Pressurized blasting pot VS hopper

[Thrashsmith]

Hello all, can anyone tell me if the pressurized blasting pots work much better than the small hopper pots?
I'm talking at the budget end of the scale.
A few years ago I got a Clarke hopper from Machine Mart for taking off forge & mill scale on small pieces of ironwork, but I've found it to be very intermittent. The air supply is constant & decent enough from my 200l compressor, but the blast media seems to come through for half a second, then stop, then a second later a bit more comes out, then stops again...it would be fine if it came out constantly, but it doesn't.
Do the pressurized ones provide more of a constant stream of media?
I've got to make a few roses & clematis for a gate & I'm thinking of soaking them in vinegar for a few days, neutralizing them, then blasting them, then making a DIY cold galv bath with Zinga, because if I get them galved they'll come back clogged up, and if I get them hot zinc sprayed they won't be able to get where the petals overlap.
Cheers in advance

 

[julianf]

I've got a clemco pot that I've finally got working.

I can't (maybe it's just me / it) get it to run in anything other than "fierce" or "extra fierce" mode.

I mean it does the job but I do wonder if it's more of a "ships hull" tool than a "delicate rose" item.


From my limited experience I would think a small Venturi based blast cabinet would be the sort of thing for your job (I have one of those also, and the difference is significant)

Again, it may just be my blast pot. So seek confirmation from elsewhere also!

 

[brightspark]

I've got a clemco pot that I've finally got working.

I can't (maybe it's just me / it) get it to run in anything other than "fierce" or "extra fierce" mode.

I mean it does the job but I do wonder if it's more of a "ships hull" tool than a "delicate rose" item.


From my limited experience I would think a small Venturi based blast cabinet would be the sort of thing for your job (I have one of those also, and the difference is significant)

Again, it may just be my blast pot. So seek confirmation from elsewhere also!

use finer media and hold further away from the job if you dont want damage. i use the so called banned stuff on ally no probs

 

[julianf]

use finer media and hold further away from the job if you dont want damage. i use the so called banned stuff on ally no probs

Im using an, i think, 3mm tip, and sieving media to suite.

It may be my inexperience, but the air use is so high that to, in any way justify the flow of air, the media stream is moderate also.

It certainly does the job, and, again, it may well be my inexperience, but it blows out such a vast amount of air, which, i guess, i could inject no media into at all but then it would just be blowing a whole load of air to no gain at all!

I cant exactly see how id calm it down much. I cant remember what pressure i was running at. This was total loss cleaning some old sleepers. After doing a couple of these and a landrover door frame, even the visor on my air fed mask was etched just from the ricochet.

 

[brightspark]

small items using a suction gun is ok if you have plenty of time and its not caked up with paint and heavy rust