Anyone have or have used a sandblaster?

[Grdpa's 50 Dodge]

I see these small home shop sand blaster in the big box stores.  Are they effective getting rusty parts clean enough for paint or that undercoating stuff?

 

Grandpa's Dodge I see while working on it is undercoated,,,and still in good shape in upper wheel well areas,,,,BUT the lower suspension and lower fender wells that got gravel blasted by driving(they all did)

 

Just wondering how effective those are and do they make a giant mess of a garage???

[casper50]

My daughter and I changed this

 

 

 

 

to this.

 

 

 

with one of those sears sand blasters.  Siphon, 90 lb hopper.  Did the whole truck.  Yes it took awhile.  It did teach her patience.  Also helped her cherish the truck more than if I took it down to the blasters.  I made a blasting room out of plastic with air intake and exhaust.  I swept up the sand and screened it and used it over and over.

Edited October 18, 2013 by casper50

[hendo0601]

I have used the siphon style sandblaster before with great results. I made a blasting cabinet out of plywood with a plexiglass hinged "roof" and two holes cut in the front with some heavy duty industrial elbow length rubber gloves screwed in place to protect my skin. I used a chicken wire grate over a sloped floor to allow my media to travel down into a catch bucket. My clean sand was in a different bucket. I did small items like screws/bolts, trim clips, hinges all the way up to intake manifolds etc. I used it outside of my homemade cabinet as well, it does tend to make quite a mess, just make sure you are wearing long sleeves, gloves, eye protection, and some kind of a mask (preferably the full double filter style respirator used in a paint booth). The silica dust created by the sandblasting is not good to get into your lungs!!! In my experience with using this type of sandblaster...you HAVE to make sure your sand is COMPLETELY dry...I mean sahara desert dry...any moisture in the sand will clog the siphon tube and cause you a lot of frustration (ask me how I know...LOL)

[greg g]

Gotta be careful with sand blasting, friction causes heat heat can cause warpage especially on large sheet metal panels.  Ad sand does get every where.

[wayfarer]

I have and use a small pressure pot. As mentioned, sand has to be DRY, you have to have a respirator and durable long sleeves/pants, sand will go everywhere. If you need to clean sheet metal then use walnut shells or soda.

[P15-D24]

Two types, siphon type found in cabinets and pressure pots.  Siphon blaster in cabinets typically use glass beads, walnuts or plastic beads so they don't have the punch to quickly cut through cut heavy rust. They are great for smaller items as a prep for painting, removing surface rust and  caked grease. The pressure pot blaster is typically a large round drum counting abrasive (NOT SAND) that can be swept up and reused multiple times. Cutting power is high, will blast through thick rust and warp panels easily. Great for heavy duty jobs like frames, suspension components and rims.

 

I have both set ups. You need at least a 5 hp 2 stage compressor for either type, plus moisture and oil filters for either type. (Dry air is essential for them to work)  I use a 80 gal. tank. EIther type uses a lot of air and you need a big compressor to drive them. I also run 1/2" air lines to them.  Also remember to protect you lungs. The pressure pot type throws a lot of dust and you should use a high quality breathing apparatus. I use a Hobby Air pressure air delivery mask, plus a full hood and protective gear when pressure blasting.    

 

I'm sure we will get lots of comments saying you don't need all this stuff. You do to get the job done in a timely manner and safely. I started with a portable siphon and 1/2 compressor, then 1 hp oiless compressor and finally a proper set with the 5hp 2 stage. All you will do is waste time and get frustrated if you don't have it set up correctly. 

[Dave72dt]

I've got a blast cabinet I use on smaller parts. It works just ok and a small siphon pot, about a qrt  size cup that works well once I closed the siphon  tube down so it didn't empty the cup in about 30 seconds.  I use it on the large panels that I typically use stripper wheels for the bulk and the blaster for the corners and crevices.  I've also got a pressure pot that I  haven't even used yet and I have a setup to use with the pressure washer so there is no dust and no heat.  It worked really well for about 15 minutes and can't get it to function since though I've tried it several times.  Media does go everywhere and the higher the pressure the farther it goes  So far have only used sand in any of them although I do have glass beads and walnut shells I can use if I want.

[Old Ray]

Anyone have or have used a sandblaster?

 

Yes, on my first project twenty ago, but not on my next three ……………………. and never again!  

 

I have a large pressure type that you can have free of charge, if you pay the shipping. They need a lot of air, a lot, the sand has to be dry, very dry, and the sand will be coming out of the car crevasses and your body orifices for a year! I would rather do the worlds most horrible occupation and that is grinding off the rust, then sand blasting.  

 

……or take the body or body panels to a sand blasting place, cheaper and easier in the long run, let them get sand everywhere, keeping in mind that they will probably warp the panels.

