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I used that same sandblaster on my engine and frame. I also used the sand from my pool filter, it was fairly course so 50 psi worked well. I used a plastic sheet to "tent" the bike in so i could recycle the sand. If you do the same make sure you wear a respirator, its very dusty dirty work, especially if you recycle the sand 4 or 5 times like I did. Also watch you don't drop the hose, each time I did the ceramic tip broke off. You will probably go through at least 2 whole tanks of sand to get the engine done and another 3-4 to do the frame if you so choose.

Explanation-Vip engravings as in rock ,and roll artist, or California movie star .like the Jimmy Hendricks kawasaki. Back in the day Engravings were for serious show bikes because it cost big $$. Just saying check the bikes history.

Roadflyer wrote: I used that same sandblaster on my engine and frame. I also used the sand from my pool filter, it was fairly course so 50 psi worked well. I used a plastic sheet to "tent" the bike in so i could recycle the sand. If you do the same make sure you wear a respirator, its very dusty dirty work, especially if you recycle the sand 4 or 5 times like I did. Also watch you don't drop the hose, each time I did the ceramic tip broke off. You will probably go through at least 2 whole tanks of sand to get the engine done and another 3-4 to do the frame if you so choose.

Okay thanks rstar and Rf there, this is the first time I've done it. Truth be told I was not happy about the 80 grit level of coarseness for the glass blasting material, I wanted like 30 to 40 grit.

Based on your feedback I'm going to pick up a couple bags of 'play sand', a canopy to put over the work (clear plastic though to let the sun shine in, I'm gonna do it outside). I'll buy some 6mil thick clear plastic to put over me and the bike to block the wind and contain the blast material.
I'll get a respirator too and a 'painter's suit' to cover me during the work.

I'm gonna lay out a black 4-mil thick underlayment under the bike to catch all the sand so I can at least clean it up, but at $3 for a 50-lb bag, it's debatable whether it's worth my time to put it through a strainer afterward to re-use later.

I don't think the 80-grit glass material I bought is coarse enough. The sand should do the trick though.

I'm not pulling the motor from the frame yet nor am I disassembling it, that will come later. First while it's intact and everything is blocked off I'm gonna blast it.

Letting a bit of wind blow through is a good thing for visability- it gets pretty foggy without ventillation. May as well take the motor out to do it, you're going to pull it anyway and it will be much easier to do a nice job.

I tried using my new sandblaster today -- not enough blast power out of the gun.

The sand literally poured out of the tip of the gun, even though the compressor was set at 100psi -- the sand poured out of the tip of the blast gun instead of shooting out with any force to speak of.

I noticed that as soon as I opened the spray gun and sand flowed, my compressor came on -- meaning that my sand blast tank is putting quite a load on the compressor.


My small compressor puts out about 4cfm and I was using one of those 'curly-Q', really coiled type of air hose to connect the compressor to my sand blaster.

Here's the compressor, my new sand blaster, my sand and the bike after I 'poured' sand onto it today -- if I buy a bigger compressor, 2 questions - how many CFM do I need to get, and what size air hose to buy to connect the new, bigger compressor up to my sandblast tank?

Don't use the curly hose, they're super restrictive. Also try to use as few quick change fittings as possible. The good ones reduce flow 10%. I have the bigger HF pressurized blaster and it has a valve at the bottom to control the sand flow. I find the position of the valve to be finicky to get stuff flowing right. Once in a while, while it's sitting idle, the hose will fill up and pour sand out when I pull the trigger/handle/lever. Sometimes it takes quite a while to clear, but I've never had it not clear and start blasting again.

I wouldn't recommend the play sand on engine parts. It will leave a very course surface and can warp things. I use it outside on big steel stuff. Glass bead in a cabinet for anything aluminum, leaves a nice matte finish.

Haybus wrote: Don't use the curly hose, they're super restrictive. Also try to use as few quick change fittings as possible. The good ones reduce flow 10%. I have the bigger HF pressurized blaster and it has a valve at the bottom to control the sand flow. I find the position of the valve to be finicky to get stuff flowing right. Once in a while, while it's sitting idle, the hose will fill up and pour sand out when I pull the trigger/handle/lever. Sometimes it takes quite a while to clear, but I've never had it not clear and start blasting again.

I wouldn't recommend the play sand on engine parts. It will leave a very course surface and can warp things. I use it outside on big steel stuff. Glass bead in a cabinet for anything aluminum, leaves a nice matte finish.

Okay the sand is definitely out, wireman also said the same thing, use glass bead, I have 100lbs in 2 separate bags of glass bead.

