Blaster

I'm fixing to purchase another functional sand blaster. You guys have any recommendations for brand, air requirements, blast media type, ect for prepping tractors.
Thanks.

I bought a Soda Blaster (large one) from Harbor fright and used it with great success. I used mine at 100 PSI! email is open if any questions!! Jim in N.M.

Any blaster you buy will need a good supply of air. Not pressure but volume. If you have to keep stopping to allow air to build up it gets to be a pain. Pressure tank blasters work best if blasting outdoors. Just make sure you have a compressor that will keep up.

A Skat Blast cabinet from TP Tools in OH would get my vote. Get the largest cabinet you have room for/can afford. That size philosophy is similar to that of shed size; they never are too big. One deeper than about 32 inches is not necessarily better as one cannot reach that far in the cabinet to blast anyway. For CFM requirements get a compressor capable of a minimum of 20 CFM at 90-95 psi. That is the right pressure for blasting. A low rpm 2 stage compressor would be what I would look for and buy. The electric capacity in my shed is not enough for one so I settled for a single stage Ingersoll Rand that runs about 40% of the time when I am blasting. That is ideal per Carmen at TP Tools. I would have preferred a Quincy but the checkbook said 'no'. For me with higher psi all you accomplish is to wear out your blasting media faster. Hope this helps.

I would agree, I have a 5HP, really need 7.5HP to keep up

I used to live a couple hour drive from TP Tools. A great place, very helpful people work there. I bought a demonstrator at their spring sale, saved about $200. Their compressor prices are better in the store than the catalog, and they have some close outs/deals in the store for pick up. I got a cabinet big enough to handle the rims with the tires for my vehicles, that was my first project. Now I pretty much blast anything that I want to paint or have welded. Love the cabinet!
As mentioned, the first thing you realize is that your arms limit your reach inside the cabinet. You think a big cabinet will allow you to do big objects, but you just can't reach into the corners. You end up rotating the object around.
When you talk to them about the cabinets, you can get different sized nozzles depending on the compressor you have. I started off with a 3 hp Ingersol Rand that had "good" numbers, but it wasn't enough. Eventually I ran across a used 7.5 hp/220V single phase compressor that is perfect, plus I upgraded to the largest nozzles. I can blast continuously, the compressor cycles on and off. It still takes time - I just did the spare tire from 3/4 ton truck the other day, took about a half hour to blast both sides.
I found that you need to scrape and wire brush the flaky rust pieces off, else they get sucked up into the gun and plug it up. A piece of metal window screen makes a great method to filter your blasting sand.
My 8N is my next project, I definitely want to do the hood, will see about the rest of the grey items. I've done several smaller objects as I worked on them - generator case, 3 pt hitch parts.