I read on the Cerakote website it recommends 80-100 psi using aluminum oxide. Is this what you do? If not then what do you use? How big is your compressor tank? Do you use a siphon media blaster such as a Harbor Freight or did you buy an actual blaster and run it with a monster SCFM compressor? Do you just etch the surface of an anodized part? Tons of questions. Thanks for your patience with this newbie!

I have a 7.5hp Champion with an 80 gallon tank and lots of 1" copper.  I also have a large blast cabinet with a dust collector.  How much I etch depends on whether the aluminum anodized part has any other coatings on it.

I use a tabletop blast cabinet, similar to the ones Harbor Freight sells. I use Black Diamond in it instead of glass beads or carborundum and blast away at around 100 lbs from my old Craftsman single lung compressor. If it seems the compressor is cycling a lot, I take breaks to give it a chance to catch up every so often. I have no trouble blasting away any coatings or anodizing but the Black Diamond stuff does leave a slightly rough surface compared to glass beads.

You don't use glass beads for Cerakote prep.

21 gallon, 2.5hp compressor from HF.

I use the HF sandblast cabinet, but I swapped out the gun in that unit for a Campbell Hausfeld unit that was about $15 from Amazon. Much better nozzle.

I use 80 grit aluminum oxide, which works great.

I blast at 100 psi, which is not too rough on metal at all (pretty much all I blast is either aluminum or steel).

I never said to do so. I don't use glass beads or carborundum to prep metal for painting, I'm using Black Diamond. It gives the surface plenty of "tooth" for coating adhesion. Glass beads were mentioned as a comparison because almost everybody knows what a glass beaded surface looks like.

This is what we use TS4N5 Two-Stage Compressor It puts out about 15.8 CFM @ 90 PSI and because it it two stage we can keep the pressure at 90 PSI continually and blast / Cerakote off the same compressor while using a "y" and two hoses with separate regulators

I'm using this to blast with 120 ALOX in this.  I run about 60 psi for aluminum and 80ish for steel.  No complaints at all with this setup.

I made a blast cabinet out of a rubbermaid storage container. Cut the rectangle out of the top and siliconed a clear plastic window.
Cut 2 round holes in the front and siliconed 2" length of 4" plastic drain pipe in the hole and zip tied rubber blast gloves I picked up from HF to the pipe.
Also added a 2" vent using PVC and cover the end with coffee filter and rubber band. (not shown)

Not fancy, but works...


Use a HD 2.5gal pancake compressor and added a moisture trap from HF after the tank.
moisture trap

120 gr Al Oxide media from ebay and a cheap HF blast gun with hopper. Added a light too.
blast gun



Use 40-60 psi and it mats the surface nicely.

VERY NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm just doing occasional jobs for myself or friends but I use a 50gal 5hp compressor with lots of copper for cooling/drying and a very large homemade silica dryer that seems to work really well for my purposes.  Larger jobs are a little abusive to the compressor but ohh well...hasn't killed it yet and the dryer deals with the water well.  For gun sized jobs it works great, on those i use a HF siphon type gun.  Large jobs I use a pressure pot setup, biggest things I've done are a 8x10 trailer with sides 5'tall and a 120gal propane tank.  They were a lot to ask of the compressor but it did the job with some patience.

Usually blast stainless at 90psi, aluminum a lot lighter.  Anodizing has a lot of variability it seems so I'll start very low and work pressure up until I'm getting a profile without removing the anodizing.  Extra careful on sharp edges.

In my only experience, a 3 gallon compressor is definitely not the way to go.

Would you describe your dryer?

I would follow Cerakote's recommendations.  I have a smaller set-up, a table top Harbor Freight job, with a 2.5 hp 30 gal comp.  I run 180 alum oxide at 50 psi.  This works fine (if not slow) for most small firearms parts.  

On the anodizing.  I blast it off when re-furbing my rifles.  I like a nice fresh metal base for the coating, although I usually do KG Gunkote, but the principle is the same.  I guess you could just scuff it up a little and not burn it all the way off.  The point being that the surface is free from any and all oil, dirt, carbon, etc.  The blasting step just insures this, besides giving the surface a nice "tooth" to accept the coating.

60 gal husky tank ~12 cfm. Had a 26 gal hf one that wasn't cutting it.