Can my Craftsman air compressor run my sandblaster?
by jdub
(wv)
I have a craftsman 1hp, 3gal air compressor.
Can i use this with a sandblaster, and if so what size will fit this small compressor?
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Jdub, it is pretty hard to answer this question for you without knowing a bit more information.
Your air compressor is pretty small, and will put out about 4 CFM of compressed air at 90 PSI at the very most, and that’s being optimistic.
Your 3 gallon air tank will supply a sand blaster for only a few seconds before becoming empty, and since your compressor is so small, it will be running continuously trying to catch-up with the air in the tank, and will not be able to do so while you are running the blaster.
You haven’t provided the info I, or you, need to determine if your air compressor is adequate so you do need to read the pages on this site regarding sizing an air compressor.
However, I strongly suspect that if you try to run your sandblaster with a 1 HP air compressor, you will not have any success. Sandblasters are high demand air tools, and your little compressor won’t even come close to the flow needed.
Sand blaster air consumption?
by Matthew
(Albuquerque, NM, USA)
On your page about air consumption, it is listed that a sand blaster will consume 300+ CFM. That seems like a whole lot.
Maybe you made a mistake there on that page because I’ve looked at other websites and they list sand blasting CFMs a lot lower, I think that the highest listed that I saw was 150 CFM.
I’m just a hobbiest more or less, so I don’t need a huge compressor. What would you suggest? –Matthew
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Hi Matthew…
Your comment is a valid one in that there are hand-sized sand blasters that use minimal air, and sand blast booths that will use hundreds of CFM of compressed air to work properly. Graco sells a blast solution that uses 425 CFM, for example.
Rather than showing a range, I simply picked a high consumption number to force viewers to focus on knowing the CFM requirements of the blaster they wished to use.
You say “I’m just a hobbyist more or less, so I don’t need a huge compressor.”
Well, depending on the hobby, you may need a huge compressor, or, for example, if you are brushing a few small plastic models, a really small air compressor will do.
Which leads me to your question… somewhere in the specs for your air using equipment, should be information about that equipment’s air demand, typically in PSI and CFM.
I cannot suggest a compressor size, as I do not know what your air tool requirements are.
Without that information being used in the sourcing of your compressor, you are destined to either get one that is too big, to small, but rarely an air compressor that is right on in terms of air supply versus air demand.
