Question:
I’m thinking about buying a small, home use sand blast cabinet that says it requires 10 cfm at 100 psi. I have a 26 gal compressor that is rated for 6.4 cfm at 90 psi.
Would I be correct in thinking that I could probably make this work but only for short periods of time; in other words, if I start blasting the compressor will put out 10 cfm at 100 psi but only for a limited time.
Then the compressor will turn on and try and bring the pressure back up.
Since it’s not quite big enough, it will never be able to continuously operated at the required pressure/flow, but could be operated for short periods of time then pause to let the pressure build up again.
We are only talking about sand blasting some rusty trailer wheel hubs after all.
Thanks, Charles
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Answer:
We say yes…
Hey Charles. Thanks for writing in.
I have a little 1.5 HP air compressor, and I use it to sandblast all the time.
You are correct in that, with a small compressor, you will only be able to blast for a few seconds before the compressor kicks in.
If your compressor is rated for 6.4 CFM at 90 PSI, then that’s what it will give you.
The issue is, a blast gun will use much more than 6.4 CFM, even at 70 or 80 PSI. It will drain your tank so fast that the pressure will drop below the point where the sandblasting is doing anything.
That’s why you have to wait for it to catch up. To get the pressure back to the point where the sand will actually take off the rust or paint.
Cheers
-UAC
P.S For a small bench-top sandblast cabinet at a reasonable price try this one; Shop Fox M1114 Benchtop Sandblaster
