The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Regular or store bought sand

I live in the middle of Florida, out in the country, where there is an abundance of sand. I am not by the coast so much of this sand is dry, loose sand (think of the loose sand in a desert... we call it "sugar sand" down here). Can I use sand from the outdoors for sandblasting or do I really have to buy some in a bag? Is there something special about store bought sandblasting sand? I know the stuff isn't expensive but I have all of this sand around me already... it just seems a waste.

The only difference I know between the two is store bought sand has been screened and dried. If your gun does not clog up with the free stuff, I say you are good to go.

Poor boy approach-build a shallow tray to dry it in the sun really well, then run it thru window screen to get out big chunks. Make sure you wear something over your face(respirator/mask/rag) to keep from breathing that crap, you can't sue 3M for silicosis if you dig up sand at the beach. I was afraid of warping panels so I just blasted thehard to sand areas & DA'd the rest. Brian

Thanks for the feedback guys! I am doing the "sandblast where it is hard to sand" technique as well... although now I have a limitless supply of sand for sandblasting

Dave

Just remember sandblasting sheetmetal "can" totally distroy it. I am not talking "darn I have some more work to do" kinda damage, I am talking "darn, I have to throw the panel away" kinda damage.

The sand acts like little hammers pounding the surface of the metal and stretches it. DO NOT sand blast any outside sheetmetal surfaces.

The heavier the particles, the more damage that can result. You be the judge on what sand to use.

MARTINSR, my entire truck was sandblasted, interior, exterior, frame, you name it. I did not have any metal stretching or warping. Go here to see pics of it.

Remember, martinsr said "can". In my opinion, you got either lucky or you were very careful in your sandblasting. I saw on the web some guy sandblasted his hood with sand, and ended up with a wavy hood. He had to throw it away. So it can happen, just does not always happen.

I have warped the hood on my Triumph TR6 beyond repair when I sandblasted the INNER structure! I'm guessing the hood on my '53 is 3 times a thick though...

Ask around find out how many pro restoration shops blast exterior sheet metal. Found in fortune cookie where I somtimes go for lunch 'many recive advise, only the wise profit by it'
One advantage of blasting exterior sheet metal is you will learn all about oil cans and soft spots. You will also take a do or die crash course in shrinking sheet metal. If you have done blasting with out these problems and have nice straight panels with out a ton of filler and the above problems my hat if off to you. I just do not see how you can throw little rocks at sheet metal with out it stretching.

I once rented a 100cfm / 100 psi compressor with a big sand blast pot and bought a couple of hundred pounds of sand.

running boards
grill supports and grill bars
inner fenders
firewall
belt line seam around the cab
floor and toe board inside
frame and suspension
All did fine with sand blasting.

Doors
hood
back of cab
roof of cab
Box sides
fenders
Warped A LOT when sand blasted.

Beating with a hammer, shrinking with a torch and a wet rag, beating some more and a little bondo helped a lot, but the truck lacked the crisp definition aforded by unmolested factory sheet metal.

I sand blasted every inch of my GMC sheetmetal, inside and out and didn't warp anything.

I used a small pressure sand blaster with a regulator set to 80 PSI. I kept the nozzle far enough away to remove the paint etc. and kept the nozzle moving.

Sandblasting should only be done for paint removal. If you think you are going to remove rust from sheetmetal to the point it is nice and smooth, forget it. If you blast away long enough, you are going to warp any sheet metal. You can clean off the rust but it is not going to smooth the metal.

Sandblasting is done to clean not heal metal.

Amen, afu45, I agree!