Sandblaster recommendations?

[Bass Akwards]

I have project car that I am working on, there is some rust and paint that I need to get removed.
I have looked online and most of the blasters get terrible reviews. Nobody makes a decently priced blaster that actually works?
Looking through the reviews, I think people do not understand how to set it up or the manufactures are not explaining the set up well enough in the instructions. Some people had too small of a compressor(which worked for some) and some had too much air or damp media.
Anyone here have a proven set up?

 

[MAK]

I have one of the 40lb pressurized rigs from Harbor Freight. I have an old monster 1942 Kellog American 80 gal compressor that still requires waiting periods for the pressure to build up. Usually about 10 minutes of blasting and 5 minutes of waiting. I did the bed of my truck on the areas I didn't cut out and weld in patches. Have also done my inner fender aprons, inside of fenders, etc. Miserable job for sure. Much better ways to remove paint if you aren't dealing with rust. I've had to replace the valves and hose due to wear.
The blasting media has to be absolutely dry, clean and consistent in size. Took me a long time to figure out that I have to run it all through a screen to cull out the larger pieces. This process takes much longer than the blasting but if I don't I find that I have constant clogs and have to turn off and remove valve, etc about every minute or so... Ive never has any luck with the black diamond media. It clogs faster than anything even though other guys swear by it.

 

[GunNfun]

Commercial blaster units are your best options but they are expensive. Along with a large pull behind compressor that pumps a continuous 100cfms. Again expensive. My family has been in the business for 50 yrs. if you want it done correct and in short manner of time call local body shops or monument shops to see if they can do the blasting for you. They may want you to bring the car to them but overall the cost of doing that is a lot less than getting the equipment. Beware if you blast unsupported areas like the roof or hood the heat generated by blasting will cause the metal to warp rendering it to the junk pile. There are folks who travel around now that blast with water and glass. No heat, no dust no warp. They can blast in you drive way with no dust. This is the way I would go. No transporting of your car.

 

[BNB]

Just be carefull with blasting,you can take away metal quick and warp the piss out of it,if your not carefull

 

[Bass Akwards]

There is rust that needs to removed for sure, a lot of the parts are still good they just need to be freshened up. Paint wise, the hood, roof and deck lid has some rust issues going on.
I checked out the HF one, most didn't like it, but there was a few people that said it was good and the neg reviews were because people do not know what they doing, which is understandable. More than compressor size, people dont understand fully about the media they are sending trough it.

 

[Bass Akwards]

Commercial blaster units are your best options but they are expensive. Along with a large pull behind compressor that pumps a continuous 100cfms. Again expensive. My family has been in the business for 50 yrs. if you want it done correct and in short manner of time call local body shops or monument shops to see if they can do the blasting for you. They may want you to bring the car to them but overall the cost of doing that is a lot less than getting the equipment. Beware if you blast unsupported areas like the roof or hood the heat generated by blasting will cause the metal to warp rendering it to the junk pile. There are folks who travel around now that blast with water and glass. No heat, no dust no warp. They can blast in you drive way with no dust. This is the way I would go. No transporting of your car.

I checked into the better set ups, the dustless systems are bad ass and defiantly out of my budget. I will probably have the body shop prep it for paint so that it is done correctly. I want to do as much as I can, more so as giving me something to do and not have to buy so many smaller parts.

 

[BNB]

Another thing is getting clean sand with no small rocks,youll be cussing all day taking it apart,cleaning line ,ceramic blasting tip or humidity is a bitch too on sand outside

 

[BNB]

Depending on how bad rust is you can get some chemicals that will strip rust.

 

[D_Max]

Check out hydro blasting it will not remove good metal like sand blasting , i don't have anyone to recommend but i seen it done before it works great

 

[Greybeard]

I used to restore mustangs and chevelle's years back (yea ford and chevy kicked in the head when small). Never had any luck with media blasters. Air was not a problem, huge compressor. Damp media, dry media, clogged lines, warped metal, grit all over the place, what a mess. Would not do it again. There was a place in Atl that you could have your project dipped not sure it's still there, but that's the way to go. If small project media cabinet works great.