UKC

I've bought an old table saw and want to restore it.
Is homemade sandblasting a terrible idea? Should I pay a pro (might be more than the saw is worth)?
If I do try on the cheap what's needed apart from top notch eye and lunch protection?

In reply to Deadeye:

Safety first, you don't want the stuff getting in your lunch.
I'd consider full goggles and face mask

In reply to gethin_allen:

Indeed; I have a good full face respirator.

Any thoughts on the compressor etc.?

In reply to Deadeye:

Dax H makes and services compressors iirc, he may be able to offer an opinion.

In reply to gethin_allen:

I suspect the ones he looks after might be out of the OP's price range...

In reply to Deadeye:

what state is this saw in that means it needs sandblasting?

In reply to Deadeye:

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/sb3-gritblast-gun/

For small Diy use this will do the job.
You will want about a 14 cfm compressor on a 200 lts tank. A cheap compressor of the size you need will be £300 to £400 quid.
You could use a 6cfm compressor on a 24 let tank that you can get for less than £100 but you will need to stop a lot to re charge the air receiver.

It's going to be a very messy process but can give good results and eye and breathing protection is a must.

If your local to Leeds I would be happy to let you use my workshop compressor on a Saturday morning as long as you sweep all the crap out of my yard afterwards. You would need to buy the gun and blast media though.

In reply to Dax H:

Hi Dax

Thanks for that.

If I got a second hand 6fm/24litre compressor, roughly how long would I get from each "charge"? Is the soda media in the bottom left of the link you posted the best thing to use?

In reply to Removed Userena sharples:

Well, I want to paint it, so there's that...

In reply to Deadeye:
I have never tried blasting with such a small compressor but my gut feeling is around 20 seconds before the pressure drops off.
Now that doesn't sound much but by blasting in short bursts as the compressor keeps building the pressure it is doable.
The course soda media might do the job.
It will take the rust but it would depend on how tough the old paint is.

I can't post a link but look up 2.2kw compressor on an auction site.
There are some with 100 ltr tanks that should be okay but 2.2kw is pushing things on a 13 amp plug as it will be stopping and starting a lot. A 16 amp spur would be better.

Personally I would look to see if I could get it done locally.
If it will break down small enough a local wheel refurbishment place will be able to do it.

In reply to Dax H:

That's really helpful - thanks.

I can probably justify buying a compressor (lots of things to puff even without going to full air tools), but not upgrading to a 16A supply.

Re. ebay I can see 100litre 2.2kw for c. £200 - is this what you intended? If not tinyurl is your friend!

Should I use silicon carbide or aluminium oxide?

In reply to Deadeye:

I'm assuming that you just what to restore the metal work?
Consider taking it (stripped down) to your local powder coaters, they'll do a better job than a DIY number and you'll get a proper hard finish rather than spraying it yourself.

In reply to Lusk:

I agree... except I'm trying to do it cheap (I only paid a few quid for the saw).

It's an Inca saw - Swiss made and rather lovely - but comes with all sorts of issues. The rust on the stand is one (the aluminium needs a rub down too). The arbor at 15mm (when blades are all 16mm bore) is another (though I have a solution for that). My inexperience at restoration and ignorance of general machinery issues is another.

However, set against the sea of challenges I have relentless optimism and the bliss of ignorance. So bring it on!

In reply to Deadeye:


Ooooh, tool envy!
I made a point of buying most of my woodworking tools to be Elu, pure quality, sadly hard to come by these days.
Got them all off ebay at bargain prices, a few hours and pounds refurb and they're as good as new.

In reply to Lusk:



That's kinda why I bought the Inca - although I do worry that it's all a quality myth and a silverline or record would be the same in reality. Festool is almost a fetish.

That said, I threw out my jigsaw last week through frustration - wobbly in the extreme and a "buy cheap; buy twice" icon.

In reply to Deadeye:

the bit you need to know is the CFM, more particularly the FAD rating-i.e. how much air it can shift rather than just the pressure it's at. It may be that a single phase 230 v compressor wont have the capacity. One option (apart from seeing if the local garage could/would do it for a fee) is to hire a petrol engine compressor for a day-no problem with amperage in that instance.

In reply to Deadeye:

Can honestly say I know a fair bit about sandblasting.

Home made sandblasting is generally a terrible idea unless you want to make a big mess and throw good money after bad. Sandblasting with a professional setup is bad enough, but with cheap gear it's a nightmare.

The Red and orange sandblasters and pots you see on ebay/gumtree/amazon are truely S@!t even for hobbyist. They are absolute trash which give the industry a bad name. I cannot stress how much of a waste of time they are. You may use them once but the parts will wear down quickly and the unit becomes useless without replacing them.

Don't bother with Soda. it's messy and it wont touch rust, though it will strip paint. it's a one hit wonder which will fill the room up with dust in seconds, seriously it's a nightmare to contain.

