Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would,
and even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're
so cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored,
thank you very much.)


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting
tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me
that not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does
either. Asked why, they said that it's because of liability issues;
apparently, someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many
times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

David Nebenzahl wrote:

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting
tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told
me that not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else
does either. Asked why, they said that it's because of liability
issues; apparently, someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars
one too many times.

Why would the rental company be responsible for the damage? After all,
doesn't the same risk apply to any tool that is rented? A jack hammer
throwing a chip of rock or concrete, a de-thatching machine hurling a
hunk-O-stone, a 30 foot ladder falling. It seems to me that the person
causing the damage would be the responsible party.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and
even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so
cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored, thank
you very much.)


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting tale
therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me that
not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does either.
Asked why, they said that it's because of liability issues; apparently,
someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

Some years ago I bought one from HF to take the rust off a WW2 jeep frame.
The one I got came with a tank about the size of a standard gas grill tank,
in fact it probably was, and a hose, mask, etc. Best I can figure, if I used
that rig to do the job, I'd probably still be working on it, twenty years
later. Essentially the things are worthless for anything beyond light hobby
work. I borrowed a rig from a buddy that sandblasts tombstones, and the job
took about an hour. I can see why a rental place wouldn't have one. You can
do a lot of damage in a heartbeat, if you're not careful

"Dave Bugg" wrote in message
news:mP3Xj.1103$ll1.445@trndny06...
David Nebenzahl wrote:

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting
tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told
me that not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else
does either. Asked why, they said that it's because of liability
issues; apparently, someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars
one too many times.

Why would the rental company be responsible for the damage? After all,
doesn't the same risk apply to any tool that is rented? A jack hammer
throwing a chip of rock or concrete, a de-thatching machine hurling a
hunk-O-stone, a 30 foot ladder falling. It seems to me that the person
causing the damage would be the responsible party.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Having used a professional rig, and being inexperienced at the time, my
guess is they're more concerned with damage to the people using it. Just
flash that thing across your hand and watch the skin disappear

On 5/15/2008 4:45 PM RBM spake thus:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and
even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so
cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

Some years ago I bought one from HF to take the rust off a WW2 jeep frame.
The one I got came with a tank about the size of a standard gas grill tank,
in fact it probably was, and a hose, mask, etc. Best I can figure, if I used
that rig to do the job, I'd probably still be working on it, twenty years
later. Essentially the things are worthless for anything beyond light hobby
work. I borrowed a rig from a buddy that sandblasts tombstones, and the job
took about an hour. I can see why a rental place wouldn't have one. You can
do a lot of damage in a heartbeat, if you're not careful

Thanks. Any suggestions for sandblasters?

Is the problem that these cheap ones just don't blast hard enough? Not
enough volume?


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

RBM wrote:
"Dave Bugg" wrote in message
news:mP3Xj.1103$ll1.445@trndny06...
David Nebenzahl wrote:

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an
interesting tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place
(Cresco), who told me that not only do they not rent sandblasters,
but that nobody else does either. Asked why, they said that it's
because of liability issues; apparently, someone renting one
damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

Why would the rental company be responsible for the damage? After
all, doesn't the same risk apply to any tool that is rented? A jack
hammer throwing a chip of rock or concrete, a de-thatching machine
hurling a hunk-O-stone, a 30 foot ladder falling. It seems to me
that the person causing the damage would be the responsible party.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Having used a professional rig, and being inexperienced at the time,
my guess is they're more concerned with damage to the people using
it. Just flash that thing across your hand and watch the skin
disappear

That's a fact :-)

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Dave Bugg wrote:
RBM wrote:

"Dave Bugg" wrote in message
news:mP3Xj.1103$ll1.445@trndny06...

David Nebenzahl wrote:


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an
interesting tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place
(Cresco), who told me that not only do they not rent sandblasters,
but that nobody else does either. Asked why, they said that it's
because of liability issues; apparently, someone renting one
damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

Why would the rental company be responsible for the damage? After
all, doesn't the same risk apply to any tool that is rented? A jack
hammer throwing a chip of rock or concrete, a de-thatching machine
hurling a hunk-O-stone, a 30 foot ladder falling. It seems to me
that the person causing the damage would be the responsible party.

