chele Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 I am thinking of buying this. Has anyone used this blaster? I want to buy one and this is the first place I started looking. Any input would be great! http://www.amazon.com/MicronBlaster-MB10-Micro-Sandblasting-Unit/dp/B002ZMH28O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1339303188&sr=8-7&keywords=mini+sand+blasters Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead9 Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 They work OK. They are Chinese knockoffs so don't expect Comco performance, but they also don't cost $2000. Still Life Fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sward Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) Chele, I wonder what you're needing a mini-sand blaster for??? I recently purchased the Paasche air eraser (I've read good reviews of it) but haven't been able to try it out yet. I'm having to wait to get a compressor. So, I really can't give much advise. I'm guessing that for your "current needs", this unit may be a little "undersized". You may want to check out Kosmoceras' thread regarding engravers. http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/29919-engraver-preparation/ They seem to be a cheap alternative. I'm really pleased with mine. Edited June 10, 2012 by sward SWardSoutheast Missouri (formerly Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX) USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sward Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Chele, I just saw this post in the "Questions & Answers" section http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php/topic/29917-texas-airsonics-air-abrasive/ It may be another option. SWardSoutheast Missouri (formerly Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX) USA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanceHS Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 (edited) Chele, I have the unit you are looking at and it works very well for close in surface work. You can get various types of blasting material for most needs from harder glass beads to softer baking powder. I cleaned a hadrosaur metatarsal as my first project and it really brought out the patina. I will say that if you have alot of matrix to remove, either picking with an xacto knife, dental pick or air scribe might be best first. But, air blasters are nice where you are concerned with physical damage by direct tool contact. Also, these remove field glue quite readily. Just be aware that some blasting material can absorb moisture and clog lines and some material is very toxic...you do need to have a chamber if working inside and at least some type of breathing protection even if working outside. So, I would suggest that at $400 or so they are a little cheaply made and there isn't much to the unit, but for my budget and first time delving into air abrasion, this was a good purchase. Edited June 10, 2012 by LanceHS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosmoceras Posted June 10, 2012 Share Posted June 10, 2012 Chele, you might find this interesting - Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted June 10, 2012 Author Share Posted June 10, 2012 Chele, you might find this interesting - Link Thank you for the link.It is kind of funny that you sent me a link to the videos of the Triceratops and the Dueling Dinos. Both were both found on this property. Both of the dinosaurs were found less than two miles from my site. I have talked to Clayton Phipps a lot. Clayton and Chris came out to my Triceratops site(word gets around fast when you find something big) shortly after I had found the Triceratops. Chris had advised me to get a mini sand blaster. He said it is great for the fine details. Chris is co owner of CK Preparations and he said I could call anytime with questions about prepping. His tools are quite spendy and I wanted to start out with something a little cheaper til I get a feel for it. Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted June 13, 2012 Author Share Posted June 13, 2012 Thanks guys!. As far as moisture goes that should not be a problem. Blaine has a big 80 gallon air compressor. 2 stage whatever that means. I think the motor is a 7 horse power. He used to do a lot of body work and paint on cars and has a lot of big filters to trap water. He said he can regulate the pressure to whatever I need. He said the compressor probably will not turn on much. If I do get water in the line he has a special filter that goes on his spray guns to trap water that he can add to the sand blaster if it ever does make it through the filters. He said he has never had a problem with water going through his air hoses. I am going to order this unit and a blast cabinet. I am sure Blaine will tweak it so it will hold more blasting material or be more efficent in one way or another. He can never leave well enough alone. I am sure when he gets done with it the thing will be a mega micro blaster! Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 Chele this thing looks interesting for the money. I see a pressure regulator on the unit which is good...my Eco Blaster does not have its own regulator, so if I want to adjust pressure, I have to turn down the regulator on my compressor then wait for the big 20 gallon accumulator tank to work its way down. I like the idea of having quick pressure adjustment as I often have many specimens in the cabinet at a given time, and sometimes they don't all have the same optimum settings. What I'm not sure of with this unit is if you also have media flow control. I see a couple knurled sections down toward the tip of the pen, and I'm wondering if the silver knurled section is a flow control adjustment...it would be very cool if it is, as the most versatile units will have BOTH pressure and media flow control on the unit, adjustable independently. Finally, I'm curious if there are any standard wear items that could be purchased along with the unit as replacement parts, so you don't have to hunt them down in the future. If all these things check out, I'd consider getting one for myself. Feel free to keep me in the loop on this thing. