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The BLSTR Sander: A Compressor-Free Sandblaster

By Rain Noe - February 8

in Tools & Craft

Ten years ago, Belgian businessman Koen Meukens was renovating an old mansion in Antwerp. This required a lot of sanding, and Meukens found that while conventional sanders could tackle flat surfaces easily, corners and curved parts of handrails gave him particular trouble. He started envisioning a new type of power tool that would help him with similar work.

Meukens reached out to a professor of Mechanical Engineering, and together with two ME students, they developed the BLSTR Sander, a sandblaster that uses standard media/grit and requires no compressor:

"BLSTRsander is compact, handheld and uniquely doesn't require a compressor. A spinning ceramic disk flings grit particles at high speeds, making it the easiest way to get started with sandblasting. Refurbish old furniture, breathe new life into rusted metal and strip vehicle parts of paint with ease. You can even remove grime from stone and ceramics."

The quartet formed a company around their invention, then collaborated with British product development firm RDD+ to further refine the design. They reckon it's ready for primetime now, and have successfully Kickstarted it with $93K in pledges at press time on a $54K goal, with 21 days left to pledge.

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Note that the tool is corded; the developers opted not to go with batteries to keep the cost down.

The earlybird pricing is $279, and they say they'll begin shipping this July.

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Ryan Cee

9 months ago

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Hmm. If it's corded, it's hard to see how it can be superior to extant compressed air powered sand blasters.

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- Dee An
  
  Ryan Cee
  
  9 months ago
  
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  Its easier to plug in a corded tool than it is to lug a heavy air compressor to a work site. This is true even if you have to use an extension cable.
  Part of the manufacturer's reasoning for making it corded is that including a battery would make it harder to ship around the world.
  
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Juan Cano

9 months ago

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I've been getting inundated with Ads for this on Insta for the last 2 week, even before this post!

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