Sandblaster advice

[Vortex]

I have an old tubular towel rail/radiator which is in a pretty shappy state, with loose/flaking paint and patches of rust. Methinks I have an excuse to acquire a sandblaster.

It's not a subject I know much about. Googling reveals 2 fundamental technologies:

Air like this

water like this: I own both a high power pressure washer and a compressor I could go for either.

I'd be very interested in any opinions as the the relative merits of these.

David

[The Medway Handyman]

Pros & cons as always. Dry systems throw up loads of nasty dust. Wet systems don't, but if you blast metal it starts to rust immediately - this can be treated though.

Both depend on the amount of welly behind them. Not sure about air operated, but wet needs a HPC of at least 2.9 kW.

For the outside of the hpouse the wet system is the only option. Block paving sand works well & is easy to get. Check the Pressure Washer FAQ for more info.

[Skokiaan]

I have both systems, the wet one is unbelievably messy & really requires two people, as the suction intake/sand needs both to be kept dry & constantly moved about to stop the cavitation & ensure a constant flow of abrasive. You are also left with large amounts of wet sand everywhere. I only used mine once, it now hangs up in the garage and will eventually find its way onto ebay!

The dry gun spot blast method is less messy but slower due to the small area covered. The ideal method is to build yourself a cabinet out of cheap ply & perspex & use one of the non-recirculating guns such as Part No : SEASSG8.

Chris

[The Natural Philosopher]

Its not the blaster, its the place to do it, and the gear you MUST wear when doing it.

Far better to wander down to your local sandblsating shop with the rad in one hand a and a crate of beer in the other..

[Cicero]

=============================== Remember it could also be rusted internally as well and a heavy session of sand-blasting could lead to leaks. Think how many cars you've seen with beautiful paintwork covering a lacework of rusty metal ready to disintegrate.