The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest Blaster and material

hey,
im looking for a good sand blster to blast my cab with,the majority of it is surface rust.what type of blaster should i get or do you recommend for this type of job,ive got a 60gallon 5hp 2stage compressor,also what type of media works best on the sheet metal,ive heard baking soda but not sure that would cut through the rust or not.

Baking soda might work with surface rust but is supposedly not a rust remover (I have used it to remove rust but there was there was not any rust-pitting). You have to be careful to remove the residual media (as is the case with all media) and you should neutralize the residue on the metal surface (with an acid solution). Be prepared to quickly prime the metal.

These people have a live person who will discuss the pro and con of different media. http://www.kramerindustriesonline.com/blasting-media.htm I have a cabinet like this. http://www.guyson.com/blast/manualblast/formulaseries/formula500.php I like the fact that I can dump the media for different applications. I also have a 100lb pot and a 600lb pot that are so old that the brand is gone. I haven't used the 600Lb pot in years.

1953mn, how much do you intend to blast?? IF your only doing one resto then I HIGHLY recommend having someone else do it.
I bought me a pressurized pot from Tractor Supply and have a 80 gal 7hp double stage compressor. Well, after spending $225 for the pot, buying the fine grade blasting sand (3.50 a 50lb bag) and the time I spent blasting it in the hot sun I learned my lesson.
For 150 bucks, probably 200 now, I could have had it down and moved on with my project. Noooo, had to do it my way. Unless you have a great air drying system plan on somedays doing nothing but uncloging the blaster!
I sold my blast pot for 100 bucks and vowed to never blast anything I can't get into my 46x26x26 skat blast cabinet. Now the cabinet is money well spent and I use it a lot.

As for media I'll throw in my .02. I have NO experience with Soda but I believe what Tim said, soda will NOT remove any rust. I say this because I HAVE some experience with the PLASTIC media and it will NOT remove ANY rust. Paint only. The plastic media would not remove even the light oxidation of rust from where I put my sweaty hand one day and it "rusted over". Plastic, and I believe soda, will remove paint and leave a smooth surface but if you want to get rid of ANY rust you will need sand.

I buy my sand from the local concrete mixing place and it comes in 3 sizes. Medium, Fine and extra fine. I have found that the Fine works for most stuff but since I can drop and change my sand easy with the cabinet I do keep a bag of Medium and Extra Fine under the cabinet..as well as a 50 lb suppy of glass beads.
Oh, I might add that "true" blasting sand is "sized" and will flow better than anything else. I'd stay away from river or play sand unless your running a pretty big hose and nozzle.

Hope my opinions help you in some way. Good luck, let us know what you decide...especially if you do it yourself!!

thanks for the link and suggestions, i only am doing one resto so it would be worth it to have it sent out,but im doing the resto at my cabin and having to bring the cab and everything about 100 miles to the closest place,so im just going to do it myself,may be a pain but just another thing i would like to try my hand at.

Regular old sand like you would use to mix with concrete. $2.50 a bag. Outdoors, in will just mix with the soil. Don't terry too long in one spot or you will warp the metal. I sift my sand first, it has big pieces and staples, etc. in it. That takes a little while but I have a sifting station set up. Not play sand, not washed sand, not silica sand, just sand. BUT it MUST be sifted.

I have one of those cheapie guns that had a suction tube you shove in a pail or bag of sand and have at it. Makes a HUGE mess (& you get sand in places you never knew you had places! use a dust mask & face shield at least, but a resperator, goggles, and ear muffs are best bet short of a real blasting hood), & if you have access to a good amount of sand, just sift it, drop it in a bucket, and off ya go.
You can get creative with a few tarps to contain the mess, then you can sweep up the sand from time to time, resift, and use it again.
Not the best or the fanciest but it gets the job done. But definately go easy and move your stream constantly to prevent warpage and thinning the metal too much.

If it doesnt fit in my cabinet I will gladly pay to have it done ! The mess ! Time on large jobs ! You cant get it done as fast unless you have a large compressor and sandblasting pot .Soda is more $ Sand is still affordable .Good luck blasting your cab.

One of the oddest things I saw done was at a Navy base, they took the equipment they needed blasted to the beach, brought in a turtle-back compressor, had one person shoveling sand around the suction tube, and another blasting the gear, ON the beach,... Too wierd, yet effective!