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Sandblast Wheel

Gather Tools: Tarp, air compressor, pressure blaster, sand bucket, dust pan, funnel, stool, blasting coveralls, respirator, blasting hood, gloves. The tarp is a 20' x 30' Silver Tarp from Northern Tool. The air compressor is a 3-1/2 hp, 20 gal, 2-stage, 175 psi model from Sears and is light for this kind of task but workable. The blaster is a 110 lb pressurized abrasive blaster from Harbor Freight. The funnel came with it and I stretched insect screen secured with a bungee cord over the funnel mouth to filter the sand. The sand bucket and dust pan are from Home Depot. The stool is a mechanics roller seat from Northern Tool. The heavy-duty blasting coveralls came from Harbor Freight. The respirator is a multi-purpose model from Sears. The blasting hood is an Eastwood Company deluxe model. The gloves are mechanix gloves from the Eastwood Company and are light for blasting work (keep the nozzle away from them).

Blasting: Spread and anchor the tarp. I use precast concrete paver samples we have laying around the Krash Lab. This works well if the wind is below ten mph. Setup the air compressor and pressure blaster. I fill the pressure blaster with a bucket of sand maximum (about fifty pounds) using the screened funnel to filter it. Replace the filler cap (a drop of oil smeared on the o-ring helps it to seat). Pressurize the blaster (I use about 100 psi), don protective clothing and respirator and get-r-done. There's a lotta waiting on the air compressor but that's where zen meditation enters the picture.

Re-filling: After cycling thru the sand, close off the valve between compressor and blaster and BLEED OFF ALL THE PRESSURE IN THE BLASTER TANK before removing the cap to refill with sand. This is a good time to get a drink of water to re-hydrate yourself. Un-anchor the tarp and pull up the corners to herd the loose sand to the center of the tarp for recovery and recycling. With low wind and the tarp spread to its full 20' x 30', I recover approximately 80% of the sand for each cycle thru the blaster.

Continue the above steps until you finish the wheel(s) or grow tired. At the end, you should have something that looks like this (Yes, it is the same wheel!). There's almost something religous about clean metal freed from rust. Too bad you can't take a blaster after a tarnished character. I try to finish without any sand left in the tank to lessen the possibility of clogging during storage. Any leftover sand is stored in the bucket..