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All This Talk About Etching....

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Yeah, It's an air eraser and I'm using the AO that it came with.  It doesn't say what grit it is though. 

 

Honestly, I wouldn't waste my time with it again.  First off it's constantly clogging and I have 2 different dryers on my air line. 

2nd - It can only shoot very fine media which takes forever to evenly etch glass. 

 

My advice would be to just bite the bullet and buy a blasting cabinet  that comes with a gun. 

I'm picking one up this weekend.

If you don't want to jump in that deep then get the gravity feed gun for $15-$20. with some course 80 grit media. 

You can complete a glass in about 30 sec.  

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Lol thanks for the replies.

Dang I just bought the air eraser and a bottle of the 220 ao at lunch. So I should take it back and get the gravity feed with the 80 grit? The only 80 grit I'm seeing is the glass bead blast media, will that work with the gravity feed gun and give the look that Dakota achieved?

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Is this stuff messy? Can it be done in your home?

 

It could be, but it's noisy (an air compressor and an optional shop vac generate a lot of noise), so you're better off setting it up in a garage or outdoors.  I would NOT try it in a house without a blasting cabinet to work in.  When you etch glass this way a lot of silicon dust is released into the air and that can lead to silicosis of the lungs, which is pretty nasty.  The blasting cabinet helps to contain the dust, and the shop vac further helps to keep any dust from escaping.

 

If you want to etch glass indoors, I recommend playing around with etching creme - it's still hazardous (hydrofluoric acid can etch your bones as well as glass!), but at least it's not airborne...   You'll get a result that is almost as good as you'll get with an air eraser.

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I too made the jump to etching. I was never quite happy with the cream. Here is my first attempt at a mug.

post-25571-0-31250400-1388724835_thumb.j

 

And here is my home made blast tub. Although I just realized after taking the photo I still need to add a hole for the air hose. When I made the mug I didn't have the gloves attached and so I ran the air hose in through the arm holes and just wrapped some towels around my arms to block up the holes. It did a really nice job of containing the dust so I'm hopeful my improvements will make it that much better.

post-25571-0-64517300-1388725025_thumb.j

 

I the lid had support cross moldings that I left for the added support but I might rethink that. They create shadows at just the wrong spot. I'm going to try different lighting options first but will likely remove the cross to get better lighting as well as visibility.

 

I used a HF air eraser with 120grit AO at 45PSI with a small 8 gallon 2HP air compressor, worked great.

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Compact the specs of the pump to the demand of the gun. Most of the air brush pumps are under 1 cfm. Most blast guns require 4 or more.

The is some leeway with a compressor that has a tank. Assuming you are not doing a continuous long spray the tank will usually give you enough air for small stuff and then you can just wait for the tank to refill.

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Im thinking about buying the standing blast cabinet from harbor frieght for $199.

Anyone else have that?

Theres a HF store 1.5hr drive from me in Fargo, where my brother lives and i could pobably pick it up there.

There is also the same one, brand new on craigslist for sale for $200 too but its also 1.5hrs away in the opposite direction.

Plus i would rather buy it from a store and get a legit reciept for taxes.

I wont just be using this for mugs and stuff but for other projects cuz i do welding stuff too.

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Im thinking about buying the standing blast cabinet from harbor frieght for $199.

Anyone else have that?

Theres a HF store 1.5hr drive from me in Fargo, where my brother lives and i could pobably pick it up there.

There is also the same one, brand new on craigslist for sale for $200 too but its also 1.5hrs away in the opposite direction.

Plus i would rather buy it from a store and get a legit reciept for taxes.

I wont just be using this for mugs and stuff but for other projects cuz i do welding stuff too.

Make sure you call and confirm they have it in stock before you make the drive!

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Make sure you call and confirm they have it in stock before you make the drive!

 

Yeah of course,lol.

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Im thinking about buying the standing blast cabinet from harbor frieght for $199.

Anyone else have that?

Theres a HF store 1.5hr drive from me in Fargo, where my brother lives and i could pobably pick it up there.

There is also the same one, brand new on craigslist for sale for $200 too but its also 1.5hrs away in the opposite direction.

Plus i would rather buy it from a store and get a legit reciept for taxes.

I wont just be using this for mugs and stuff but for other projects cuz i do welding stuff too.

sign up on their site and they have coupons regularly - also when assembling add silicone along every seam to slow the sand that seem to find a way out.  that is the one I have - just too dang cold in the barn to use it right now!

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sign up on their site and they have coupons regularly - also when assembling add silicone along every seam to slow the sand that seem to find a way out.  that is the one I have - just too dang cold in the barn to use it right now!

 

what all did it come with??

I have a 26gal air compressor. Will i just need the sand media?? 

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just media - next change I am going to try the black beauty in it - sand worked good though just bought a bunch of black beauty for weight in the truck a couple years ago (dual purpose).  I like the coarser look.

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I rather pay shipping than drive an hour+

+1  just drove 19 hrs in 2 days - wanted some products from Weisenberger Mills after having their breading etc at cracklin jacks in Naples Florida and the shipping that normally would have seamed expensive was very reasonable when considering driving another couple of hrs to pick up on the way home LOL

 

ps plug for the two great places

http://cracklinjacks.com/

 

http://www.weisenberger.com/

 

along with Mr300s house was the best places to get great products - ps mr300s phone cases are awesome!

 

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I rather pay shipping than drive an hour+

Yeah but my parents live at about the half way point. Plus it gives me a reason to go see my brother and shopping in Fargo.

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Maybe it's just me but those holes where the gloves are look really small, unless of course you have tiny hands?

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They are the same as the glove opening. It is a slightly tight fit for my hands. When the gloves wear out I'm going to look for a larger pair.

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just media - next change I am going to try the black beauty in it - sand worked good though just bought a bunch of black beauty for weight in the truck a couple years ago (dual purpose).  I like the coarser look.

Let us know how that works out as that stuff is easier to find and a little cheaper. However, Black Beauty has a hardness between 6-7 Mohs which is the same as glass. My guess is it will work, but will require longer blasting times and possibly higher pressures.

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will be spring now before I do anything - 12 actual temp in the barn right now - actually afraid to open the hot tub  - might crack the cover

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just media - next change I am going to try the black beauty in it - sand worked good though just bought a bunch of black beauty for weight in the truck a couple years ago (dual purpose).  I like the coarser look.

 

dakotagrafx what type of gun came with the HF blast cabinet? how does the sand media feed? is it just a hopper gun or what?

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If you are talking the table top cabinet that is what I just bought over the holidays. It comes with a siphon gun which works great. They also have a large floor stand style cabinet that you have to assemble. The table top unit is big but all ready to go. The only complaint I had was the hole for the vacuum didn't fit my good shop vac and I had to build a pvc adapter. I used the opportunity to turn a 90* elbow down on the inside to help keep from sucking up all the media when it's running. The cabinet works pretty good but you may want to have some sort of work light that you can shine in the window. 

 

The media just goes in the bottom and there is a feed tube that sticks down in there and when you press the trigger the air passing through the gun produces enough siphon to draw media up into the air stream and fling it at your work. You are going to want quite a bit of media for the tube to stay buried well. I have a 50# bucket of stuff I bought that I still have to go rake around every once in a while. I had also purchased a pressure pot style blaster because I didn't realize the cabinet came with a gun. The pressure pot throws more media and may be better for some types of stuff but the cabinet siphon gun is fast and easy for glass work. I haven't used the pressure pot as much since I started to get used to the siphon gun. It's just easier, you just put your work in the cabinet and turn on the air and vacuum and squeeze the trigger. 

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