Size compressor

[Adam Marshall]

Hi I need to shotblast a go kart clean and remove all paint my question is what size compressor would I need and is this evening possible with single phase power? The go kart is powder coated which needs to be brought back to bare metal thank you

 

[armalites]

You can sandblast with very little air but it will be very slow, the more air the better. Unless you have a need for a compressor then you will be far better to drop off somewhere to get it done. It's a messy process and it wouldn't be viable to do one job. If you want to do it at home then a wire/knott wheel on a grinder will get it off.

If you are getting a compressor then quite simply get the biggest one you can justify or have space for. Remember that just because it's single phase doesn't mean it will run on a normal plug. My compressor is single phase and runs on a 32a supply

 

[Adam Marshall]

Thank you what is the cost of cleaning off something like a go kart? Will they manage to fetch it all off ok there is a place very close to me that do shotblasting

 

[armalites]

The only way to sure about price is too ask them, I would guess at £25-50 but I don't do it for a living(cash may ease the deal). Make sure you are in a position to paint it as soon as you get it back ie don't drop it Monday collect it Wednesday with a plan to paint it Saturday, it will be glowing orange with rust by then unless you can keep it in a really dry environment.

 

[the snooper]

it would probably cost more to set up to do it yourself then it was worth, if you have been looking at the small grit blasting guns with the containers underneath dont bother i doubt they would touch it

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Hi I need to shotblast a go kart clean and remove all paint my question is what size compressor would I need and is this evening possible with single phase power? The go kart is powder coated which needs to be brought back to bare metal thank you

Good morning Adam. As has been mentioned before there is no substitute for horespower when it comes to blasting. More air and more grit the faster the job goes. To have any chance of doing it your self you will need to parallel two compressors together and I don't mean small ones, from different power supplies. You will most likely get a suction blaster which is notably slower than pressure blasting, however it will work. The abrasive that you will use is also important. To get the cut most likely you will need garnet. This will be noisy and messy, not to mention you will have grit feed issues due to moisture in the air supply and the compressors won'y like it running for so long. The establishment cost will far out weigh the cost of getting it done by someone else and you won't need to clean up anything. Can you see where this is going. When you see someone with the right equipment doing a job like this you think I can do this it's so simple and easy, until you try it yourself with the c@#p you purchase real cheep. Things are not all what they seem. I do blasting in quite a few forms so I can say from direct experience what is required, what it takes and how it is done. Your call now

 

[MCKDAVID]

main question is, is it a one off job, if it is then not worth the hassle, drop it off at the local blasters, and pay the price, have a few beers while they do it, no hassle...

However if you've got other projects on the cards, then why not. I bought one of the ebay 10 gallon pot specials, not brilliant and definitely slow, and would dearly love a far bigger compressor to get more oomph, I'm on single phase too for the moment (unfortunately I just missed out on a really cheap road compressor, but that's another story)

The thing I found was that when you've got it set up, you use it a fair bit, daft wee jobs that normally you wouldn't blast, but since it's there why not. The next big fabrication project will be a decent sized cabinet, will make life (and outside of the garage) a lot cleaner