Lidl was doing Inverter Welding machines for £39.99 - I simply couldn't resist, M'Lud. Light as a feather and under half the footprint of my old arc welding machine, which can now be sold on to help defray the cost. If I'm truthful, I prefer the inverter welder to the new MIG outfit. For a start I'm more attuned to arc welding.
I've also been playing with the sandblaster, but what a kerfuffle. It had some really heavy duty, black grit in it, but it kept blocking up. Kept emptying it and blowing it through, eventually managing to clear the obstruction, which may have been caused by residual water in the hopper clagging the grit.
Eventually emptied the black grit and replaced it with blasting sand, however, the sand is nowhere near as effective at paint and rust removal as the black grit, but the black grit is too aggressive. Will need something in the middle.
Bloody sand goes everywhere. I really need a booth in which to do the blasting in order to keep the sand away from delicate stuff - or roll the car outside to do it.
Had some trouble with my compressor, which is only just up to the job of running the blaster. When I bought it, many years ago, the oil filler cap blew off and disappeared into the stratosphere, never to be found. I replaced it with a cork, but the cork also kept being launched into space. Eventually I just left it, but the result was a fine mist of oil being sprayed about in a radius of about 3 feet of the compressor.
The other day I decided to purchase a replacement filler cap and discovered that it actually has a tiny airhole down the centre. Obviously, the original's airhole had blocked, causing pressure to build up in the oil chamber. A cork only made it worse.
I may have to replace the compressor with something capable of about 10 or more cubic feet of air per minute. The higher the CFM, the better the blasting experience. The higher powered compressors tend to be petrol driven.
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