--
Dave www.davebbq.com

What is best in life? "To crush your enemies, see them driven before
you, and to hear the lamentation of the women." -- Conan

Having used a professional rig, and being inexperienced at the time,
my guess is they're more concerned with damage to the people using
it. Just flash that thing across your hand and watch the skin
disappear


That's a fact :-)


gloves? don't people wear gloves when sandblasting?

just seems like a good idea, is all I'm sayin'.

nate

--
replace "roosters" with "cox" to reply.
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
On 5/15/2008 4:45 PM RBM spake thus:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would,
and even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're
so cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

Some years ago I bought one from HF to take the rust off a WW2 jeep
frame. The one I got came with a tank about the size of a standard gas
grill tank, in fact it probably was, and a hose, mask, etc. Best I can
figure, if I used that rig to do the job, I'd probably still be working
on it, twenty years later. Essentially the things are worthless for
anything beyond light hobby work. I borrowed a rig from a buddy that
sandblasts tombstones, and the job took about an hour. I can see why a
rental place wouldn't have one. You can do a lot of damage in a
heartbeat, if you're not careful

Thanks. Any suggestions for sandblasters?

Is the problem that these cheap ones just don't blast hard enough? Not
enough volume?


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

Depending upon the compressor, you can get all the CFM you need, but the
nozzle size and that little bag won't pass enough media to do anything.
Think water pistol vs. fire hose

On May 15, 7:54 pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 5/15/2008 4:45 PM RBM spake thus:





"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
rs.com...

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and
even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so
cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

Some years ago I bought one from HF to take the rust off a WW2 jeep frame.
The one I got came with a tank about the size of a standard gas grill tank,
in fact it probably was, and a hose, mask, etc. Best I can figure, if I used
that rig to do the job, I'd probably still be working on it, twenty years
later. Essentially the things are worthless for anything beyond light hobby
work. I borrowed a rig from a buddy that sandblasts tombstones, and the job
took about an hour. I can see why a rental place wouldn't have one. You can
do a lot of damage in a heartbeat, if you're not careful

Thanks. Any suggestions for sandblasters?

Is the problem that these cheap ones just don't blast hard enough? Not
enough volume?

Among other things...

You need a "pot" sandblaster for serious work, and if you're doing
really serious work an air supplied hood with an air dryer.
http://cgi.ebay.com/20-Gallon-Pressu...QQcmdZViewItem
or http://tinyurl.com/4hnb4d
-----

- gpsman

David Nebenzahl wrote:
Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight
sandblasters with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my
client asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably
would, and even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job,
they're so cheap that they could be practically considered
consumables.
(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored,
thank you very much.)


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting
tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told
me that not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else
does either. Asked why, they said that it's because of liability
issues; apparently, someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars
one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

Sandblasting is a function of air pressure and grit size and, to a lesser
degree, how often you have to fill the reservoir.

HF sells only itty-bitty grit, suitable for jewelry making. You'll have to
get the larger stuff at Graingers.

The sand-blaster itself should be ample. I got one to knock the rust off
some steel garage doors. Tried their material, bah. Tried salt, also bah.
Got some real abrasives and the job went double-quick. 'Course there's a
pile of abrasive to vacuum up...

As for renting a compressor, you can probably buy one from HF for the price
of a rental.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a steel &
concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my client that we
might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters with a rented
compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones from
this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client asked if
these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and even if we
ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so cheap that they
could be practically considered consumables.

(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored, thank you
very much.)


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting tale
therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me that not
only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does either. Asked
why, they said that it's because of liability issues; apparently, someone
renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

The grit capacity of those units will limit you significantly. The actual power
will be dependent on the PSI available from the compressor (at the cfm the
blaster needs, or there will be lots of waiting) In my experience with a
handheld blaster, 150psi is about the minimum to do anything significant.

My unit is like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/AIR-SAND-BLASTIN...QQcmdZViewItem

On May 16, 1:00*am, "Bob F" wrote:
"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message

s.com...





Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a steel &
concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my client that we
might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters with a rented
compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones from
this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client asked if
these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and even if we
ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so cheap that they
could be practically considered consumables.

(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored, thank you
very much.)

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting tale
therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me that not
only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does either. Asked
why, they said that it's because of liability issues; apparently, someone
renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

The grit capacity of those units will limit you significantly. The actual power
will be dependent on the PSI available from the compressor (at the cfm the
blaster needs, or there will be lots of waiting) In my experience with a
handheld blaster, 150psi is about the minimum to do anything significant.

My unit is like thishttp://cgi.ebay.com/AIR-SAND-BLASTING-KIT-SANDBLASTER-BLASTER-TOOLS_W...- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I have a Harbor Freight 20 lb Sandblaster. It's red, stands on 3
legs, comes with a long hose, nozzle, and I think it listed for about
$100, but I got it for less on sale. I used it to take paint off a
section of concrete patio. I am very happy with it. The only
problem I had was I used it with an average portable compressor that I
already had. It does about 8CFM at 50PSI, 6 at 90. So, I had to
let the compressor get up to near max pressure, then go at it for
about a min or so, then stop and let the compressor rebuild. The
nozzle did clog occasionally, which was probably due to the pressure
going to low, or it could have been that the sand was a bit damp.
At that point, I had to remove the tip to get it to clear.

