El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-02-07
THE SAND BLAST"
A Bio THING That Effects Big Sav-
inu To Railroads.

A Bio Thing That Effects Big Say
ing To Railroads.
A recent invention and one which
accom- plishes saving of time, labor and
mon, 10 & railroad company. is the
'sand blast" which is now in use on
nearly every railroad of any i'm
portance in the United States. The
sand blast machines are not large,
but it is often the little things watch
IRE responsible for the greatest saw
ing.
The sand blast Is used mainly for the
purpose of removing old paint from iron
and steel, sides of engine tanks, wheels,
parts of engines, and other iron work
removing of old paint from iron and
steel is no small matter, and ma
chine which facilitates the operation
ss the sand blast does, is an important
ad junct to every we'll regulated ma
chine shop.
The removal of old paint was form
erly accomplished before the advent OF
the and blast, by solution OF lime
and I've water, which was applied by
hand. and for an ordinary standard en-
CINE tank, this operation took from 10
20 25 hoursor more, the work varying
with the rapidity with which the solu-
lion took hold of the paint, an d the speed
with which the solution was applied by
the workmen.
With the advent of the sand blast,
the cost of removing the paint, the
time required for the work, and the
labor necessary to do the work. were
all lessened. Where it formerly re-
quired from Is TO % hours to take the
old paint from the sides of standard
engine tank by the application of the
solution of lime and I've water, the
sand blast cuts the time and cost to
one-third and less.
Formerly the number of men re-
quired to do the work WAS only limit
ed bg the amount of space, but with
the sand blast the services of but two
men are necessary, one to direct the
sand against the iron, and the other to
occasionally look after the machine
and see that it is running in good
shape. II absolutely necessary the
operator can both operate the ma
chine and look after the running of
it.
Sand blasts OF various kinds have
been in use in the railroad shops for
several years past, but until recently
they have been crude machines and
not of perfect working.
The sand blast leaves the surface OF
iron in far better shape than it is left
by the solution. The sand blast is
very effective in its work, and removes
every bit of rust and scale from the
surface and leaves 1t bright and in eX-
oellent condition for the imme-
date application OF a new coat OF
paint.
The sand blast m achines are exceed
ingly simple, and use compressed air,
1t from so to 100 pounds pressure, as
motive power. Very fine dry sand,
which has been thoroughly sifted, Is
used in the sand blast, and it is this
sand, together with the action OF the
powerful compressed air which drives
it with terrific force against the surface
of the iron which removes the old
paint and which has to q certain ex-
tent revolutionized the work of remov-
ing old paiat from iron and steel.
The sand blast machine proper con-
sists of fairly larger steel tank, the
size varying with the amount of sand
which it is desired it should hold and
several pipes running in and out of the
tank. TIE tank is mounted on wheels
in order tnaL it can more easily be
moved from place to place.
Running into the top of the tank is
a pipe connection for the purpose of
letting in the air, which forces the
sand down and out of the bottom of the
tank. Another pipe, the outlet pipe
for the send, is conn cted with the hole
in the bottom of the tank, and through
ihis pipe all the sand passes. As the
sand passes out of the tank through
this pipe it is forced into another pipe,
through which the com pressed air Is
also allowed to enter, and this forces
the sand on away from the outlet of the
tank on it's way to The nozzle. A few
inches farther on is also another pipe
connection, through which comes
fresh supply Of compressed air, giving
renewed force TO the sand and carrying
It rspidly out of the iron nozzle.