The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How much sand will be needed to sandblast frame

Today I bought a 40lb HF sandblaster couldnot afford more. I bought black sand from Tractor supplies about 2 50lb. How much sand will be needed to sandblast frame rather how much can a 50 lb bag will do.

Thanks in advance!!

Ganesh

smokey truck, my 52 chassis took 400 lb. My chassis was in pretty bad shape. Not long ago I used 600 lb on one that was worst than mine!

Did you buy black sand....or was it Black Diamond from TSC. Around here the Black Diamond from Tractor supply is 8.50 a bag.... I can buy the fine sand for 3.28 a bag and its true blasting sand and has been sized to flow good. I get it at the concrete/mixing place.

I bought black diamond sand from TSC, sorry new to this. 400LB is not too bad, I have to find a place for that I dont know much but will find it

Thanks
Ganesh

Make sure to wear proper gear!! You don't want to get silicosis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicosis.

I'm almost done blasting my 1955(2nd) 3600 frame. It looks like I'll use five hundred pounds of fine nickel slag.

Smokey-Truck

These pics will give you some idea, I used 68 bags @50lbs per bag
(3400 pounds) of sand on the frame, all he suspention, driveshaft,inner fenders etc. see the pictures, took the beter part of two days.

AND if you notice the size of the compressor YES, it's an industrial Leroi Road Jackhammer compressor mated to a 1,500 gallon tank. He did not have a deadman valve. I was more scared of letting loose of the hose than anything.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/414770881SjvNdM

It makes no difference what kind of media you use, you need to use a supplied air helmet. I have a Bullard that I used when we still hauled fertilizer and had to blast and paint a lot. I still have a 600 lb. pot and I doubt that I will ever blast again. Its very hard work. If you do blast, make sure you degrease everything first. If you don't, you will beat the grease into the metal. Sand blasting is for rust and paint removal, not grease removal. Also, if you do blast, primer it immediately. It will rust over night.

Looked at all 45 pictures Jake, I gotta say, you da king of the sandblasters man. I think the only items that you dint sandblast were the tires and windows. And I gotta say also, you're a real a glutten for punishment. After doing one rear fender on a hot summer day, with a $200 fresh air hood from TCP using a 110 lb. pressure pot from HF, several guns and nozzles from both places and god knows how much wear and tear on my 80 gallon 5 hp craftsman compressor, to me it's a bargan to take anything up to the commercial blaster in town and let him do it.
I did have the front clip chemicaly stripped this summer and I'm convinced that is the only way to go from now on, no matter what it costs.
I have over my past 67 years sand blasted a LOT of items that would fit into a blast cabinet. Most of the places that I have worked have had blast cabinets that we could use if we kept them up and did it on our own time. That's not to bad and if I had one of those here at home now that I'm retired, I'd blast a lot of the small items myself, but from now on, the big jobs, out of doors, free in the air sand blasting is gonna be left up to the big boys.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

.... Denny, you hit the nail on the head. I think you all may remember I sold my NEW pressure pot after I got done with the chassis. Like Denny said, for the money, time, headaches, and total useage..... if it won't fit in my blasting cabinet it goes to the big boys!... in my case its the local monument place. I would have SAVED money had I let them do my blasting not to mention staying out of the 102 degree hot sun.
Just my hard earned .02

Thanks guys for all the input, now I am nervous to start the blasting, I guess I should save money to go the big boys, it costs me 500 bucks for getting it done but I am one man army, moving the frame and all that seems like a challenge

Well I will try

Ganesh

Smokey,

Here's a phrase I leaned a while back "When you're broke it cheaper to do it yourself" THAT's why I blasted my frame and stuff, it was just the cost of the sand, paint and gas for the compressor.

I've learn to saveup my money now.

Jake

Smokey, Don't worry about it. Just keep the nozzle going and don't let the nozzle point to one spot too long. On the chassis you are pretty safe though. Make sure the chassis is degreased and pressure washed before blasting or you will imbed the grease into the metal. That makes for bad paint jobs. If the rear end is still attached, make sure the vent is taped shut real good and be prepared to dissasemble brake drums etc. because the "sand" gets into everything. Tape up the ball joints real tight too if they are still on the chassis. Be ready to paint or primer what you blast right away when you are finished. Just think ahead and make sure the bare metal won't be sitting long, and think of where the sand will get and will be hard to clean out. If you have to clean and/or wash out sand, once you get it cleaned out, clean it again. Use air pressure and try not to get it wet when there are bolt holes or the like. They are hard to clean out. Enjoy!

If you're near a gravel yard, try some mortar sand, about a dollar for 5 or so 5 gal buckets. Since you're going to lose the sand anyway, why use expensive stuff? Just be sure to get the drier sand from the edges of the pile or you will have to air dry it before you use it. I have had no problems with this sand and even use it in my blasting cabinet with a screen filter before reusing it.

After blasting use a good metal prep to keep from rusting again. Rust will start to form right after blasting. I metal preped a piece and ran out of metal prep #79 on the other just over night it was really a hot day I had rust forming the next morning with just a little cool air at night.
62Blue
Don

If you can, try to do your blsting on a concrete surface, or lay down a few sheets of plywood under your blasting area. That will allow you to sweep up the media and reuse it. I recycle mine until it gets fine enough to not take anything off anymore.

Bill

I was planning to put plywood anyway because I dont want to messup the concrete surface with all the nasty stuff falling out of truck

Thanks
Ganesh

Tarps work really good for recycling the media, just keep reusing it with new added in as needed. When it quits working or is creating to much dust, let it go out in the yard, sand is good for lawn.

Something else, watch the weather forecast, you want dry air while blasting, and at this time of year, that may be hard to come by! Make sure your air line has a good dryer on it, the moisture in the line will rust clean metal.

What type of paint are you going to use? That will determine how good of a job you have to do. Por products don't need 100% clean metal to work, but if you are going for a show quality frame with gloss paint, better plan for a few long days of blasting.

Joe