Sand blasters and media questions

[JMD]

I have sandblasted, used 2,500 lbs of silica sand to blast all surfaces on my 39 back in the day. All in all, I would pay someone before I did it again... (because it is a dirty, nasty, and not so fun job) But if you are doing it yourself anyway, the pressure type is much better than the siphon feed, but either will use up a compressor pretty quickly. IMO 20 cfm probably would not allow for continuous use, probably 50% at best. (but I doubt it) Consider renting a big unit with a trailer mount compressor and knocking it all back in one day.

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[bodyputtyless]

You get what you pay for. The pressure blasters from Harbor freight are nothing more then "made in a hurry" death traps. I know because I bought one years ago. The "first" time I used it the shut off valve failed. It would not stop the media from coming out. By the end of my blasting session the tripod leg had broken off. I realized that the welded joint for the leg that attached to the pressure tank failed. Wow, a welded joint attached to the pressure tank! Not to mention that the metal is absolute crap. I'm sure the chinese have tough metal inspections. Yeah right. I recommend you buy a quality pressure tank, and use Black Beauty slag to remove rust and paint. All this talk about warping and damaging panels is bunk. You have to absolutely forget about what you are doing in order to ruin a panel. Taking your time, along with caring will allow you to achieve prefext results. I always say, what you don't have in know how, you make up for in caring. Relax and have fun. Its very rewarding. Buy USA made products.

[MetalEd]

Originally Posted by Jaded

I'm using Eastwoods blaster with the soda conversion kit. The only drawback I've had is not enough air compressor. It requires 7 scfm @90psi, and mine couldn't keep up with the blaster. Otherwise it works fine.

My neighbor uses the harbor frieght blaster with play ground sand, something I'm not willing to do because of the hazard, and the ability to quickly warp a panel. Besides, I don't have acres of land in the middle of nowhere to do this like he does.

Same problem, not enough compressor to keep it steady. I have 2 blasters from harbor freight. I bought it with the intention of doing my entire car, but after only the trunk, I now only use it for inside cracks and corners I cannot get chemicals or wire brushes into for paint and rust removal. Chemicals are just as fast and work just as well if not better.
The dust bothers me as well. No wide open ,land (do not use it in a garage) I tent my car (under, over and all 4 walls) and have an air cleaner (woodworking/shop) as well as a shop vac right at the work to collect dust. If you don't have an area far from where you park, you will be cleaning dust off your car forever, no matter how well you clean up (and neighbor's cars and house.).
Not to mention the breathing, even if you use a safer media, you are still blasting microscopic rust, metal, paints and primers. You have to cover up and have an outside air source to be sure you are safe (masks might work to some extent, but I still taste the material when blasting).
Just too much work, mess and hassle for something that can be done with a little elbow grease and just as well with chemicals for paint and rust removal. (lot of safer ones that won't harm you if you look around.) In about the same time if you consider proper setup and cleanup.
Also don't have to worry about pitting and using tons of body/primer fillers to cover the damage that it causes.
A spot sander is nice for tight small areas you can't work tools, but I would prefer strippers and tools if they would work in those same areas.
There are ways around all these problems, but more money, more space and more materials/supplies/equipment... just not worth it to me.
Just my 2 cents worth,

[MetalEd]

Originally Posted by CAD

Tony, how well did you seal around the car? I'm thinking of making a "booth" of plastic around it. Top, bottom, & sides. That way I should be able to reuse some of it too.

Been there, done it, see my other reply. Rolled onto a tarp, parking canopy above, with plastic sheeting for all walls, taped almost all areas. Couldn't see squat, need air circulating in, filtered ventilation out, outside air source (separate low pressure air compressor hose under the hood + breathing mask), dust everywhere outside even with my shop air scrubber. 10'x20' parking canopy... need double the size. better in an open field in the middle of nowhere.
Still tons of dust when I clean the car/area (just from doing my trunk).
just my experience, but it is something to think about if you want to do it.

[Tony R]

I wrapped plastic around a 2X4 and screwed it to the ceiling. It tore and made a big mess. I agree with JMD though in renting a big compressor. I waited for mine to fill up too many times. I think I also burned it up because it takes forever and a day to fill now. I also reused my sand a couple times. I got a small piece of screen and filtered out the large crap out of the sand as I poured it into the hopper. I personally don't like to use the strippers. I tried it at first but it was too slow and it didn't really clean the car as well as I liked. It took the paint down to primer and then turned the primer gooey but didn't take it off. I used the aircraft stripper that the paint shop recommend. A couple of painter buddies warned me about using strippers as well saying that if I didn't remove the stripper properly it would mess up my paint jop when I painted it. You are probably going to have to scrape your undercoating off if you have any. My blaster wouldn't remove it. As for warping I was a novice when I started and I didn't notice any warping. I was careful though since I have a few of hot rod buddies that warned my first.

