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Hi all any thoughts on dental lab
Blasters for detail finish blasting
I saw one that blast up to 90psi
Just curious thanks

I think there are some makers using them or something similar. I've seen some posts on IG where the makers were almost bragging about spending 8 or 9 hours blasting a pipe. Sorry, not my cup of tea. I think they are mainly used for "chasing the rings" in order to get the super-craggy look.

I think there are some makers using them or something similar. I've seen some posts on IG where the makers were almost bragging about spending 8 or 9 hours blasting a pipe. Sorry, not my cup of tea. I think they are mainly used for "chasing the rings" in order to get the super-craggy look.

This sort of thing makes me smile. Some of the best blasts I've ever seen were done in a couple minutes using a 50hp industrial blaster at some ironworks shop. Massive CFM and psi potential that he dialed back the minimum necessary to stay inside the "won't explode the pipe" zone. Poof & done. He does half a bushel basket of stummels in an hour.

LatakiaLover wrote:

I think there are some makers using them or something similar. I've seen some posts on IG where the makers were almost bragging about spending 8 or 9 hours blasting a pipe. Sorry, not my cup of tea. I think they are mainly used for "chasing the rings" in order to get the super-craggy look.

This sort of thing makes me smile. Some of the best blasts I've ever seen were done in a couple minutes using a 50hp industrial blaster at some ironworks shop. Massive CFM and psi potential that he dialed back the minimum necessary to stay inside the "won't explode the pipe" zone. Poof & done. He does half a bushel basket of stummels in an hour.

I have to say that as a general rule for me the longer the blast takes, the less I like it. The best blasts I have ever done take maybe 10mins, the wood just peels away leaving a great blast. Longer blasts take more fussing, the grain hardness is more even so you are trying to get that sweet spot to remove soft wood only. Those irritate me

I have one. I've used it from the very beginning of my pipemaking. It does work quite well, though admittedly it is pretty slow.
I see where you guys are coming from regarding the time it takes to blast a pipe. I now have a bigger blaster and have reduced the time it takes to get a nice blast considerably.
However, I don't see anything wrong with taking the time it takes to do it in a dental blaster if that's what you have available.
FYI, in my case it's never 8 or 9 hours (that's way too much), with just my dental blaster I can get a very nice result within 2-3 hours of blasting.
Yes, that is a lot. But on the other hand, you know, there's people who sand their pipes slowly and methodically all the way to 1200 grit. Nothing wrong with that, right? Still, some of the greatest and most admired pipemakers don't even keep sandpaper over 400 grit in their shop and their finishing process is much faster. But that doesn't mean you can take the time to sand as much as you want, same with sandblasting.

It all comes down to the final effect, if it's good and done in a reasonable time then it's ok. Nobody's making fun of JT Cook for taking hours and hours to blast his pipes because the effect justifies it, that's all that matters.

Just a precaution- it's much more difficult to get a good looking blast with just a dental blaster. The size of the nozzle makes it very good for "chasing rings" but you need to have a lot of practice to make the blast uniform and avoid "toolmarks" caused by the very tiny area affected by your blasting jet. I see a lot of terribly ugly dental blaster sandblasts on facebook marketed as super craggy while they're nothing more than shitty, fake blasts equal to "rustication with a sandblasting nozzle".

TIYAFO

LatakiaLover wrote:

I think there are some makers using them or something similar. I've seen some posts on IG where the makers were almost bragging about spending 8 or 9 hours blasting a pipe. Sorry, not my cup of tea. I think they are mainly used for "chasing the rings" in order to get the super-craggy look.

This sort of thing makes me smile. Some of the best blasts I've ever seen were done in a couple minutes using a 50hp industrial blaster at some ironworks shop. Massive CFM and psi potential that he dialed back the minimum necessary to stay inside the "won't explode the pipe" zone. Poof & done. He does half a bushel basket of stummels in an hour.

Reminds me of an old adage applicable to the world of drag racing: there is no substitute for cubic inches

W.Pastuch wrote:I see a lot of terribly ugly dental blaster sandblasts on facebook marketed as super craggy while they're nothing more than shitty, fake blasts equal to "rustication with a sandblasting nozzle".

TIYAFO

I wholeheartedly agree!

Me too. Dig-blasting every 4th ring is pretty close to dishonesty.

Anybody have any examples of said sacrilege I saw a video made by Senetrov
Where he got in with what I thought was a dental blaster after the initial cut?