 

Oh, …..that’s a no!  

[casper50]

Ray how large and what brand?

[Plymouthy Adams]

like all things, there is a certain amount of user common sense to apply to every task at hand..the use of a pressure pot sandblaster is included in this...pressure and flow are not meant to be wide open on any body panel and if you are of the mind that is what it takes..you in for a big big surprise.  Also proper masking of the car in prep to blast is paramount.  Often a simple 15 minute of blasting will take an hour or so of precautions setting up the job..dusting is also an item well within you means to control...blasting is well worth it though and for the record I blasted my entire 54 in the back yard...low pressure low sand flow for a excellent result in quick time and for less than 20.00 in media in two evening..the set up, blast and clean up time was about 4 hours each evening..with proper blasting techniques there is no warping, no accidental damage and no excessive metal removal as is with grinding..(one sparks says that good metal now went south) but yeah..if it is wide open full speed ball to the walls approach...you in trouble before you start.

[suntennis]

If you buy a sand blaster, you need to look at the specs on it to see if your compressor can provide the needed pressure and volume. The specs should have a CFM number which is cubic feet per minute output needed for the blaster to work. If you do not have a compressor, you may find the cost to purchase one and a sand blaster to be as much as having someone else do the job.

[JBNeal]

Years ago, I picked up the smallest Craftsman siphon unit that was on sale to clean up some wheels and smaller parts.  I used it inside a pole barn with a dirt floor, so I employed an old pickup bed liner as a trough of sorts to work in.  Even using care as to keep the sand aimed on the parts, I ended up getting sand on everything inside that barn (dust too) as the sand would bounce off the work parts and randomly track in every direction.  Even wearing a hood, welding gloves, long sleeves & ear plugs, I still got dust in my eyes & nose, judging by the sinus headaches & whutnot that would follow the next day after use.  And I was ignorant of the moisture filter that was needed, so my nozzle clogged often from condensation from the compressor.  After going through several bags of sand doing sample parts & one wheel, I calculated my operating costs and compared that to the cost of a media blasting company that is in town, and I opted to have them blast my other wheels.  Those wheels were scaly rusty, so those guys were gonna do a much better job than my li'l setup could do.  But for other parts, the siphon unit did well, and with practice and patience, I cleaned up some sheet metal without damage.  I also taught myself how to setup everything so once the blaster was running, I was cleaning one part after another with minimal stops and eventually learned how to estimate how much sand was needed to clean certain size parts.  As I gear up to do some more sand blasting, I plan on making a temporary shed of sorts inside that pole barn so as not to lose so much sand, making a 2x4 frame with poly plastic sheeting to knock the sand back down to the bed liner for re-use.  I definitely would not trust a media blasting company to do any sheet metal as them folks just knock rust off and don't care about warping.

[Plymouthy Adams]

JB...I did similar not long back for blasting parts..I got a 10 x 12 metal building that was used for a token fee...moved it to my place..set it up on a new foundation and sealed the roof etc...I stand at the door shooting inward..the sand is trapped within for recyle..I installed to ducts to the upper rear gable and connected these via 4" PVC to a shop dust collector and filter that sits out back of the building out of sight and blowing away from me into a vacant field..I put a brick stoop in front for me to stand on and also a sacrificial piece of 3/4 to lay my item to be blasted upon saving the floor.  I must say I do like the set up....It is cost effective..and doubles as a very good storage building for various items about the shop that is on wheel and would otherwise be under foot.  I had wanted to do the same thing as you and enclose just one bay of my pole barn for blasting but piping the air that distance would require digging a trench and I am just not up to that at this time...

[Plymouthy Adams]

I also finished the bldg. with underpinning and vents...keep tthe dillers out....

[plyroadking]

I spent at least four summers sandblasting my entire '30 with a Sears siphon blaster. It was very slow and tedious work. My parents didn't want to spend the money on media so we went to the gravel yard and bought 5 ton of sand, then sifted it all with a flour sifter. Most of it got resifted and reused till it blew all over the yard. We burned out a compressor every summer.

[hendo0601]

For sand...I just went to wal mart and bought a few bags of playground sand. I brought it home and spread it out on a huge sheet of plywood to let it all dry out. Cheap and worked great.

