For quick removal of paint and grease from metal surfaces, you can't beat a sand-blast machine.
Ever try to clean the paint off a motorcycle wheel? Or, for that matter, any other metal object? Well, if you have occasion to do such work, you will find a small sand-blast machine worth its weight in gold.
If you have a handy source of sand and a reasonably good supply of compressed air, the rest is simple.
A sand blaster is merely a tank that will safely withstand the pressure of the air supply. It has provisions for pouring sand into the top and allowing it to trickle out the bottom, where it is entrained in a stream of air.
It is necessary that the tank be pressurized to prevent the air that flows to the nozzle from blowing up through the sand supply instead.
The machine illustrated was constructed of a 14-in. length of 6-in. pipe with 1/4-in. plate for the ends. The only part of the machine that cannot be made with hand tools is the filler hole in the top plate. This hole must be made to properly fit whatever object is used as a stopper.
