Hi all, my brother-in-law has found me a compressor for £100 so now I'm looking for set-up and air tool advice. I've just got the compressor and tank; there aren't any fittings, hose or tools. What's the best way to 'plumb' it in, with a water trap and regulator if needed? One of the main thinks I want it for is rust removal; would either of these be any good for the bay and similar jobs or can you recommend something better? https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/sb3-gritblast-gun/ https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/sb4-sandblast-kit-pick-up-hose/
First off you`ll need to know the power / pressure range and output of your compressor and check against the rating of the tools you`re looking at . The CFM* rating if the tool shows it . *(Cubic Feet per Minute) As for set up , a water trap is a must really and i bought the Machine Mart drum hose which was an auto lock/release for about 40 quid . Plenty long enough for my needs but a bit clunky although once it`s locked off behaves like a normal hose until you click it off and reel it in - much tidier than loose hose !
Standardise your push fit connectors from day 1! Hopefully an expert on here can recommend what the best standard is. I've never been able to work it out. The amount of times I've bought lovely new tools for my compressor, only to find it comes with YET ANOTHER style of push connector that doesn't fit my ones. Maybe it's just me. Sent from my SM-N970F using Tapatalk
I've got one of those Machine Mart grit guns. It's OK for small areas, but I wouldn't consider using it say for blasting the chassis. For one thing it uses up the grit at an alarming rate, and you'll find it gets everywhere. A good dust mask is essential, and you'll still end up with it in your underpants. When I lived in South Yorkshire I had an abrasives supplier nearby and used to buy it by the sack and pick it up myself otherwise it's pretty expensive.
Water trap is a must, and a small inline pressure regulator/gauge if you ever want to spray anything. Unless you like reworking things a lot. Grit media matters when looking at blasters.
Your compressor is probably 2.5HP as so many cheap compressors are. As a result it will be underpowered to run most air tools in more than short bursts. I bought an ultra-cheap grit blaster and was immediately shocked by the way it fills the universe with grit which gets everywhere. Yuk.
Thanks for all the replies. It’s a 3HP motor with a 150L tank rated at 16.5 Bar. I haven’t found the flow rate yet. Can anyone recommend a water trap and regulator? And a recommendation for media type for general rust removal? I’ve had a look but there’s such a range I’m confused. (Not that that’s unusual)
I used to use the PCL fittings but when I bought an air fed mask I was recommended to change to the Euro high flow fittings, as they have less pressure drop for the flow. I've not converted all the tools yet so I have a made up a PCL to Euro adapter. I've also found that some of the cheap PCL fittings are completely useless and the eventually the quick fit half doesn't grip very well and the joint pops apart.
3HP compressors are usually 11 cubic foot/ min 2.5 are 9 CFM. (Which is air flow at zero pressure) Undoing air fittings on the inlet end of 10 metre hoses while there is still pressure in them is fun, or if you arent holding the cheap plastic air tool very firmly and it decides to fly off..
I'm currently using 40/60 SafeAli aluminium oxide which is pretty good for general rust removal, although it is far too aggressive if you want to do body panels. It does eat the ceramic nozzles on the blaster though.... I take big panels to a specialist blasting and coating place who use a fine garnet grit and manage to clean paint and rust off without distorting the metal.
If you use either of those you might want to find a way of collecting the grit as it's a bit expensive to use once and leave it to blow across the garden. Some plastic sheeting and bits of wood will catch a fair amount, then sieve the big bits out and reuse. Better still if you can get a secondhand blast cabinet, or just make one from sheets of ply, or even an old fridge, which is what a mate of mine did. You'll need some sort of lighting and a vacuum sucking through a filter to pull the dust out, otherwise you won't see a thing after a few moments.