The 20lb media blaster I have -- has 3 valves:
1) entering the top of the blast tank, to allow compressed air from the compressor to enter into the top of the unit

2) a valve at the bottom of the tank, it sounds like yours, the instructions say to close that valve immediately after you stop blasting -- it's the valve at the bottom of the tank that lets the glass media exit from the tank and into the spray hose

3) a 'throttle' valve that routes air from the compressor to the bottom of the tank's outlet valve to provide an extra compressed-air push on the media

In other words, the compressor (1) fills the top of the blast tank with compressed air to push media out the bottom valve of the tank, and (2) the compressor also pushes media into the spray hose as the media exits the tank

IN THE PICTURE YOU CAN BARELY SEE THE VALVE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLAST TANK....IN THE PICTURE, THE BIG RED FUNNEL IS BLOCKING THE VIEW OF MOST OF THE UNDER-TANK VALVE


So this little sucker has lots of valves but without a big compressor I was getting nowhere.

And thanks for confirming that the air-gun-style curly hose is inappropriately sized for keeping the blast tank charged -- tomorrow when I buy a bigger compressor, I'll pick up a bigger-volume hose too.

In my defense, I've never owned nor operated media blast equipment so I am learning a lot here, really appreciate you guys help.

I think you're on the right track. They tell you to close the bottom valve because it's what feeds sand to the gun. Now if the gun is sealed (not likely) then the sand can't flow into the hose. But any little leaks let the sand fill up the hose. It's made by HF, their motto is "Leaks R Us". Try this - close the bottom valve, squeeze the dead man and drain all the sand out until only air is blowing, then crack open the bottom valve to get the sand flowing. You'll want the bottom valve open about half way normally. You can stop briefly without closing the bottom valve, but close it for longer periods, or when you refill the tank, or you'll fill the hose with sand. This won't fix all your problems, but it might get you going for a couple minutes of blasting. My compressor is only 26 gallon and 9.9 psi, but it keeps up with the blaster. Or course it's running the entire time. That 30 mesh sand is coarse, don't use it on aluminum.

Haybus wrote: I think you're on the right track. They tell you to close the bottom valve because it's what feeds sand to the gun. Now if the gun is sealed (not likely) then the sand can't flow into the hose. But any little leaks let the sand fill up the hose. It's made by HF, their motto is "Leaks R Us". Try this - close the bottom valve, squeeze the dead man and drain all the sand out until only air is blowing, then crack open the bottom valve to get the sand flowing. You'll want the bottom valve open about half way normally. You can stop briefly without closing the bottom valve, but close it for longer periods, or when you refill the tank, or you'll fill the hose with sand. This won't fix all your problems, but it might get you going for a couple minutes of blasting. My compressor is only 26 gallon and 9.9 psi, but it keeps up with the blaster. Or course it's running the entire time. That 30 mesh sand is coarse, don't use it on aluminum.

I think you meant "26 gallon and 9.9cfm"? (9.9psi won't inflate a tire, pretty sure you meant 9.9cfm, right?)

The sand is now right out. I have some cracks in my paving stones, that's how I'll use it up.

My small compressor is only 8 gallons! Sheesh I'm underpowered here. Your 26 gal. compressor is more than 3 times bigger and it sounds like you feel it's on the small side when you describe using it -- maybe I should get a 50-gallon compressor -- this is starting to look like major $$ here.


Here is a 26-gallon compressor -- will this do for my 20-gallon media blaster? Or do I need to get the 60 gallon one?

HERE'S THE 26-GALLON COMPRESSOR -- $199 -- this one may not work, it has the same low "4 CFM @ 90 PSI" AS MY CURRENT 8-GALLON COMPRESSOR



THIS ONE PUTS OUT 5.7cfm OF FLOW, 29 GALLONS, $350



HERE'S A 30-GALLON COMPRESSOR -- 18 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of flow, that's 4 times what my current compressor or the 26 gallon compressor above can do -- sadly it's $1100



So it boils down to the CFM (cubic feet per minute) that these compressors can flow, that's what you're paying for. The 29 gallon and smaller compressors at Harbor Freight max out at 5.7cfm of flow at 90psi, top of the line costs $350, a 30-gallon unit.


Can I get by with that 26 gallon compressor that only puts out 4cfm? If not, I'm gonna walk away from this and hire it out, I don't want to spend $1100 on a compressor I'll almost never use.

I bought a 60 gallon unit at Home Depot a couple of years back for $400.00. I have been watching them pretty closely and I don't think they have gone up more than $50.00. But I've got to say I've been watching your thread a lot closer and I hope you don't drop it for want of a nail (or a compressor).

Also I see that pic of the black compressor that you posted and I have seen that at Harbor Freight. It is gas powered which is more costly and I think it is a two stage compressor which is over kill for what you are doing. I used the same blaster you have pictured last summer on a hotrod project and from what I dealt with (and it was minimal) I don't think you need a high dollar compressor.

Holly shit... You trying to accomplish this with the engine still in the frame...

Since you're obviously not worried about the engraving (sand blasting)....

The medium "Nylon" drill wheel is all I used with simple green on both engine builds, frame factory paint stripping, rims etc.... Try it out for ~ $10 (ACE hardware, Lowes, Home Depot, Harbor Freight Tools ( <$10) ) versus a couple hundred dollar compressor, medium, messy clean up etc....


These even took off the hard as hell OEM rim paint.