Pencil Blaster Recommendations ?

[Hiracer]

I need to do some touch up this summer on my steel boat. I need a recommendation on a pencil plaster to get to bare steel.. TIA.

[Stillraining]

John ...Not sure of your nomenclature.."Pencil Plaster"

Are you referring to a Needle Scaler?

If so I have one you can Barrow.

Eagle Industries 4615 Heavy Duty Pneumatic Needle Scaler | ToolBarn.com

[Hiracer]

SR

I'm not sure either. Small sand blaster to remove epoxy paint and rust. Would your device do that? I need to remover every speck of rust. Talking about rust spots mostly smaller than a thumb print.

[SabreKai]

This is the one I was going to buy but I found a cheaper one here in Canada with replaceable nozzles. Still this one is fairly impressive

SpeedBlaster Media Blaster - Zendex Tool Corporation

I ended up getting a similar one from Home Depot, made by Husky in the US but returned it when I found one sold by Princess Auto which i could buy replacement nozzles for right on site. The Husky one required me to buy them via mail.

As for grit, I first started off with 220 aluminum oxide, dumb idea. It works fine on light rust but for heavier stuff its too light. It works peachy for cleaning rusted taps and dies and other such delicate stuff but for the bottom of the bilge its no good. I'm going to pick up some 100 grit or possibly 80 grit after consultation with the supplier.


Sabre

[Stillraining]

John...I don't really know what to tell you...they are pretty industrial and do beat the metal up a bit...it might be to aggressive and hard to control adjacent damage to surrounding areas depending on what areas of the boat your really trying to de rust.

I have not used a hand held sand blaster like Saber posted...but I see it requires quite a bit of air @ 10 CFM which is not much less then my big sand blaster uses at 13/15 CFM so if you want to go the sand blast route you can borrow that tool....and my portable air compressor...you will however need 2 to supply enough air...I do have two but my gas powered one through a rod and I haven't bought a replacement 5 HP motor for it yet.

All I can tell you is if you want to give the needle scalier a try you can or go for the for sure way and blast it.

Keep in mind sand blasting is messy so I don't know if your going to be allowed to do this in your slip/marina.... nor if you would want to!...the sand ends up bouncing 20' sometimes so it will land on OP boats if your not careful.....Maybe that's the advantage of Sabers small gun?

Email me what you want to do/try and I will help you all I can.

[SabreKai]

10cfm at 100psi is full boogey all the time nonstop blasting. I have run my small unit on a 2hp 3gallon tank electric compresser at 75-90 psi and it works ok. Not great but ok. You also have to let the tank refill every few minutes. It's not a solution for large areas. I just purchase a Ridgid gas compressor which will supply the required air but haven't tried it yet.

As for blasting, it does get messy. I plan on using disposable coveralls the next time with a hood and air supply. But by doing it in small areas, with a cover you can keep most of the grit down. Remember its for small areas.

Sabre