Liquid media blaster

[kramttocs]

Anyone tried one of these?

https://www.eastwood.com/liquid-media-blaster.html?SRCCODE=PLA00020&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIltOQ69Hq4wIV0v_jBx3bPgM9EAQYASABEgKDyPD_BwE

I use my blasting cabinet a ton but every now and then I find myself needing to prep an item that won't fit. Without having a suit, blasting outside is the worst so this seems good in theory.

[Gary Lewis]

Interesting!  I'd not seen that, but I do have a pressure blaster.

And, I have an Eastwood media blasting unit for outside and agree that using it is THE WORST!  So this looks interesting.  But, it also looks very slow.

[kramttocs]

Haha if it means not picking coal slag out of my ears because I forgot to put my plugs in, I might be able to live with slow.

[Gary Lewis]

Yep.  And, you could use sand with no health problems.

Maybe you should try it and report back?

[Steve83]

kramttocs wrote

Without having a suit, blasting outside is the worst...

Why?  I did this in jeans, long-sleeve shirt, & hood, and it wasn't too bad, even in Memphis heat & humidity of June:

Gary Lewis wrote

...with no health problems.

Check the fine print...

Eastwood wrote

Always wear ANSI rated safety glasses resporator (sic) and gloves while using.

It says you don't have to worry about heat from blasting, but the force of water & sand at that speed will do at least as much warping to thin metal if you're not careful.

My plan is simply to build an extension that I can hang on the side of my cabinet if I need more space.  I've done it before temporarily using a cardboard box.  But it wouldn't be expensive or difficult to get someone who makes A/C ductwork to build a custom extension that I could drop on any time.

[kramttocs]

Steve83 wrote

kramttocs wrote

Without having a suit, blasting outside is the worst...

Why?  I did this in jeans, long-sleeve shirt, & hood, and it wasn't too bad,

I was considering a blasting hood to be a suit since that's really the only part that matters in an hobby setting (a respirator being a given anytime working outside a cabinet). With that, yes it wouldn't be bad.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I've wet blasted stone houses before. (way back in the '80's- early '90's)

We used fine white sand, and even though the water kept the dust down, days later when things dried up, there was silica dust blowing around everywhere.

[Gary Lewis]

I wear a hood, filter mask, long gloves, long sleeves, and jeans.  And it is still a very unpleasant experience.

But sand is cheap here as Mohawk, one of the large suppliers, is taking it out of the Arkansas about 20 miles away.  So I don't worry about recycling it and do my outside blasting in the middle of the yard so the sand goes into the soil.

However, Mohawk's control on sizing isn't very good and I have to filter the stuff I get or it'll clog frequently.  Which adds to the lack of fun.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Is there still a lot of ultra fine broken  silica floating around days later?

[Gary Lewis]

No.  If there's a breeze, which is usually from the south here, it heads north where there aren't any houses for quite a ways.  But it is heavy enough it settles pretty quickly.

[ArdWrknTrk]

It's the really fine stuff that gets lodged deep in your lungs, and kills you.

Silicosis is no joke.

[Gary Lewis]

Maybe I'm not running enough pressure?  But I don't get a lot of fine dust.  However, I certainly do wear a mask with filters.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I was taking about wet blasting granite specifically.

[Gary Lewis]

Oh.