OT: Sand Blaster

Do you have an air compressor?

(and what about some sort of (liquid) paint remover.)

Tried that... didn't work... paint apparently soaked in... sandstone :-( ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
           The touchstone of liberalism is intolerance

Even if I had a sand blaster, I would try lye or Trisodium phosphate in water first. Mix it strong and let the stone soak in it over night.

Dan

But if you really want a sand blaster, check what Harbor Freight has. They have a web site and probably a store within driving distance.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Sand blasters need a lot of air. Buy a big compressor, 220 volt 5 - 7 real HP. 175 PSI and a big tank. 50 - 80 gal. or so.

You will need a shop vacuum to keep the cabinet clear so you can see what you are doing. Also, get a cabinet that you can replace the window easily.

The other thing you need is dry sand and I don't think that will be any problem where you live.

The harbor freight units are typical Chinese junk.

If you want cheap, tumble the rock in sand. Very effective.

NT

Power washer?

Small rocks you could tumble.

Cheers

[snip]

I have a small cabinet blaster that I use for decorative "etched" glass.

The current situation is a large round sculpted "flat" of sandstone, ~300 pounds, which was painted with an Native American Pollen Boy pattern... faded to the point it needs re-painting... but, as is common, SWMBO want to change the style ;-), so I need to sandblast off the remnants of original paint. Paint removers aren't working, since the paint soaked into the porous sandstone to some extent. I have been successful simply sanding the stone, but it'd take a month at the rate it's going.

So I need a hand-held, not-in-a-cabinet unit. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
           The touchstone of liberalism is intolerance

Been watching a fellow power washing the parking lot stripping off. Some of it is coming off, but they are going to come back again with a grinder.

Mikek

Cheap? Harbor Freight.

"Jim Thompson" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Maybe this?

You will still need the air.

Air I got. Thanks for the link. ...Jim Thompson

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| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
           The touchstone of liberalism is intolerance

If it's a one time job, you might rent something for a day,

1/2 day?

George H.

I don't have anything I can recommend. However, I can offer a hint about a problem you might have. If the grains of sand are larger than the pores in your rocks, they will not penetrate into the pores where the paint is hiding. The greater part of the surface will be cleared, but there will still be a light background with the original colors from the pores. Start by sandblasting, and finish the job with a chemical attack on the paint.

This does not sound like the type of work that you'll be doing every week. It doesn't justify buying a sandblaster. Perhaps renting one might be more cost effective.

Sandblasters require considerable air flow. Try one of these charts for sizing the nozzle and air flow rate:

Also, cleaning up the expended abrasive is not my idea of fun. This is where a plastic covered spray booth or tent is handy.

Good luck.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

If it's a one time job check auto paint shops. Many have sand and or soda blasting capability.

--
Chisolm 
Republic of Texas

Turn the rock over. ;)

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs 
Principal Consultant 
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC 
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 

160 North State Road #203 
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 

hobbs at electrooptical dot net 
http://electrooptical.net

As previously noted, it's flat, but a carved shape, so can't be turned over. ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
           The touchstone of liberalism is intolerance

As previously noted, it's flat, but a carved shape, so can't be turned over.

...Jim Thompson ============================================================

Since this is basically a one time use project cheap is ok, so go to

and put "blast" in the search box. They have small pressurized pot blasters and a small suction blaster (basically the gun and pickup hose like you have in your cabinet, but in a small plastic tub with no cabinet and no way to recycle the abrasive) for under $60. Any of these would probably be ok, and should use about the same amount of air as your cabinet. They also have a few models of "pistol" style gravity feed guns for under $25, which would be cheaper but I'm sure slower since they probably have smaller nozzles. I'd use fine glass beads to get into the pores as someone else mentioned, and since they should blend in to your sandy environment for minimal cleanup. You could also get their small soda blaster for about $100, which uses baking soda. This has a much gentler cutting action and is popular these days for stripping paint off of thin sheet metal like on a car, without warping the metal. Cleanup is a quick rinse with a hose. I've never used any of these but a friend used one of the pistol styles to spot clean rust off of a swimming pool enclosure and it did ok for him. Wear a good dust mask.

You can order online or go visit one of their stores.

----- Regards, Carl Ijames

Thanks, Carl! Several good ideas! ...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson                                 |    mens     | 
| Analog Innovations                               |     et      | 
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    | 
| San Tan Valley, AZ 85142   Skype: Contacts Only  |             | 
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  | 
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     | 
              
           The touchstone of liberalism is intolerance