Compressor Upgrade Thoughts

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AaronW

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All:

Have my 3500 down to the frame, and have been thinking about sandblasting. I just kinda assumed (which was dumb) that a 60 gallon compressor would be sufficient, but have discovered just from running an air cutoff tool that the 50/50 duty cycle just isn't gonna cut it. As I've been considering options, a friend mentioned that he's got another air tank I can have, which I think is at least 60 gallons (I haven't seen it yet). SO I thought, what if I got this: https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200596493_200596493 , mounted it to my existing air tank, and then piped my existing tank together with the other air tank.

Anyone see any problems with doing such a thing? Experience with this particular brand of air compressor pumps? I've got a 7.5 hp single phase motor on my 16" jointer (I'm a woodworker, mostly), that I could repurpose to run the whole thing, so basically I'd be out 750 bucks plus some hard pipe, to set this up.

Aaron
 

CalSgt

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You could rent a compressor for a day & finish the job quick for a few hundred bucks...

I just did this at my dads shop using the compressor that came out of my grandfathers body shop. Its about 80-100 gallon tank, 10 HP (3 phase) motor & not sure what the compressor is but the thing is bad ass. The unregulated line gets up to about 250 PSI. I about cooked the sucker blasting a SWB frame with a pressure pot. I would go through a 50 Lb sack of coal slag in about 15-25 minutes and rest it for 20-30 minutes for every fill up.

I went through about 500 LB of fine coal slag (red bag) to do my frame, 50 LB sacks at tractor supply for $11 each.

One piece of advice I can give to reduce blasting time and media is if the frame is greasy to scrape it as best you can with a putty knife before you blast. The soft built up greasy spots take longer to blast clean than they do to scrape then blast.

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AaronW

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You could rent a compressor for a day & finish the job quick for a few hundred bucks...

I just did this at my dads shop using the compressor that came out of my grandfathers body shop. Its about 80-100 gallon tank, 10 HP (3 phase) motor & not sure what the compressor is but the thing is bad ass. The unregulated line gets up to about 250 PSI. I about cooked the sucker blasting a SWB frame with a pressure pot. I would go through a 50 Lb sack of coal slag in about 15-25 minutes and rest it for 20-30 minutes for every fill up.

I went through about 500 LB of fine coal slag (red bag) to do my frame, 50 LB sacks at tractor supply for $11 each.

One piece of advice I can give to reduce blasting time and media is if the frame is greasy to scrape it as best you can with a putty knife before you blast. The soft built up greasy spots take longer to blast clean than they do to scrape then blast.

Yeah, I could certainly come up with a cheaper solution, though renting one around here might be a challenge. I'm more just wondering in general, if now is a good time to upgrade, and if my idea is a good one in general.

Aaron
 

Doppleganger

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I have seen guys use an auxiliary tank for capacity - one shop I know had a 100 gal tank mounted to the ceiling. If it were mine, I'd use what I had.....do it in sections. You'll have more time hauling/borrowing tanks than you would waiting for it to refill. Air tools (especially DA sanders) eat up air more than this would. 60 gal isnt bad.
 

Terry Wilkerson

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If your friend is going to give you the tank piping then together will work. Capacity is what its about.
 

AaronW

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I have seen guys use an auxiliary tank for capacity - one shop I know had a 100 gal tank mounted to the ceiling. If it were mine, I'd use what I had.....do it in sections. You'll have more time hauling/borrowing tanks than you would waiting for it to refill. Air tools (especially DA sanders) eat up air more than this would. 60 gal isnt bad.
Hmm, I suppose that patience is the cheapest option. I figure I was running my cutoff tool for maybe 30-45 seconds, before my compressor kicks on, which got annoying when I was cutting our my rocker panels. But maybe I should just work on being less easily annoyed. Reading I've done on sandblasters suggest that you need at least 18 or 19 cfm. I don't have any info on my compressor, but I'm guessing it's more in the 10-12 range, based on comparisons with other similar compressors.

Aaron
 

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