looking for sand blasting equipment

If what you want to blast will fit into a cabinet I would suggest that route. A pressure pot can be messy. Harbor Freight sells some small cabinets at reasonable prices.

I would recommend a gun nozzle with a small diameter hole. Also a decent sized air compressor.

Hi Connie There is a lot of info and advice on s/blasting equipment - and much more!! - at

Probably not the best way to do it, but here's how I got started:

$20 siphon gun Play Sand (screened....They claim to screen it, but I think they use a chain link fence to do it) Outdoors

Upgrade 1: Home built blast cabinet Dust mask

Future upgrades in order: silicon carbide abrasive dust collector pot blaster bigger compressor

BTW, forget those crappy direct drive compressors from sanford and others. You'll burn one of those up in no time. Ask me how I know. The one I have now puts about 10 CFM into a 25 gallon tank, and I wish I had more. And if you have humidity like we do here in Louisiana, an aftercooler is not a bad idea, either.

I've never heard of an aftercooler before, what is it? what does it do? Washington state (where I am) has plenty of humidity. Thanks.

The act of compressing air creates heat. The air is hot as it enters the storage tank, and therefore will carry more moisture. I think an aftercooler is also called a dryer, as it is designed to remove the excess humidity from the air, eliminating the water splatters while you are spray painting or the sand from clumping as you blast.

Actually, aftercoolers and dryers are a little different (and the only reason I know this is because I worked on a system that had both)

The aftercooler went between the compressors and the tank, and consisted of one tube inside another, with the air running down the center tube and water running through the outer one (but I plan on building an air cooled one for mine, kinda like a little radiator with an electric fan).

The dryer was after the tank, before the filter/trap. There are two kinds that I'm aware of. A refrigerated one, that lowers the air temp even more, dropping the water into the trap, and a dessicant bed dryer that just absorbs the moisture and has to be changed every so often.

I hear now that automotive paint and body guys use disposable dessicant dryers that hook to the air hose right before the sprayer, but I have't got to play with one of those yet.

I'd start with an aftercooler. This will get most of the water to drop in the tank. Then go to a dryer if this is not enough. I think if you used a dryer with no aftercooler, you'd spend all your time emptying the trap/changing the dessicant.

Might pay to crack the drain on your tank periodically too, if you have high humidity.

Chunk Kielsing

If you are in the Chicago area, I have some equipment you can pick up for very cheap. - John ............................................................. John O. Riordan, Riordan Artistry, Inc. - Premium Sandblast Etching in Crystal, Glass and Marble snipped-for-privacy@RiordanArtistry.com

So, whaddya got? How cheap?