angle grinder, but it seems like a
sandblaster would be more efficient and do a better, more uniform job. Is
this going to be the case? Or am I really going to be asking too much of
a Harbor Freight sandblasting setup? I suppose I could get one someplace
else instead, but money's tight and I'm not planning on using the
equipment too heavily anyhow. Would this sort of device do the job, or
should I be looking to other methods?
do you have a big compressor??? thats what will control the flow of the
sand for the sandblaster.. i have a 1 hp craftsman compressor and
attached a pistol type caninster sand blaster to it and it was useless
for anything other than beating me back in the face with sand( i tried
two types of sand, med. and fine grade, no luck with even getting paint
off the car in the rusted area.. just went back to a wire brush...