Mobile Sandblasting Business Takes Off
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Rob Foster made a bet on mobile Dustless Blasting, and it’s paying off. Foster and his wife invested in a turnkey set up during the early days of the COVID 19 pandemic and went full time with it in March of this year. The system strips paint and debris from metal, masonry and wooden surfaces.
“We had a very good response and have been very busy,” says Foster. “I do a lot of auto restoration, heavy equipment and reconditioning.”
Foster had a steep learning curve. Normally he would have been trained at the headquarters of MMLJ, the company that sold the equipment. With COVID travel restrictions in place, he relied on video tutorials and personal experience.
An avid car restorer, he had a couple of older cars waiting to be worked on. “I experimented on one car,” he says. “I stripped it down and put a coat of paint on it. I learned about air pressure, spraying distance, choice of media and nozzle patterns.”
Foster estimates their investment at around $100,000. For that, they got a trailer, 200-gal. water tank, 100-ft. hose, blasting pot, 75 hp. diesel engine and a 300-cu. ft. compressor. All they needed to add were different grades of crushed, recycled bottle glass and water.
“The beauty of the system is that fully loaded, I can work for 8 hrs.” says Foster.
The process is dustless because water is mixed with whatever media is used. The water vapor captures particles of paint, rust and media that otherwise would be released into the air. Instead, it all drops to the ground within a small area around the item being sand blasted.
“The environmental friendliness attracted me,” says Foster. “It’s also operator friendly. I don’t have to worry about silica and resulting breathing issues.”
While media mixed with water is a big selling point, Foster says the system can be used with any dry media, as well as for priming, painting and sealing services.
“I recently used soda to remove mold in a home,” says Foster. “It’s one of the best ways to remove mold. It gives good results and doesn’t damage woodwork.”
While Foster has been learning as he tries new things, his customers sometimes learn new things as well.
“One fellow had bought an old truck and thought it was in pretty good shape,” says Foster. “When I started stripping the paint away, we discovered there wasn’t a panel on the truck that hadn’t been replaced or fixed. You can’t hide the truth when you strip away the surface.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, SNR Dustless Blasting, 908 ON-35, Bethany, Ontario Canada L0A 1A0 (ph 705 878-6906; snrdustless@gmail.com) or MMLJ, Inc., 5711 Schurmier Rd., Houston, Texas 77048 (ph 713 869-2227; toll free 800 727-5707; info@dustlessblasting.com; www.dustlessblasting.com).
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Mobile Sandblasting Business Takes Off FARM SHOP Painting Rob Foster made a bet on mobile Dustless Blasting and it’s paying off Foster and his wife invested in a turnkey set up during the early days of the COVID 19 pandemic and went full time with it in March of this year The system strips paint and debris from metal masonry and wooden surfaces “We had a very good response and have been very busy ” says Foster “I do a lot of auto restoration heavy equipment and reconditioning ” Foster had a steep learning curve Normally he would have been trained at the headquarters of MMLJ the company that sold the equipment With COVID travel restrictions in place he relied on video tutorials and personal experience An avid car restorer he had a couple of older cars waiting to be worked on “I experimented on one car ” he says “I stripped it down and put a coat of paint on it I learned about air pressure spraying distance choice of media and nozzle patterns ” Foster estimates their investment at around $100 000 For that they got a trailer 200-gal water tank 100-ft hose blasting pot 75 hp diesel engine and a 300-cu ft compressor All they needed to add were different grades of crushed recycled bottle glass and water “The beauty of the system is that fully loaded I can work for 8 hrs ” says Foster The process is dustless because water is mixed with whatever media is used The water vapor captures particles of paint rust and media that otherwise would be released into the air Instead it all drops to the ground within a small area around the item being sand blasted “The environmental friendliness attracted me ” says Foster “It’s also operator friendly I don’t have to worry about silica and resulting breathing issues ” While media mixed with water is a big selling point Foster says the system can be used with any dry media as well as for priming painting and sealing services “I recently used soda to remove mold in a home ” says Foster “It’s one of the best ways to remove mold It gives good results and doesn’t damage woodwork ” While Foster has been learning as he tries new things his customers sometimes learn new things as well “One fellow had bought an old truck and thought it was in pretty good shape ” says Foster “When I started stripping the paint away we discovered there wasn’t a panel on the truck that hadn’t been replaced or fixed You can’t hide the truth when you strip away the surface ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup SNR Dustless Blasting 908 ON-35 Bethany Ontario Canada L0A 1A0 ph 705 878-6906; snrdustless@gmail com or MMLJ Inc 5711 Schurmier Rd Houston Texas 77048 ph 713 869-2227; toll free 800 727-5707; info@dustlessblasting com; www dustlessblasting com
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