[THUMPIN455]

I got a pressure blaster from Summit, Jegs and Eastwood also have them. I too avoid HF stuff, had a few things break so rather than throw money away, I just dont buy things there. When you are working with things that hold pressure, or suspend weight, you dont want to scrimp on quality. An exploding pressure tank sends shrapnel along with the pressure wave that can do damage a hundred yards away, and utterly destroy anything near it. Ever seen a pic of a car that had a nitrous bottle explode inside it? Not pretty. 90PSI is quite a bit, you need to respect that kind of thing or it will bite you.

You can warp metal if you stay too long in one spot, like trying to get a run or some stubborn stuff off. Also if you point the nozzle directly at the metal you can really screw
things up. The hood is the most delicate piece you have on an old Mustang it is incredibly easy to make the bracing show through the top or put waves in it, and it takes quite a bit of filler and high build primer to make it go away. Simply, dont be a moron and keep moving and use a low glancing angle and you wont hurt anything. I would still use a DA on the hood and still be careful with that. I only use the blaster for stuff I cant get with a DA or wire brush, and I scrape off undercoating, its just too much mess and the continual sifting and reloading the blaster is quite a bit of work.

I do my blasting about where the Cougar is sitting, just outside the shop away from everything else. I move and cover the other cars to keep the sand out of them. You need room and ventilation because the sand goes everywhere. It covers the entire concrete area when I blast, doing that in a shop or garage would make a huge mess that will never go away. If the windows of the house are open, I have dust everywhere inside the house. That is a wonderful way to really irritate the neighbors. My closest neighbor is 1/4 mile away and its thick forest between us.

Always wear a hood, respirator, and eye protection under the hood. I still get stuff in my eyes under the hood and goggles. You cant drive a car if you are blind, and it really slows you down rebuilding things with only one.

[Jaded]

ROFL, I've read on several sites about how the "dust" trashed someone's garage. I didn't put up any plastic, but my garage isn't used as storage, I have a shed for that, but I was discussing this with my girlfriend and wondering why this was a big deal. I just vacuum up the soda with a shop vac. Then we both snapped. We live in New Mexico, the land of dust. Soda isn't a problem because I can see it, but I can imagine what a mess it would be in a climate with humidity. My garage is always full of little dirt piles from the wind, and mysterious weeds that gather in corners, but don't seem to grow anywhere near here.

So, yeah, I guess it's messy, but at least it's easy to see so I can vacuum it up.

[CAD]

Is that your personal shop or a business?

I'm trying to decide between a Summit one or Eastwood blaster or Eastwood soda/abrasive blaster. Which one would you choose?

I can't do soda right now just because no one sells it but I'm thinking about getting the soda blaster for in the future.

[THUMPIN455]

Originally Posted by CAD

Is that your personal shop or a business?

I'm trying to decide between a Summit one or Eastwood blaster or Eastwood soda/abrasive blaster. Which one would you choose?

I can't do soda right now just because no one sells it but I'm thinking about getting the soda blaster for in the future.

Im gonna guess you are asking me about the shop in the pic. The cars are my projects, there are more I have collected over the last 25 years, but I dont run a business. The big shed in the pic stores boats for the winter, so I dont get to use it. I use the smaller one right behind the Cougar just out of the pic. I used to be USAF but they broke me in the latest war. Between my enlistments I ran a shop but I cant anymore, so I am getting to rebuild my project vehicles.

I used the Summit one and it works pretty well. Needs a new deadman for the nozzle but that is a wear part and isnt unexpected. The main difference between a soda blaster and one that can use sand is the valve at the bottom and the lines. You can swap out the valve for a soda valve later, Eastwood sells the parts to do that if soda becomes available. You can also order some, but it takes quite a bit to do an entire car. Some good media and a sifter will last quite a while, I am on an extremely tight budget so I had to use sand. Couldnt afford anything else, and I had to make the stuff to sift the big chunks out.

One of my USAF friends used to live in North Pole when he was stationed there. Always wanted to visit while he was there and get some hunting in, never made it. He made it sound like a really cool place, literally and figuratively.

[CAD]

Well, I just got in the blaster I ordered from Summit so here is my review so far.

They list it as S&H Industries but the box says Allsource Blasters and Equipment. I put it together pretty easily but the instructions suck. You don't need the instructions but I always to see the dumb dumb color step-by-step instructions included even if you don't need them. It comes with all the parts you need and I had two extra cotter pins left over ?? One thing that bothers me is that a cotter pin hold the front peg in place instead of a bolt. Also that cotter pin is too small and barely comes out the opposite side. I'm thinking these are all made by the same people and are the same quality. The box does have MADE IN CHINE across the side.... This doesn't look any different between all the others I've seen. I'm wondering if anyone has tried the Eastwood one. If you own an Eastwood pressure abrasive blaster please provide some feedback!!! Do they just paint it and put there name on it or to they go further and put in better parts and instructions?

Lets help out anyone else in the market!!