[Eneto-55]

I worked in a plating shop over several years during and after college, and I got a good deal of experience with a good sized pressure blaster built into a recycling cabinet.  (It automatically took out a lot of the dust, and sent the media back into the pressure tank.)  We had two of them there, one with glass beads, and the other with aluminum oxide, and backed up with a good constant high volume of dry air.  So using a siphon feed was a joke, since I already knew what a good set up could do.  We didn't work on very much sheet metal in the shop, but they let me work on my own stuff after hours, and so I did some parts from my own car.  I don't think you get any warpage from either of these media.  But I would have been in trouble if I had put a grease-caked piece in there - there are better methods of cleaning up that sort of thing before it goes to the blaster.  After a shop fire there, I cut both of those pressure pots out of the scrap pile, and built one as a free standing unit to use at home.  We didn't have a compressor big enough to push that kind of air volume, so I ended up using a smaller hose & nozzle.  As was previously stated, you really need a fresh-air hood/mask to work with an open system, especially a bigger one.  But make sure that the compressor you use for your own air supply is a diaphragm type, so you don't breathe oil & such. (I do know a guy who got his start doing blasting work with a generator/blaster setup on a trailer - he set it up in the pasture and blasted away.  Couldn't save any of the sand that way, but no cleanup, either.)

[wings515]

About 10 years ago I bought a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet.  I mounted on a 2X4 frame to get it up to a comfortable height.  Purchased the HF blasting material.  It comes from Russia!  As long as you have a compressor that will provide sufficient air in both PSI and CFM, it will work fine.  I've done plenty of parts inside this cabinet.  It is limited in size so you have to take this into consideration when doing parts.  I did add a light on the inside because any external light will reflect off the glass and you will not be able to see your work.

 

Dan K.

[Don Jordan]

I got a little hand held sand blaster at Harbor Freight. It's perfect for little jobs. I actually used it to clean the broiler pan of baked on ribs. I don't think it would be useful in doing an entire fender. Spark plugs. Under carriage. You know, little stuff.

[pflaming]

I am fortunate that a very close friend has two blasters at my convenience. The one puts sand through a water blaster. I used that on a dash and it now is showing rust. It is a messy affair. The other is a commercial box into which you place the item and then with air and 'beads' not sand you can clean. I did a 2nd dash with that and it is still as shiny as when it came out.

 

The first blaster left the surface rough, the 2nd smooth and ready to prepare for paint. If I were painting the suburban a gray color I would find out if the 2nd dash could be 'painted' so as to keep the raw metal look. 

 

[Don Coatney]

This is the only sand blaster I have. JC Whitney about twenty bucks 10 or so years ago.

 

 

[pflaming]

Can you put a hose and nozzle on where that spark plug goes and use the assembly for very small parts?

[Don Coatney]

Can you put a hose and nozzle on where that spark plug goes and use the assembly for very small parts?

No

[DJ194950]

I am fortunate that a very close friend has two blasters at my convenience. The one puts sand through a water blaster. I used that on a dash and it now is showing rust. It is a messy affair. The other is a commercial box into which you place the item and then with air and 'beads' not sand you can clean. I did a 2nd dash with that and it is still as shiny as when it came out.

 

The first blaster left the surface rough, the 2nd smooth and ready to prepare for paint. If I were painting the suburban a gray color I would find out if the 2nd dash could be 'painted' so as to keep the raw metal look. 

 

Paul, while it's still looking good put some flattened clear(flat clear) if it can be found in a spray can- auto paint supplier?

Any sandblasted tetal part should be cover with some type of protectant as soon as possible to prevent rust! It's now now raw metal.

 

Doug

[knuckleharley]

I see these small home shop sand blaster in the big box stores.  Are they effective getting rusty parts clean enough for paint or that undercoating stuff?

 

 

They work,but if they are the gravity-feed pots they are slow,slow,slow. They will work you to death and use a lot more sand than a pressure pot

 

Get a pressure pot along with 3/4 ID hose and a commercial "gun" that will take 5/16 inch nozzles. Then anytime you need to blast go to a tool rental place and rent one of those air compressors on a traile than you pull behind your truck unless you have a 5 HP home two stage compressor with a 60 gallon or larger tank. Anything less won't flow enough air. Think "Air volume",not "air pressure".

 

I have a WW-2 surplus compressor with a 4 cylinder 2-stage DeVilblis compressor powered by a 25 hp Wisconsin gas engine. It's not modern high-tech,but it will operate 2 jack hammers at the same time. I set it for 100 psi,and blast using 3/4 ID lines and a 5/16th tip. It will take off old paint and rust almost like washing soap off a car with a water hose. Yeah,that's an exaggeration,but not as big of one as you might think.

 

Get a big tarp to sit your truck on before blasting so you can recycle the sand,baking soda,or whatever medium you use.

 

This is VERY important,so take it to heart. Get a hood to wear and wear a respirator under it. The blast residue in the air you will be breating is not stuff you want in your lungs. Don't even think about blasting without it.

 

Even better is renting a fresh air compressor,hose,and mask if you can find one. If you want to get serious about blasting look around for used fresh air compressors at dentists offices and other medical offices. If  you just do it once in a while for short periods of time you will probably be ok with just the hood and the respirator face mask under it.