Comments on: Corn Cob Blasting on a Budget

By: scott gruhlke

scott gruhlke — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 02:32:48 +0000

would like an estimate on doing the inside of a log home,to get the logs clean before sealing.the log right now have nothing on them no stain.thanks scott

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 03:07:53 +0000

Hey Guys and Gals,
Looks like you are well on your way to building a cob blasting system. However, why not just go with a professional. I understand the concept of building your own system and doing projects yourself. However, my company could take care of these projects in a few short days. Completing this job with such a small blaster may take weeks for those who don’t have solid time each day to work on these projects. We are from NC and have been doing this for over ten years. We also specialize in staining, chinking, caulking (not like your bathroom), and log replacement. Our rates are very reasonable even traveling up north. If anyone would like to speak more about a project, email us at briar_creek_ltd@yahoo.com. Thanks and good luck to everyone doing these jobs themselves. Remember, safety is key.

By: Ron VanBibber

Ron VanBibber — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:00:46 +0000

Hi thanks for posting this, going down this road, looking at harbor freight, do you have a complete list of the parts I need? estimate of costs to do a whole house? I know it depends on house but just some general figure. I’m in wv plenty of humidity in summer. Where do i get the nozzle? looked like a fan shape on one video. thanks for you help, priceless.
Ron

By: brian boudreau

brian boudreau — Sun, 23 May 2010 13:43:01 +0000

@Stephen

hi stephen-

i am considering building my own corn cob blasting setup. wondering if you would be available for 15 minutes by phone so i can learn about your setup.

thanks

brian

By: Stephen Burke

Stephen Burke — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 22:40:15 +0000

We are in upstate NY. I feel like the amount of adhesion of the dust seems to be dependent on the humidity for the day. Only in areas where the wood was over-weathered did we need to dust off the boards before applying stain.

By: Kevin Oyloe

Kevin Oyloe — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:32:31 +0000

Thanks for your post. Are you from MN? I am from Owatonna and have been cob blasting for over 15 years. I am sitting on about ten pallets of the 2040. I have decided to get more agressive on using it up by marketing our service to the log home industry. We have used the cob blasting on factory ceilings. I have found that the 2040 is very dusty and the dust by static electricity wants to adhere to the surface. That dust needs to be removed prior to painting at least when it applies to steel/metal surfaces.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:28:49 +0000

The hose I got was a Parker branded hose, with their labeling of the “quick connect”. In hydraulic world, that means you don’t need an industrial crimping machine to put the ends on. I may have confused the statement by putting that in there, as the hose itself does not have quick connect fittings on it.

Definitely go conservative on the media feed rate, just enough to get the corn to flow. You will re-adjust when the tank gets half empty and open it up a little more, as you will find the weight of the corn helps that feed process.

Stephen

By: Ed Ethridge

Ed Ethridge — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:32:03 +0000

Thanks, it is not my nozzle per se that is clogging. It is the hose. Past times I had an 18″ obstruction. Last night I started trying to clear the hose again, virtually the entire 8′ length is clogged. I will probably get a new longer (~15′) hose. I’ll also get quick disconnects to put on. We have a good industrial supply store that handles all kinds of pneunamatic and pressure water hoses.

The key seems to be to keep the media flow valved closed or just cracked open to prevent unnecessary excessive flow of media. Just learning.

Thanks.

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:52:36 +0000

When the gun clogs, it is only clearable by getting the wrenches out and taking the tip off. It clogs quick when the media is running heavy.

2 Main nozzles on the blaster. (besides the one that shuts off all of the air) The media control at the bottom of the tank, and the direction of flow at the top. I would need to adjust the valves every time I started a new bag, and typically once or twice before going through a full tank of media. The weight of media in the tank affects how much things move.

Media Nozzle
I always started with the media control valve closed, and opened it up until I could get some media to start coming out. It was typical that the moisture in the tank would clog this up before I started, so I would open and close the valve very quickly the entire way a handful of times to attempt to shock or break loose the media.

Flow Control
The flow control valve became a balance. It hovered around half, but I could manipulate that valve when the media was really stubborn, to add more pressure to the tank. Sometimes I would similarly send all of the pressure to the tank in a quick jolt to help break the media loose in the bottom. The reward (or more appropriately the curse) was a wad of media that would clog the nozzle.

Perhaps worth noting, is that I had replaced my blast hose with a 30 foot hose. It was actually a Parker “quick connect” hose that I grabbed at hydraulics place. I am not sure if this made a difference in how much media reached the nozzle at once. It would give me time to react, as I could hear the flow coming up, after my media control valve rapid “shock” attempts.

If I had to do it again, I would entertain looking at other “non-harbor freight” blaster setups. I know the harbor freight one was cheap enough to get me working, but there has to be an easier way. I spent so many hours with the tank, that I got used to the problems and acquired a feel for what it was doing. I can’t count how many times I had to un-clog the nozzle. The few minutes of “dialing-in” the pressures would be easier with dry media, but still a challenge regardless.

By: Ed Ethridge

Ed Ethridge — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 03:21:45 +0000

I finally got cob media (2040) to go through the Harbor Freight blaster (as per your recommendation large capacity, easy to fill). I have taken the entire system apart several times to clean out “clogged?” media. The first time there were 2 large 1.5″ long metal shavings clogging the blasting gun. After that the media clogged in the hose, but I was able to get it unclogged by running 1/4″ od copper tubing into the hose from both ends. Finally I got the system pressurized with media coming out the blasting gun over the weekend. So I packed the blaster, the 40# bag of media, and compressor (2HP) and went to my cabin late this (Monday)afternoon, before the rain starts tonight. The hose got completely clogged and I got nothing coming out at all. So I could not perform a cursory test of the system.

I believe my media (2040) is “dry” it has no indication of being moist. The weather was dry when it was shipped.

I have a question about “getting the spray tweaked just right”.

Does the tank pressurize through the “media metering valve”? I suspect that my problem is that I should shut off the “media metering valve” on the bottom of the tank while it is pressurizing. This would keep the media from leaking into the hose. The instructions with the Central Pheumatic Harbor Freight blaster do not say how it should be opperated. Will the tank pressurize with the metering valve shut? Is this, perhaps, my problem. I left it all at the cabin so I cannot test this hypothesis.

Do you have a recommendation as how to keep media from filling and clogging the hose?