"Christopher Tidy" wrote in message
...
snip----

Harold,
I'm interested in your suggestion about a blast cabinet. I probably
can't afford one now but would be interested in buying one in the
future. How much air does a small blast cabinet need? I've also always
wanted to have a go at hot riveting using an air hammer (hot riveted
benches and chassis look so nice), so you can see I'm thinking of more
uses for a compressor all the time. I also found an Ingersoll-Rand die
grinder which apparently consumes 43 cfm! This is probably extreme, but
I see your point about lots of air being useful.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Best wishes,

Chris


My cabinet isn't real large----20" deep and 31" wide. It has a small gun
with a carbide nozzle, which I recommend highly. Ceramic nozzles have a very
short life span, especially when blasting with aluminum oxide. Much better
life with glass beads, however. This small cabinet keeps my 5 horse
compressor running almost continually when I have my regulator set at
approximately 100 PSI. (For your convenience, the compressor is rated @
19+CFM @ 175 PSI). Using that as a guide, I'd suggest you not go under a
serious 4 horse compressor unless you don't mind blasting for a while, then
allowing your tank to recharge. You'd likely use air faster than you could
provide it. Search your soul well and decide how large you can possibly
accommodate, and make sure you can buy a single phase motor to power it.
Large single phase motors can be a serious problem, both in current demand,
and in availability. You reach a point where 3 phase becomes almost
mandatory.

Harold