In any case, it wasn't as bad as it sounds. I got the job done
relatively fast. Certainly a lot faster than any other method. If I
had any sizable job to do, I'd rent a bigger compressor, or else hook
up 2 like mine in parallel. The only other thing is the nozzle/hose
they give you is hand held. To do the patio, I taped it to a broom
handle and it worked OK that way.

Overall, I'm very happy with having bought it.

If this is outdoors, try using high pressure water. That's what I
used. If you don't already have a power washer you can probably
borrow one from someone and avoid the rental fees too.

On 5/16/2008 6:30 AM spake thus:

On May 16, 1:00 am, "Bob F" wrote:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a steel &
concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my client that we
might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters with a rented
compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones from
this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client asked if
these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and even if we
ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so cheap that they
could be practically considered consumables.

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting tale
therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me that not
only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does either. Asked
why, they said that it's because of liability issues; apparently, someone
renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

The grit capacity of those units will limit you significantly. The actual power
will be dependent on the PSI available from the compressor (at the cfm the
blaster needs, or there will be lots of waiting) In my experience with a
handheld blaster, 150psi is about the minimum to do anything significant.

I have a Harbor Freight 20 lb Sandblaster. It's red, stands on 3
legs, comes with a long hose, nozzle, and I think it listed for about
$100, but I got it for less on sale. I used it to take paint off a
section of concrete patio. I am very happy with it. The only
problem I had was I used it with an average portable compressor that I
already had. It does about 8CFM at 50PSI, 6 at 90. So, I had to
let the compressor get up to near max pressure, then go at it for
about a min or so, then stop and let the compressor rebuild. The
nozzle did clog occasionally, which was probably due to the pressure
going to low, or it could have been that the sand was a bit damp.
At that point, I had to remove the tip to get it to clear.

Is it this one, or similar? (This one's a 40 lb. unit, same price):
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34202


--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute
conversation with the average voter.

- Attributed to Winston Churchill

On May 16, 1:20*pm, David Nebenzahl wrote:
On 5/16/2008 6:30 AM spake thus:







On May 16, 1:00 am, "Bob F" wrote:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
ers.com...

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a steel &
concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my client that we
might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters with a rented
compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones from
this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client asked if
these would do the job, I told him that they probably would, and even if we
ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're so cheap that they
could be practically considered consumables.

*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting tale
therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me that not
only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does either. Asked
why, they said that it's because of liability issues; apparently, someone
renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

The grit capacity of those units will limit you significantly. The actual power
will be dependent on the PSI available from the compressor (at the cfm the
blaster needs, or there will be lots of waiting) In my experience with a
handheld blaster, 150psi is about the minimum to do anything significant.

In article m,
David Nebenzahl wrote:

Have a potential sandblasting job (removing peeled paint from below a
steel & concrete staircase, fairly large area), and I suggested to my
client that we might use either one of these Harbor Freight sandblasters
with a rented compressor:*

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=92857
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96972

Does anyone have experience with either of these, or with similar ones
from this or other vendors? One's $15, the other $13, so when my client
asked if these would do the job, I told him that they probably would,
and even if we ended up buying two of these to finish the job, they're
so cheap that they could be practically considered consumables.

(Replies that basically say "Harbor Freight sucks!" will be ingored,
thank you very much.)


*For those who ask "Why not just rent a sandblaster?", an interesting
tale therein: I did call my favorite rental place (Cresco), who told me
that not only do they not rent sandblasters, but that nobody else does
either. Asked why, they said that it's because of liability issues;
apparently, someone renting one damaged nearby parked cars one too many
times.

They do have all kinds of compressors available to rent, though.

I'll have to go along with most of the other respondents and say that to
do this job adequately, you'll need several thousand dollars worth of
blaster plus compressor. Hire the job out.

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...
On 5/16/2008 3:01 PM charlie spake thus:

"David Nebenzahl" wrote in message
s.com...

Is it this one, or similar? (This one's a 40 lb. unit, same price):
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=34202

this is the one i use on glass and knocking the rust off of metals. you
can also get the grit necessary at HF. use AlO. don't use sand or silica.
use a minimum of a p95 mask, unless you like silicosis and not being able
to breath.

Your application sounds a lot lighter than mine. We need to get a lot of
old paint and rust off the underside of some metal & concrete stairs.
Would that grit be sufficient for that? Someone else in this thread didn't
seem to think so.

And yes, I intend to wear a mask (I have a respirator).

well, i can blow holes in 1/2" glass pretty easily, especially if i use a
large grit size. paint and rust are a lot softer than that. however i do all
of my work in a blast cabinet, which is not something you're going to be
able to do. you're going to need to recover grit in some fashion.

it would be better to hire this job out to someone who has the tools and
know-how to use them onsite.