It is all about volume of air not so much pressure. Depending on the pot youll be blasting with, youll want around 15cfm minimum to give you a minute or so's blasting time.

Don't use any form of sand!! Kiln dried, beach or other wise.
If you're going to do it yourself use a medium grade (40-80) Garnet, copper slag, crushed glass or other cheap disposable blasting media. Don't bother with Glass Bead or Aluminium oxide, they are superior but more expensive and not really economically viable for a hobbyist. The finish you get with Garnet et al will leave a good enough finish for you to prime and paint over.
If you are going to do it yourself don't buy the media from Amazon or Ebay, its usually crap quality and more expensive than going to one of the professional manufacturers of shotblasting equipment. The guys usually sell individual bags as one off and don't have minimum orders try - Odlings MCR, Vixen, Guyson or Hodge Clemco if you are going to buy some media they are all reputable and will help you out.

if you're looking to spend £200 on a compressor for this project plus what ever on a pot and the blasting media, respiratory gear and hours of your time I would advise just spending it on getting someone to do it for you, take the bench to a professional shot blaster or get one to come to you.
Make sure they do not use Steel Shot/Chilled iron of any kind as it could warp and rip through thinner metal.

it's a horrible business but if you can get the bench professionally blasted and repainted it will look amazing once finished.

Good luck.

In reply to Deadeye:

I've done a bit of DIY sandblasting and spent quite a lot of time researching it. It's quite hard to get an idea of what you can do at home without trying it because anyone with a professional background will say it's impossible to do at home and don't bother but then there are plenty hobiests that do it and say they get good results. My take on it is that it's possible at home but it's so messy and horrible that I rarely do it and there are easier ways.

I have a "Wolf Dakota 90 Litre, 3HP, 14CFM, 240v, MWP 150psi" which you will see on amazon under that name. It's a great machine but I rarely sand blast with it, it is possible but it's messy and unpleasant to do. I've used shot and soda, both work fine. I've only used a cheap pick up style gun, the reviews on machine mart are helpful. You need to work in short bursts but it gets there eventually. If you really want to make a go of it you could try getting a sand blaster with a pre-mix cabinet (search pressurised sand blaster" on machine mart). This will give you a better flow of material. If you don't have a blast cabinet it will be messy, the last thing I did was brake calipers and I did them at the back of the garden in a cardboard box on a tarp. It worked but it's hard to see without extraction and it's just very unpleasant. Depending on how rusty the item is you might end up with an uneven surface or pitting. I wouldn't blast the aluminium, soda might be ok but shot will eat it up. Be careful buying your PPE if you're not using a cabinet. If you take your lungs and eyes seriously you'll be looking at the type of respirator that has the removable filters and not all of those are suitable for shot blasting. You don't have to spend much but make sure you get the right filters. Those 3m disposable coveralls are good, the ones with the hood and you can get them cheap off amazon. Clear swimming goggles work well underneath a visor if you're having trouble with steaming up goggles.

So by the time you've bought a compressor, a pre-pressurised sand blasting unit, different types of medium to see what works for you, all your PPE and a blasting cabinet then you'll probably be looking at over £600.

If I was you I would go down the wire brush and rust coverter route. The only reason I sand blasted the calipers was because the heat restricted the type of paint I could use, 99% of the time I want to get rust off anything wire wheels are the way to go. A good selection is a knotted wire wheel and a knotted wire cup for the angle grinder, I use a few different wire brushes on a die grinder off the compressor as well but you can also use a drill. You can get narrow knotted cups about 1/2 inch thick which have the knotted strands really close together and you can use it on a drill if you don't have a die grinder. They are good for getting into hard to reach places. With those three wire wheels you can strip most things to a stage where the rust is treatable. If you have bare aluminium and want to keep it that way then you can get scotch brite flap wheels for the grinder as well which take the oxidisation off without removing metal, folllow it with a pollishing wheel and compound and it'll look great. If you want to paint the aluminium then you need to really clean it and use an etch primer as a first layer.

If you're going to paint the rest of it then go to the website buzzweld and look up "RCP rust control primer 400ml". You will need to key up the metal work with sandpaper after the wire wheels as they leave a polished surface behind, it then needs a really good clean (alcohol, acetone, brake cleaner all work as far as I'm aware). Rust converters aren't as effective as removing 100% of the rust but it's good enough to give a bit of mild steel that lives in the wet another 10 years and it'll be perfect for a tool that stays in the workshop. If you're after a factory finish then spray on a high build primer, sand down and repeat till you've got a good flat surface then paint in your chosen colour. Alternatively hammerite over the rust converter for an easy finish, or just hammerite over the rust it just depends how good a finish you want. If you want it to look good I'd invest the time and money in getting a good paint job not sand blasting.

In reply to Sharp:

Many thanks to everyone for the really great advice on this thread - UKC comes up trumps again!

In reply to Deadeye:

I'm going to print out Ben Sharp's post and keep it for things I have in mind, it's very helpful.