Sandblasting question

[Steve Brookman]

I'm brand new to this forum and I need some advice. I am a race director for a trail half marathon and I give out 90 awards each year (plus lots of other stuff.) I'm considering giving out wood pieces engraved with a logo and text. Would I be getting in over my head to purchase a sandblasting system and do them myself or best to contract them out? My wife does stained glass as a hobby so the unit would come in handy for her also. My main concern is the amount of time to do the awards and of course the quality of my work. I have no sandblasting, but some woodworking experience.
The next question is if it is possible for a newbie to produce a quality product in a reasonable amount of time, what should I look for in a system? A quick search of the internet and I see many systems and many prices. I've watched some of the promotional videos and they make it look easy. Somehow I think there may be more to it!

Thanks,

Steve B.

(http://www.RRRTrail.com)

[Gary Breckenridge]

Lets see now, what are the concerns?

A purchase
Time limits
Experience
Quality issues
Being a newbie
Which to purchase
Lack of knowledge
A deadline.
90 units

And you want to jump right in? :eek:

[Steve Brookman]

>And you want to jump right in? :eek: <

Is there another way?

The race is in January, wife has no time constraints. If the advice is that it would take to too much time to master the technique and produce the awards for this event then I'll do them as in the past.

Would still like to hear what I should be looking for in a system for her stained glass work.

[Mike Cutler]

Steve

First, Welcome to Sawmill Creek

Second. Thank you for being a Race Director. As a former USCF cyclist and Triathlete, I know that the Race Directors Job can be a thankless job with long hours associated with it.

The project you are referring to is certainly doable. I don't think that technically you are getting in over your head, but time wise it could be a challenge. Your production of the awards would have to be on a > than 1 per day basis. A lot would depend on the design complexity.

I've always been a jump in type of guy, so I would say go for it myself. There are a number of members that also do stained glass work, so they could advise you better on the equipment related questions. Hopefully some of them see your post. You might consider starting a second thread in the Off Topic Forum With stained glass in the title heading. to draw the attention.

Once again. Welcome to Sawmill Creek. Good luck on the race,and thank you upfront for your work.

Mike

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
You need air.
Lots of air.
Think in the realm of a 60 or 80 gallon tank compressor, 220V, 3 to 7 hp.
Figure on $500 to $1500 - depending - for the compressor alone.

Lines, booth, guns - add another $1k to $2k.
~ double to 10 times that if you plan on wet blasting - which is the ideal for glass & other fine work.

90 pieces?
Probably not worth the initial startup for that few of a number of pieces.

If you wife can make use of it, then it's a different story.

Production output is the key.
I have a ~ $20.00 siphon gun (Home Depot) and a 2HP (4.3 CFM @ 100psi) unit. It's painfully slow. I use it to remove small areas of paint from registers - what a chemical stripper can't remove.
It takes me nearly two hours to do a 10"x12" sized register.

I really doubt if it's enough to etch glass - even on a very limited basis.
(I may drag it out and give it a whirl on a pickle jar just to see. Since I dont have either the time or any abrasive roight now, it's way on the back shelf.)

Is it easy?
Actually - yes it is.

Just mask off what you don't want blasted, point the gun at it and pull the trigger - then move the gun sideways.

I "blast" outside. I use a carboard box with a piece of saran wrap over the top for a "cabinet". If/when I get more serious about it, I'll move to a regular cabinet and more air.

I should add though - it's not a "fun" job. (least I don't consider it one -YMMV)
I rank it up (down?) there with snow shoveling on the "fun" meter.
It's messy, noisy, dusty.

[Perry Holbrook]

Steve, you don't say where you are located. If you are anywhere near me, Asheville, NC, you are welcome to come by and look at my set-up.
Otherwise, sandblasting need not be all that expensive. My cabinet is a one piece plastic unit from Cyclone . TP Tools is also a good source. The sheet metal cabinets from Harbor Freight will work but they will leak pretty bad. A syphon feed system is OK for your application, however, unless you have an air compressor of over 2 hp be sure to use the smaller nozzle tip (I think they are rated at 5cfm), Cyclone has them.

Be sure to hook up a shop vac to the cabinet for an exhaust system, otherwise you will not be able to see what you are doing. Aluminum oxide blasting media, probably 100 grit should do the job.

Having said all that, if you get seroius about sandblasting, you will want several modifications. In my case I have redesigned the pickup tube for the syphon system so it has a more consistant flow, redesigned the window to make it frostproof, added a small cyclone (aka Dust Deputy) between the cabinet and the shop vac, and added better interior cabinet lighting.

I use mine to blast holes in plate glass (takes about 10 seconds), frost glass using resist material, clean up steel after welding, and etching copper sheet.

Hope this helps some.
Perry

[Luther Oswalt]

Here is a very good company and one page from their site. The site has some very good advice ... they have just about anything you might need ... call them ... they are nice folks and can help you! http://www.tptools.com/StaticText/airline-piping-diagram.pdf
Leo

[Steve Brookman]

Thanks for all the advice.

Here is an image of what I'm trying to accomplish:
http://www.rrrtrail.com/images/2009/WoodAward.jpg
Just a sawed off branch with some simple engraving. The back would have the finishers age group and place. While it is only 90, it is 90 every year.

[Jamie Buxton]

You might also look into laser engraving. It is often used to make plaques and such in wood. You wouldn't need to buy a laser system. You can send a file to a shop, and have them return lots of pieces. There's a forum about it here on SMC, or google can find many shops which offer this service.

[rob durfos]

3 months ago we went through all of the gyrations of trying to figure out what we needed to do for sand blasting in our operation. I called and talked to anyone and everyone researching compressors and sand blasting units. We settled on the Texas Blaster, mainly because when you call this company, you get the guy in the United States who is actually building the units. On the compressor, we settled on an industrial Gold compressor out of Joplin, MO. When you call this company, you get the guy who builds the compressors. We have been operating this system now for about a month and are extremely happy with both components.
If you have any questions, feel free to give me a call and I will share my research info.
Rob

[Jim Finn]

Have you considered putting that image and lettering onto the surface of the wood useing a decopauge techinque? I have done a bit of this and it is simple to learn and cheap to do. I print an image from my computer onto tissue paper and layer in onto the wood with Deft brushing lacquer. It is not engraving but looks pretty good, and it is easy to do.

[Cary Falk]

Not cheep either but also an option.
Compucarve
http://s7.sears.com/is-viewers/dhtml/images/blankimg.gif

[Steve Brookman]

>Have you considered putting that image and lettering onto the surface of the wood useing a decopauge techinque?<

Will look into it. I remember my parents going thru a decopauge phase back in the 60's, maps, photos, you name it, got stuck on wood.