$9 media blasting kit at Home Depot

[berettafan]

Was looking for tubing to make a budget soda blaster when i came across a $14 blast gun w/ hose (Husky brand) at Home Depot. Picked it up and it turned out to be on sale for $9 which was a very pleasant surprise.

It is a gun with long rubber tube and metal tube to set in the media of your choice.

I pulled out my recently purchased and filthy SC spring plates and put the metal tube in a box of pure baking soda. WOW!

Sorry i don't have pics but this is the ticket. Pretty good job of cleaning up the dirty plates yet did not remove the yellow protective coating. The good news is it's only baking soda. Coupled with my el-cheapo Harbor Freight blasting hood i had zero gritty crap in my mouth after blasting and nothing more harmful than a pile of baking soda on the ground when done.

[berettafan]

BTW the quality of this kit seems much better than the Harbor Freight version which i have borrowed from a relative in the past.

[mede8er]

What CFM and PSI were you running????

[berettafan]

PSI was approx. 90. Using a 30gal. sears compressor so whatever CFM that thing puts out at 90.

i'd love a $1200 Eaton belt drive oiled compressor but it's not necessary to do little parts here and there.

[Zeke]

If you had industrial soda instead of baking soda, you would have really been impressed. Baking soda makes such a cloud of dust that the neighbors might call the fire dept.

[vreference]

I bought one of the HF Boxes used and after replacing just about anything made of rubber, it seems to work fine. Plenty of Media comes out. The only issues is it doesn't do much. I've seen bead media go through rust and anything else but mine... Like the Cylinder cooling tin? Won't even phase that paint. Pretty much doesn't matter how long you spray it. I have a Gauge on a T near the box and I've noticed my pressure goes down to 20PSI or so when spraying. No regulator, but I am using the smaller size Quick Disconnect. Is this where I'm going wrong?

[1topcat]

You need at least 10 to 12 cfm @ 90 psi to make the small portable HF or Ace 10 lb soda blaster to work properly. 20 psi won't do it. I adjust my regulator between 60 and 90 psi depending on what I am blasting. I removed the paint and light rust on my cooling tin, no problem. The rusted areas were not cut down to bare metal though, but smooth enough to prime and paint. Other blast equip and media works better on heavy rust.

And yes, you need the soda media, typically comes in two grains sizes, ...get the larger one, just works better. Granger and HF has it.

[cgarr]

You want to borrow some air? I'm running a Quincy 100 cfm rotary screw compressor.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by berettafan

BTW the quality of this kit seems much better than the Harbor Freight version which i have borrowed from a relative in the past.

One simple question, what part of the Home Depot store has them? Are they in the tool department? I could not find them. I asked one employee and he said they don't have anything like that and I should try Tractor Supply.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One simple question, what part of the Home Depot store has them? Are they in the tool department? I could not find them. I asked one employee and he said they don't have anything like that and I should try Tractor Supply.

Model HDS12600AV

I think this is the one he was talking about. I found it on their web page.

[356six]

I was looking into the soda blasting media as its not supposed to damage glass, rubber, plastic or chrome. How easy does it clean up vs. sand blasting media?

[vreference]

Originally Posted by 1topcat

You need at least 10 to 12 cfm @ 90 psi to make the small portable HF or Ace 10 lb soda blaster to work properly. 20 psi won't do it. I adjust my regulator between 60 and 90 psi depending on what I am blasting.

I'm not really sure what size tank I have - I'd say it's 25 gallons at least. The pressure drop is apparently due to restrictions in the supply hose. When I stop the pressure will go back up to whatever the tank is at (80-60 durring use) I'm thinking of changing over to the larger size quick disconnects that are commonly available (I'm using the smaller one) but I hate to do it and see no improvment.

[rakednstretched]

Where do you buy baking or blasting soda in large qty?

[berettafan]

That's the gun i have. It was in the area with the compressors.

[DasBoot]

Originally Posted by vreference

I'm not really sure what size tank I have - I'd say it's 25 gallons at least. The pressure drop is apparently due to restrictions in the supply hose. When I stop the pressure will go back up to whatever the tank is at (80-60 durring use) I'm thinking of changing over to the larger size quick disconnects that are commonly available (I'm using the smaller one) but I hate to do it and see no improvment.

It's not the PSI that's the issue with your set-up, it's the CFM. What CFM is your compressor rated at?

[DasBoot]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

One simple question, what part of the Home Depot store has them? Are they in the tool department? I could not find them. I asked one employee and he said they don't have anything like that and I should try Tractor Supply.

Paint Dept. or Tools (by the compressors).

[berettafan]

when i make my post-tax-season-harbor-freight-run i'll pick up some of that soda stuff and see how it does.

[vreference]

Originally Posted by DasBoot

It's not the PSI that's the issue with your set-up, it's the CFM. What CFM is your compressor rated at?

Seems to me that the flow the the compressor is capable of will only determine duty cycle. I can run it for quite a while from 90psi to 60psi. With a big enough hole in the tank it's capable of putting out some incredible CFM numbers if only for a very short time

...

Well I got frustrated and went out to figure this out. Incase anyone is wondering; the 1/4" Quick disconnect are not at all enough to support a blasting cabinet. There is a night and day difference when they are removed from the system. It now "melts" the paint and rust on my engine tin. Unfortunately I'm now able to drain my tank in a matter of seconds and the aging compressor has no hope of keeping up

[peppy]

Originally Posted by peppy

Model HDS12600AV

I think this is the one he was talking about. I found it on their web page.

They are on clearance, my local HD is sold out.

[berettafan]

i'd be happy to pick up the few that were left (maybe 2 or 3) at my local HD but by the time you pay shipping it's not such a great steal.