What type of respirator for sand blasting?

Unlike common sand, these products do not contain free silica. They come in 70 to 100 pound bags, graded for size and convenient to use. No sifting needed and the blaster does not clog up. Typical cost is 10 cents per pound or so. For the amount of blasting one can do with one of these smaller pressure pots, it isn't even worth sweeping up and trying to recycle the abrasive.

Use of these products eliminates the primary health hazard, although there are still secondary hazards from the paint, etc. being blasted off the metal. I usually wear a two-elastic-band dust mask and work outside and upwind of the article being blasted.

Should I buy something new or used.

Art

I don't know what a setup like that would cost now, but the benefits would far outweigh the expense. Nothing worse than blasting away at something you can't see.

I had the pleasure of blasting the inside of a 4000 gal. tank on a Terra-Gator. It had been used to haul sludge and hog manure. Used about 800 pounds of sand to get it clean, then had to scoop all the sand and scale out a 6" hole in the bottom of the tank. What a nightmare.

Good thing it was someone else's stuff I was using. I didn't think the pressurized helmets would be that expensive. Yeah, for that much money I'd hire it done. I guess it depends on how much you use your blaster though.