Hey all just wanted to here from other guys that have there own home media blasting kit.
Basically I built my own cabinet and bought a cheap gun from eBay, I also had a small amount of aluminum oxide blasting media.
When I first start using the kit it worked fine for the first ten minuets then the problems started.
With me having only a small amount of al oxide it kind of stopped flowing out of the plastic container I was using as a hopper, as it was to big, so I used a plastic bottle turned upside down, but it then stopped working.
When I emptied the rubber pipe the media was damp in that it had stuck together in clumps. Has anyone had this and what did you do. I have a feeling I need to put a water trap in there????

Also do you guys have the hopper holding the media higher than the cabinet or on the floor?

And what I also found is that the oxide was good for taking the crap off the aluminum but found it went grey so I followed it with glass beads and that gave it a bit more of a shine.
Any insight to help me get on with this project would be much appreciated Thanks Eric.

Hey Eric, I'd suggest reading through this thread as there's a lot of good info in there.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/newbie-forum/203657-media-blasting.html

You can see the setup my brother and I have in post #71.

The damp media is from water in your air lines. You'll want to get a good filter for the air line off the compressor to remove the water before it gets to the gun.

We typically use glass beads on aluminum as it leaves a very nice finish. We just got some aluminum oxide and will use it on parts we plan to powdercoat. We also have some Black Beauty which we used on parts we coated as well. The finer the grit of media, the nicer the finish.

Thanks Brian thats where i got the idea from
On looking at it a second time I'm thinking i also need a thicker hose for the media to pass through. I now have a filter so will give it another go later
Also do you have pictures of how you feed the media to the gun i.e. is the hopper above you cab or just on the floor, And what do you use to hold the media.
Thanks again.

Ok heres picture of a manifold I tried to media blast. One before and one after.
I’m not a hundred percent happy as there are still some blemishes so I’m hoping someone will step in and give me a couple of hints.
I’m using a power craft compressor that heres the specs
• 2.5HP, 1.87kW 230V motor
• Operates from a 13amp plug
• Air displacement: 27 litres/hour
• Maximum working pressure: 8 bar (120psi)
• 24 litre capacity air receiver
• Fully automatic STOP/START control
• 2 air outlets
• 2 pressure gauges
9.5CFM (i.e. 270 litres/minute

And I’m using 180/300 glass bead.
The main problem is when I’m blasting I have to keep stopping as the bead stops flowing. I suspect my compressor is too small?

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/att...nt.php?attachmentid=108844&stc=1&d=1272133090

You might not have enough capacity of air to keep the pressure constant for long enough.

Yep, a 24 liter (6 gallon) compressor is much to small to try and do any long term blasting. We used to use a 30 gallon (113 liters) compressor and even that would struggle after blasting for a little while straight. But that would probably be the smallest I would recommend using. We now have access to an 80 gallon (302 liters) compressor and it makes doing large items/lots of items much, much easier.

Also, how much media do you have in the box at one time? This can also affect flow if there's not enough.

Post some pictures of your setup

I think you guys are right my compressor is on constantly as im blasting.
Heres some pics of my setup.
Oh and ive had problems with running out of media when blasting so i bought more and always keep it full.
The last one is of a throttle body i just did, Im thinking of doing more blasting to it but as you can see its better than the other one. By the way the one i done is on the right
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/att...nt.php?attachmentid=108870&stc=1&d=1272214312
I still need to put some sleeves in there and a grid but I can still use it as is and I'm kind of getting a feel for it despite the compressor.