Sand blasting at home

[Westernstar]

What do you folks think of the sand blasting units available thru Snap-on, or at the other end of the spectrum Harbor Freight ? Engine bay,floors,front susp parts,ect. I need something with a little oomph. How about body parts ? What type of blast media am i looking for ? Any info would helpful. Thanks

[bbscamp]

the cheepo cannister / suction type work pretty well.  The two things that are really important are:  Media  and the Compressor!   Media:  avoid playsand as it's silica based and is pretty nasty stuff to your lungs.  When it pulverizes into dust...then you have exposure issues.  Use something like glass beads....but that can be pricey.  The units take LOTS of air at high pressures to be effective.  You'll need to throw ~80+ psi at it, and large volumes.  I'd say a 100 gal. tank is a minimum or you'll be waiting forever for the volume to catch up.

I have a small 1qt. capacity suction gun from McMaster Carr (Port-o-blast).  I use glass bead with it.  I can only do small spot blasting as it goes through media like crazy!  Recycling the media is possible if you make some kind of enclosure to contain it.  basically....its a mess.  Good luck.

[NYrr496]

I gave up on those outdoor portable blasters. They don't operate very efficiently. I have a Zero Blast- N- Peen cabinet for doing anything that can fit into it. When it comes to doing the car, I'll pay someone with a professional unit.

[bbscamp]

I agree with the professional thing.. However....finding someone with knowledge, equipment and a local area location is nearly impossible!    Around here we can find guys who do bridges and the underside of trailers......but that's about it.  Take it to them and they'll use the bridge media (usually black slag) to blast the sheetmetal.  then say goodbye to your tin!   A local guy wanted $150 just to do the bottom edges of 2 fenders.  Thats why I went out and got the little blaster gun.   any other stuff (smaller than 3 ft.) goes into the cabinet blaster.

[NYrr496]

I see your point. Here on LI, you can find anyone to do anything. I recently just learned of a guy with a portable rig that goes to bodyshops, sets up a canvas booth and puts the car inside. I need to set up an appointment.

[jamesdart]

I see your point. Here on LI, you can find anyone to do anything. I recently just learned of a guy with a portable rig that goes to bodyshops, sets up a canvas booth and puts the car inside. I need to set up an appointment.

there is a company that does that around here. i forget the name though. traveling automotive blaster. nice idea.

[72swinger440]

I have a cheapie harbor frieight portable blast gun, I use brake lathe shavings from where I work, and surprisingly it works fairly well, and the shavings are free.

[bbscamp]

wow....cast iron chips.  that's some agressive stuff for sure.  doesnt' it dent the crap out of the thinner metal?    We used to clean truck brake shoe in a steel shot tumbler.  5 min. to a pure bare metal.   If you leave them in 30 min worth of run time, the metal would be worn thin.....another 30 min. they would have holes blown right thru them!

[72swinger440]

Never used it on thin metals, but did notice if left in one spot to long it would sorta melt the metal away??  Key is on a budget, its free, and definitly use in moderation.

[SRT440DUSTER]

my 40 lb pressure blaster works pretty good....the only down side is i had to buy a new filter for my lines.....any little bit of moisture would get in the gun and cause the sand to clump up....cant beat it tho....80 bucks from harbor frieght...i use play sand in mine with filtered mask

[71 demon child]

There is a company out of Annapolis, Md who do mobile soda blasting.Think i'm going to give them a call when i'm ready.

carl

[HemiDoug]

I just did my engine bay a couple of weeks ago. I used crushed walnut shells I got from Harbor Freight. They were cheap and the freight was almost nothing. I rented a big tow-behind 185 CFM compressor from the local rental yard for the weekend for $80! This was way better than wearing out my little compressor. I borrowed a buddy's pressure pot he got from TP. You can recycle the media, but it was so cheap I didn't bother. The worst part was the window in the hood kept fogging up! 

[ski]

I just did my engine bay a couple of weeks ago. I used crushed walnut shells I got from Harbor Freight. They were cheap and the freight was almost nothing. I rented a big tow-behind 185 CFM compressor from the local rental yard for the weekend for $80! This was way better than wearing out my little compressor. I borrowed a buddy's pressure pot he got from TP. You can recycle the media, but it was so cheap I didn't bother. The worst part was the window in the hood kept fogging up! 

I didn't know H.F. sold the crushed walnut shells but I'm going to check it out.  I get media for my tumblers from them and I have one of their pressurized blasters.  For big jobs there's a place down by the shipyard here that will do things like a truck cab or a stripped A body type car for between 350 & 600 bucks including cleaning it well and spraying a coat of epoxy primer on it.  If there's undercoating on the car it costs way more.  I sandblasted a whole bunch of big stuff before I realized it just wasn't worth it to do it myself.  There was a place out here in the early 80's that would let you pull you stuff into the yard and blast with their gear at an hourly rate (about $20.) but I probably reduced my life span by 5 years doing that.   

[HemiDoug]

I see HF still has the crushed walnut shells on sale for $9.99 for 25 lbs. A buddy and I got together and ordered 30 boxes and only paid $12.95 in shipping total! That's the max shipping amount for HF. If you can get someone to do your whole car for $350-600, including primer, go for it. I would want to supply the primer though, to make sure it is compatable with the paint. I hope you wore a respirator when you used the sand.

[farmington]

I use one of the "sandblast out of a bucket" kits.  I have a 30 gallon compressor and it actually works pretty decently.  I put a tarp down behind the garage and go.  I use sandblast sand that I get in a 50 pound bag.  Seems to work as good as the cabinet I use at work.  The kit only cost me $20 if I remember correctly.  I wouldn't want to strip a whole car, but I wouldn't hesitate to do, say a k member.  Cheap and it works.

don

[acpat]

http://www.eagleautostripping.com/

If anyone is in the midwest

[Westernstar]

http://www.eagleautostripping.com/

If anyone is in the midwest

I could really use those guys.Now if they only had a shop down in the sunshine state.

[loiq]

I have one similar to this:

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_517_517

I use a two-stage 80-gallon Porter Cable air compressor to run it and use BlackBlast media. I use it only for rust/paint removal on parts or sections of the car that won't warp or aren't critical to be straight (window channels, engine compartment, floorpans, etc.)