100lb Pressure Abrasive Blaster

I recommend this machine: it did all that was advertised. Below are a few notes about what I've learned as a DIY-er. Assembly and setup was straightforward and the instructions were clear. I tested the unit by pressurizing it without any sand in it. There was only a minor leak at the air inlet and otherwise the system was airtight. The pressure gauge on the tank agreed with the pressure gauge on my compressor. Sandblasting media: There are warnings everywhere on the device and in the instructions that silica-based sand should not be used for health reasons. I found a local supplier that had coal slag (sometimes called "Black Magic") ground down to two different sizes: 20-40 and 30-60. Counterintuitively, the higher number represents the finer grain (the numbers are actually screen sizes), I used the finer 30-60 sand for blasting the fenders and grill from my CJ-7 - they look great! The media cost about $8/50 lbs. I was able to filter the used sand through a plain aluminum screen from Home Depot and re-used the sand up to 8 times per batch. The machine held about 75 lbs of 30-60 coal slag sand. Sandblasting: I set the pressure to the system at 80 psi and started blasting. I found that the second-smallest nozzle worked best with the 30-60 sand, delivering a cone about 3-4" wide at a distance of 12". I had to shut the sand release valve (at the bottom) partially to get optimum mix of air and sand. The safety trigger has a very strong spring that is difficult for my old arthritic hands to hold open. I wore a small groove in the cover plate because I couldn't consistently hold it completely open. I put a baling wire ring on the valve to hold it open which helped a lot. I realize that this defeats the "dead man" safety feature, so I practiced putting the ring on and off a few times before using it with pressure. I found that running the machine continuously worked best for me. Stopping sandblasting for anything more than a few seconds caused the hose to fully fill with sand and it had to expel all that sand (about a pound) before it would blast with the mixture of air and sand that works best. The pressure on my 1.7-hp/33-gallon compressor went down to 60 psi after a few minutes, but maintained that on a 100% duty cycle for the full duration of the tank of sand. 75 lbs ran out in about 10 minutes of constant blasting. The book recommends using the safety valve to relieve pressure from the system, but if you are changing nozzles, clearing a clog, or otherwise still have a load of sand in the tank, you can waste a lot of sand. I was able to release the pressure by disconnecting the air supply and slowly opening the inlet valve. I don't recommend this; just saying I did it and sand didn't shoot out. I think it's much safer to use the safety valve/main hose when practical. I didn't use the sand release valve (on the bottom) because it's on the bottom and hard to reach. It also seems to need pressure running through it to close it; otherwise sand clogs the valve and it won't close completely. My suggestion for a small improvement in the product: add two welded loops to the top and two to the bottom of the tank so it can be hoisted by a block & tackle if needed. If you want to hoist it presently, you have to get creative with the handles and wheel axles. Bottom line: this tool is a great value for the price!

I wanted to review this product to help others that may be on the fence about purchasing. I started with a cheap siphon model from another manufacture with very disappointing results. After reading various reviews I decided to try it. I'm restoring a 73 VW with various amounts of rust and multiple layers of paint. Wanting to get to bare metal sandblasting was my choice. Upon arrival I was impressed with it's quality. I know it's made in China and just painted with Eastwood's color but the whole package was impressive for the price. The only thing I changed was the hose clamps because I just thought the ones it came with didn't look that strong. Using black beauty type blasting media bought from a local sandblasting supply company it wasn't long before I was using it. Set up and instructions were easy to follow and understand. The standard tip that's installed at the factory clogged about 1/2 dozen times. Even with clean dry blasting media. Running out of daylight I decided to try again the next day. I switched to the largest diameter tip and that made all the difference in the world. I was able to completely strip a fender in about 20 minutes. It used about 25 lbs of media. I can't be more happy with this model. It just plain works and works well. A couple of precautions. - Use a compressor with tons of power and air. I was able to continuously sandblast with 75 lbs of pressure in the tank. - Use a full face mask, not just goggles and I highly suggest using some of those disposable coveralls you can buy at the hardware stores . When sandblasting the stuff gets everywhere. - A respirator is a good idea to wear. - Use dry media only! Read the instructions carefully. - Use the largest tip supplied. And just in case you destroy the dead-mans nozzle you can purchase a replacement at HF for about $15. Most of all just enjoy using this great piece of machinery.

Everything works os it should. Dead man trigger was hard to hold open so I just wired it open and shut off with the valves. I was able to make three bags of sand last 2 hrs you just need to barely open grit valve until a little starts coming out. You don't need much to get job done.

I paid $299 on Amazon but it’s $278 on their website directly. Since most people probably buy this on Amazon, they’re jacking the price up here which is not a good focus on their customer. My rating is reduced due to paying more than I should have. The sandblaster gun was screwed on by one thread and blew off while under pressure. If there was abrasive material inside when that happened could have caused a more serious injury. Seemed like it was used because it had teflon tape on some of the ends that were mangled which I had to replace. Also, the air compressor fitting length was slightly off so I had to replace it because it was leaking air.

Haven't used it yet, but, I'm sure it will work as advertised. It came on time (took less than a week) and the packaging was fine with no damage. The assembly is pretty simple (put on the wheels, the handles, and the pressure gauge). The instructions were easy to follow and I"m looking forward to using it soon.

Assembly wasn’t bad and it worked great.

GREAT UNIT UNDERUSED BUT IM GETTING THERE

Hard to work with. The switch for turning on the sand at bottom is not easy to reach. Either you get no sand or a lot. Nozzel gets clogged all the time. Tried many blast mediums to sandblast off paint from an old radiator cover. It barely made a dent. I had to scrap the idea and use other means to remove the paint.