There is a lot more interesting things you can do with your sandblaster that some people don’t even think about. I have been sandblasting for years and I didn’t discover the idea of blasting and sandcarving rock or stone till later on.
This involves the process of creating designs into stone. What you do is cut out a stencil from a resistant rubber or vinyl material and blast the area until it cuts a desired depth. Have you ever seen those large rocks in people front yards with their address marked in it?
Well, this is all done by blasting the rock and is better known as sandcarving. I talk a little bit about this in the sandblaster plans, tips, and information manual that I wrote up. The top thing that you need to know is that a pressure pot sandblaster is required to carve the stone because it has high pressures that is needed to get the job down.
Shown below is an small example of a stone that I found in a nearby river.
What I did was just cut out a stencil and blasted over the stencil on the rock with about 90 psi (from what I remember). After that, you can spray paint the carvings to highlight the deep markings like I did. I used a black spray paint but you can use your creativity with different vibrate colors.
Please leave any comments below or any questions. Thanks and hopefully I can get some more information up soon.
what kind of stencil and what is it made of And i wont to make a blaster cabnet , if u could give me any info and dos and donts thanks
Timothy, the stencil I used is a sign vinyl from Oracal. Usually you need a thick sandmask that is over 3 mils but for this small project I used a 3 mil with a fine abrasive. The finer the abrasive you use, the thinner the stencil can be. Typically people use a sandmask of 10 mil and up.
I will try and make a post about how to build a cabinet soon. There are many ways to do this. Thanks for asking questions. -Eric
Could you comment on breathable air quality when not using a cabinet, I am aware of cylindrical filter chamber in hose line. Are there any methods of testing. What can be done regarding elimination of oil vapour. Should compressor speeds be kept as low as possible or use a separate compressor for breathable air. What type of oil is it best to use. ?
I liked your comments on your sandblasting projects. I have not actually started sand blasting yet. I am just trying to get things together. I am also interested in carving wood with a sand blaster. Do you have any knowledge of this ?
Thanks, Dick S.
.
Richard, yes sandcarving wood is a little different that rock carving but not too much. I will try and make a tutorial about it soon. Then I’ll let you know.
John, I don’t use sandblasting air helmets much but I would like to have one. I do more little projects than large / long projects so I haven’t used one yet. I usually just use dual cartridge respirator filter.
Thanks Eric for getting back to me. Basically I am trying to figure out what equipment I need to get started blasting rocks and glass. The rocks I want to do will be anywhere from large fieldstone to small rocks like the example above. I know I need a pressure pot but not sure on what kind/brand or how much to spend. Is it worth spending the money to get a vinyl printer/stencil cutter or can you get stencils from an outside company with your own designs on them? Also can you use the same equipment that blasts stone to etch glass?
Sorry for all the questions at once but I feel like I have finally found someone that I can get good information from.
Thank you!
Tom, no problem. Pressure pots can range from as low as $60 and to a few thousands of dollars. The get what you pay for applies but the cheap ones usually work fairly good. Brands like Central Pneumatic (Harbor Freight) and Clarke are some of the cheaper ones. I have found that they have abrasive flow problems sometimes but I wrote the ebook on this site for fixing this. Actually, expensive ones might have this problem to- a few weeks ago someone with $2 grand pressure pot bought my plans with this problem and he said it fixed it.
If your doing it for long term established business, I personally would buy at least a mid-range priced pressure pot. I am a entrepreneur myself so if it was me, I would start out with a cheap one until I found that there was a demand. If so, then you could invest in a higher prices one later on and then you would have a back up blaster too.
The cheap ones do the job okay. I have a 40LB Harbor Freight and if your blasting large rocks then I wouldn’t go any smaller than that. The size all depends on how often you want to refill the pot.
Its so nice having your own vinyl cutter- I love it and its surprisingly easy to do. My answer is similar to the previous one about the sandblaster.
Yes equipment for stone works with etching glass too but you may want to use a smaller nozzle tip and use finer grit.