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 Chele this thing looks interesting for the money. I see a pressure regulator on the unit which is good...my Eco Blaster does not have its own regulator, so if I want to adjust pressure, I have to turn down the regulator on my compressor then wait for the big 20 gallon accumulator tank to work its way down. I like the idea of having quick pressure adjustment as I often have many specimens in the cabinet at a given time, and sometimes they don't all have the same optimum settings. What I'm not sure of with this unit is if you also have media flow control. I see a couple knurled sections down toward the tip of the pen, and I'm wondering if the silver knurled section is a flow control adjustment...it would be very cool if it is, as the most versatile units will have BOTH pressure and media flow control on the unit, adjustable independently. Finally, I'm curious if there are any standard wear items that could be purchased along with the unit as replacement parts, so you don't have to hunt them down in the future. If all these things check out, I'd consider getting one for myself. Feel free to keep me in the loop on this thing. I will surely let you know how the blaster works and all of the adjustments as well. The cabinet is only $100 more. I thought it would be great for the smaller stuff. Maybe I can talk Blaine into taking a video of it in action and all of the tweaks and put it on youtube so everyone can see it. I do not think $525(not including shipping) is too bad of a price. Hopefully it will work very well. Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpc Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hi chele- Sounds like you have the good beginnings of a nice little prep lab going, and Chris is a good source of info. Good to have him on your side. One thing about the compressor... I think you will need a coalescing filter. The compressor probably is oil cooled and usually a ittle bit of oil gets into the compressed air lines with these things. Most folks who use air tools don;t mind it cuz it helps keep mechanic tools oiled, but for paint and sandblasting applications you want all the oil out. This is where the coalescing filter comes in. Install it in the lines downstream from Blaine's uses. I got one from Grainger years ago; that might be a good place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chele Posted June 21, 2012 Author Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hi chele- Sounds like you have the good beginnings of a nice little prep lab going, and Chris is a good source of info. Good to have him on your side. One thing about the compressor... I think you will need a coalescing filter. The compressor probably is oil cooled and usually a ittle bit of oil gets into the compressed air lines with these things. Most folks who use air tools don;t mind it cuz it helps keep mechanic tools oiled, but for paint and sandblasting applications you want all the oil out. This is where the coalescing filter comes in. Install it in the lines downstream from Blaine's uses. I got one from Grainger years ago; that might be a good place to start. Hello jpc, Blaine has many filters on the air line. He had done a lot of auto painting and he said no water or oil will get through. He had spent a lot of money on those filters years ago. Some of the filters are very large. He is very picky when it comes to painting cars and the last thing he wants is a little water or oil to slip through. Chelebele Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) I have this unit built into a cabinet, it does not have powder flow control, just pressure and which tank it is drawing from. The knurling on the nozzel unit is just to give a better grip. Works fine for material that does not need ultra precise. I have a COMCO unit (expensive) that I use 95% of the time. I occasionally will still use this as I have it loaded with 120 mesh sodium bicarbonate and 120 mesh dolomite. The COMCO generally gets 44 micron Dolomite. and has a much more precise focus of the powder and you can adjust how much powder gets into the airstream. I found the cheap paasche units to be more precise than this unit. The nozzel that comes with the unit is much too large for fine detail work. You can rig up smaller nozzels. I was using non sharp hyperdermic needles in small gages with it before I got my COMCO. They wear out but are cheap. A real nozzle costs about $40 as they are carbide. Edited June 21, 2012 by Malcolmt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 what is the cheapest unit with media flow control? Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolmt Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) I have no idea on lowest cost unit with flow control, the COMCO units run over $3000 new. I have not seen powder flow except on the professional units SSWhite, COMCO, Crystal Marks) You can vary the powder flow in most cheaper units by changing the size of the orifice inside the canister. Smaller orifice less powder mixes with the air. You can also vary the way the powder gets mixed by changing the size of the air outlet that is in all these less expensive canister style units. MAny of the more expensive units vibrate the Canister, the COMCO unit uses a pinch valve that opens and closes rapidly and variably to control powder flow. Edited June 21, 2012 by Malcolmt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 i was looking for a quick adjustment for media flow during operation. perhaps i'll experiment with putting a screw clamp or in line valve on the outlet hose from the canister in attempt to achieve infinitely variable proportional control of media flow, hoping this will be as effective as changing orifices in the canister, and adjustable on the fly. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Siphuncle Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 insight appreciated, malcolm... i dont have access to a high end unit for reverse engineering but you've provided some good leads. Grüße, Daniel A. Wöhr aus Südtexas "To the motivated go the spoils." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelhead9 Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 I have a spare one of these blasters, used only once for testing, that I will sell for $300 (plus shipping) if you or anyone is interested. I will ship it to you, you can try it, then pay me if you like it. I only ask that shipping costs be covered in the event of a return. PM me if you are interested. Still Life Fossils Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thanatocoenosis Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 chele, I would hold out for a used Comco or SS White. They pop up on ebay occasionally for less than the unit in your link. 2012 NCAA Collegiate Round Ball Champs; and in '98, '96, '78, 58, '51, '49, and '48, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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