As part of my ongoing efforts to learn gun refinishing, I recently bought an air eraser from Horror Freight. This is essentially an airbrush turned in to a mini sandblaster. After trying it out on an old, rusty steel carpentre's square, I discovered a few things.
1) I needed a bigger air compressor than what I was using for my airbrush.
2) The blasting media goes everywhere. (I was smart enough to do this outside & wear a breath mask and face shield)
3) 200 grit aluminum oxide media, while not super-expensive, ain't cheap either, and is worth trying to re-use if possible.
The answer to 1 is obvious, buy a bigger compressor, which I have already done. 2 and 3 took more thought and digging around on the internet. This lead to this weekend's project, a tabletop blasting cabinet.
I found the clear storage tub at Wally World, the flanges and air fittings at Lowe's, and the arm cuffs were cut off of an old t-shirt. I sandwiched the cuffs between the outer flange and the tub. The flanges also stiffen the side of the tub where the arm holes were cut. I installed standard 1/4" NPT air hose fittings in the side of the tub to connect the blaster to the compressor. I decided that made more sense than trying to pass the hose through then trying to seal the hole around it.
I hope to be able to try it out soon, I'll let you know what happens.