I read through your blogs and I have to agree with Tom McKinley. The information and support that you are giving us is great. Please don’t stop. My question is what type of gun, nozzle, tips do we want to use when we are sand carving glass, wood, stone and etc. Do we use different tips? What is the setup? Thanks for your time and feedback!!!!!
One more thing. I have a 150psi air compressor. Is tht big enough to run a pressure pot sandblaster
Hey Chuck, your going to have to look at the CFM output of the compressor also. Just check the minimum air requirements (in the form of PSI & CFM) of the blaster that you might want to buy and see if the compressor meets those. A compressor thats bigger than the minimum is always better though.
For carving glass, i personally would replace the standard hose with a much smaller one first. You don’t have to, but its a lot better. You can use any nozzle/gun configuration and it kind of depends on your preference. Most people use smaller tips especially for smaller projects and its kind of a personal preference thing as well. The larger the nozzle-the more air/abrasive will be clouding up your cabinet also which can prevent you from seeing what your doing. Finer tips give you a sharper stream of abrasive to aim at those parts of the stencils that you actually want to carve.
dear sir
i need a sandblasting machine to work in granite slabs to sandblast letters
Shanmugam, I got your email as well. You would need a pressure pot sandblaster. If you have a 5 horsepower air compressor, you should also look at the CFM and max PSI output. Compare those numbers to see if it meets the minimum requirements for the sandblaster your using.
i’m a stone carver/visual artist. I use air tools, but i’m a novice regarding sandblasting.
i really appreciate the info you’re giving. i’ve been considering purchasing a blaster, or cabinet to expand into the commercial market, headstones, signs etc, i’m not sure what i should buy? a cabinet or blasting pot? what would you suggest?
Omar, that depends. Most cabinets have siphon sandblasters and you would need a pressure pot to do that type of work. There are quite a few companies that make the pressure pot configured with the cabinet- these are great but are very expensive. So if you have the money and don’t mind spending a few thousand dollars then I would suggest getting one of those (they are nice).
If you’re on a budget like me, you can buy a inexpensive cabinet and a pressure pot. Then drill a hole in the cabinet for the pressure pot hose to fit through. You can even make your own cabinet out of wood or metal (which I have also done).
hi am Ola would like to know if it posible to sandblast glass with diffrent colors if its posible how do one go about it thank olatl@hotmail.com
Ola, yes you can sandblast colored glass. In fact, if you do it’ll be more visible to see the etchings.
wat i ment was give a plain glass diffrent colours with coloured sand if it possible how do u go about colouring ur sand
Oh, okay- that most likely wouldn’t work but you can try it. Even if the color did stick, its likely that it would wear off or be so light that it would be hard to see.
You are better off painting the etching after you blast it.
I have the 40lb presure pot from Harbour Frieght. You suggested in one of your comments to change the hose to a smaller hose. May I ask to what size hose should I change to. I was wondering also does it make since to use a PAB gun on my cheap sand blaster?
Thank you for all your insightful comments, I was looking at what type of sand would you use when you sandblast a stone..I have glass type sand and that is not working..
Thank you
Ideal abrasive is aluminum oxide. You could use silicon carbide too- lasts longer but is more expensive too.
The best abrasive for marble is corundum
We are sandblasting machines producers and wwe have made a lot of machines to sandblast marble and glass. The best abrasive for marble is corundum. Aluminum oxide is good too but it’s not so performant as corundum.
Visit our website for more details about machines!
it’s promecoengineering.it
Learned a lot here. Thanks for your information. I have purchased the plans and glass etching PDF books.
Phil, thats awesome. Thanks for your purchase. If you ever have a question about anything, let me know.
I am just getting in to sandblasting rocks wat is the best sand to use.
Use aluminum oxide or silicon carbide.
Wat grit or media
It’s typical to use about 100 or less for rock, but I use 180 because its used for glass as well.
I have a complete SCM Jet Stream Two cabinet, pressure pot compressor for sale. Never used.
Brand New. Email or post if any interest.
Your site gives some good information and so does your book.
I want to sandblast some pictures onto glass. I have read a lot of tutorials on how to make stencils using Adobe Photoshop but I need to move on to how to print them. What do I print them on? How do I put the stencil on the glass? What PSI do I use? What kind of nozzle do I use and where can I buy one?
My husband and I make wooden boxes out of radiata pine and eastern red cedar. I would like to get a small sandblasting system to carve a 3/4″ celtic design into our boxes. I am totally new at this and need a LOT of guidance. We make about 1,600 boxes a year and each box would have this design carved into it. The radiata is stained, so should the sandblasting be done before or after staining? The depth that we would want to carve is approx. 1/16″. What would be the best system for us (with a cabinet), what material would your recommend to carve with, what thickness would you use for the stencil……well, just everything!!! Would the stencil need to the type that is photosensitive and then washed off, or is there another process? I know I am full of questions, but incorporating the sandblasting on our boxes will make a huge difference in the look of the boxes. I am eager to hear from you regarding all of the above. Thanks in advance for your help and guidance.
Valerie, sounds like a interesting project.
It would depend if you want the design to be stained or not. You can blast before or after depending if the design should be stained as well.
Have you thought about using pyrography by burning the design into the wood? I think that would look cool, while being the easiest and cheapest. You can probably have a local sign shop laser cut a stencil template out of a piece of sheet metal and use a propane torch. Just an idea but not sure if that would work.
Eric,
No, burning the design wouldn’t work as the wood is not completely flat. Could you recommend a micro sandblasting system for us, knowing the volume that we would be doing in a year. Thanks for the speedy reply!
Ok, that is understandable. I’d recommend a pressure pot system for carving in a timely fashion. Most micro sandblasters aren’t pressure pot systems.
I will get some links together and send you them by email.
Thanks again for the fast reply. I checked out both systems you sent me links to. I would like to get a cabinet, and probably can find those online. What material do you recommend to sand blast with? The vinyl to make the stencil (adhesive I assume) what thickness do you recommend and do you have a source? And finally (well for now at least), what tip would I use to blast with? If there is anything else you can think of that I haven’t mentioned, then chime right in!
Thanks again for your help. I was looking at systems costing upwards to $4k…….we are just a small business and this is a HUGE help.
I have been doing sandblasting mostly on glass surfaces, and this week i expedience the compressor making to much water that came out while sandblasting the window. the compressor does have a water filter trap on it and it did not do it previous times. i don’t know what possibly could be wrong that this is happening all of a sudden. i would like to know if it is quiker to use a sandblast pot when sandblasting glass surfaces like windows if it is a full blast on the window, or will the window break if a sandblast pot is used.
Christine, are you draining the water trap frequently? There is also a plug that needs to be drained frequency on the compressor tank. Other than that, you might need a better or newer filter. My guess is it was a very humid day.
A pressure pot can blast at higher pressures so you will carve into the glass quicker. It depends on glass on the window. Tempered glass will shatter if you try to carve deep into it.
I am interested in some more info from the post by David Horn concerning the SCM Jet Stream equipment that he has for sale. Thanks
Hi, I have been looking at doing this as a sideline. What size of air compressor and pressure pot would I need to make it mobile to do anything from small rocks in the cabinet to big boulders on site? Any site out there that people are selling used syetems? Love all the posts!
Thank you,
Brad
i need to make stencils for sandblasting on rock can you please tell me what to use.
Hi, looking at setting myself up with a portable sandblaster sytem for lettering granite onsite. I understand CFM is the most important thing. The blast pot I have ranges from 10-30 cfm. I am looking at a 15cfm petrol compressor as weight/wheels are very important to get in and out of my van. Do you think 15CFM is enough? Also if I am blasting at around 90psi with a 15cfm compressor will a 50 litre tank be ok. Again weight is my problem. Many thanks