Media Blasting

[Ender]

I was just wondering what everyones thoughts on media blasting were? I have become a blast addict. I just got a 60Gal 7HP air compressor 2 months ago and have been a blasting fool. I have my engine out of my car and have been blasting everything I can get off of the car. My favorite so far has been the throttle body. It looked faded, a little greasy, dark; now it looks like it was just made yesterday. I will post pictures if anyone likes. My next idea is blasting the block and head outside in the driveway. They are still assembled and sealed nicely. I figured if I did that, then I could just take the motor apart after that, re-seal it all and put it back in the car. I took it out to basically learn more about the car and to clean the immense amount of GUNK in the engine bay. It looks as if the previous owner may have had a leaky oil filter housing somewhere along the way. Any tips on blasting the motor or painting it afterwards? I would preferably like to just keep it the color of the metal (maybe just a layer of high temp clearcote?).

 

[Injected]

Post pics please.

 

[Defiant]

I was just wondering what everyones thoughts on media blasting were?

I think every last damned news reader on the planet should be put in the Astrodome, the place be filled with kerosene, and lit with a road flare.

 

[Ender]

In all seriousness, I will try to get the pics hosted somewhere and link them up.

 

[Injected]

I think every last damned news reader on the planet should be put in the Astrodome, the place be filled with kerosene, and lit with a road flare.

Defiant,
Good choice going with kerosene. Why the Astrodome? It's one of the wonders of the world, go figure. And what the hell is with the thing ontop of the pic in your sig? I'm not seeing it.

Ender,
Can't wait to see the pics. Nice screen name. Where's Bean?

 

[Ender]

Pic of my blasted throttle body HERE

The camera sure does reveal every little imperfection. Wow. I may have to blast it again.


EDIT: Its a big pic. It takes me a while to load it cuz I'm on dialup.

 

[Defiant]

Defiant,
Good choice going with kerosene. Why the Astrodome? It's one of the wonders of the world, go figure.

A small sacrifice for such an advancement.

And what the hell is with the thing ontop of the pic in your sig? I'm not seeing it.

Eh, I was fiddling around with that stupid line the BBS software puts on top of the sigs. It's one of those work-in-progress kind of things.

 

[Defiant]

EDIT: Its a big pic. It takes me a while to load it cuz I'm on dialup.

Whoa. Lookit, everybody. It's the Last Dinosaur.

 

[Ender]

 

[sherwinz28]

What kind of setup do you have besides the compressor?

 

[Ender]

Basically my entire setup is a FarmHand (Campbell-Hausfeld) 60Gal, 7HP, 10.3 SCFM@90PSI, Belt-Driven Compressor with a homemade blast box. You can make a blast box easy. Get something like old sheetmetal (preferably) or plywood and that will be the sides and back and front. Get a set of gloves out of a specialty catalog OR just take a pair of leather gloves and sew pant-legs to them (, I have a friend that did it and it DOES work) and form those into the front of it. Then of course a glass top or front, depending on how you want to build it. Then make the bottom of it into a funnel shape. The floor can be anything as long as its strong enough to hold up what you want to put in there and it has to be something the blast media will obviously fall through. Then a light with shround can be placed inside to see. An exhaust fan is a MUST. An old blower motor from a junk-car works well when ducted right. And finally the blast gun. I just bought the 15 dollar Campbell Hausfeld (sp?) from Wal-Mart. It works fine so far. I am in the process of building a newer, much BIGGER box that will have the entire front and top raise as one and it will be big enough to put a fender in there if I really wanted to. I want to have it setup where the gloves will slide along the front so I can blast anywhere (I am thinking it will be about 5-6 feet long). It will also have 4 lights and dual fans. Plus, this time it will be built according to my height. The one I use now is shorter than I am and it makes my back hurt like hell. It sounds like a lot to do but it is much better, and cheaper usually, than spending 300 bucks on a tiny blast box from the store. I'm hoping to start doing this well enough that I can do this and powdercoating for a job on the side.

 

[MackZ24]

Bah, I just attach a tarp to the garage door and floor and blast in an open-space with a t-shirt. Toughens up the skin! But in all seriousness I do use a dust mask and obviously a face shield.

 

[Ender]

MackZ24: , I'll bet thats fun trying to see where you're going when blasting after a while.

Injected: I actually do have a pic of my air compressor on my comp but not the old blast box. HERE is the picture of it. Its a HUGE pic. I sold my old blast box a few weeks ago to a guy I work with for 60 bucks minus the gun so I could buy the material for my new one I'm trying to build. I still need the sheetmetal, fans, lights, and misc. stuff like hinges and shat. I have all of the glass, and the soon to be legs so far. The box I'm using now is a friends but it is almost the exact same as my old one. Oh well, it gets the job done for what I need right now. I'm just starting to get really into this so like I said, my new box will be almost perfect. Then, I want to get a powdercoating kit and learn how to do that.

Amazin' Wasian: I am not exactly sure what the media is called. It was given to me by a friend but I was told that it is actual blast media and not sand. I'll be honest, I don't know what PSI I was running. I just blasted and it worked. I know that is probably not smart but like I said, I just recently got into this. I'm a blast n00b. I will turn it down to 60 when I get the new box built. My biggest problem I ran into was spraying water after the compressor warmed the air up. I need to get a water seperator and inline filter too.

 

[MackZ24]

It does get a little difficult after a while, but I've been managing alright. Hours and hours of blasting, but it's pretty relaxing! Wish I had better pictures, but my old camera at the time sucked and I don't have any other pictures uploaded. The first picture will give you an idea of the rust I was dealing with, and the second one shows how most of the pieces are now.

I'm just using a fairly small compressor, 5HP - 17 Gallon I believe? I'll have to check when I'm not at work. I push the thing to it's limits and due to the amount of rust that you'll see in the pictures I've been using some 30-40 grit sand and for most of the deep rust removal had it running at aprox. 100psi. I played around with different settings and this would tear through the hard stuff with the 30-40 grit best. And when I want to really clean up a part that has some pitting or smaller rust that the 30-40 grit couldn't get I will switch to a regular fine (no actual rating) silica based sand and go over the part again at about 60psi. I have access to other types of media, but for the amount of rust I've been dealing with and the amount of sand I go through, this stuff is fairly cheap.

Here's a pic of the underside of my car's rear-end pre-sandblasting;
http://www.mreah.com/gallery/talonprogress/DSCI0049

And here's some parts after sandblasting and painting;
http://www.mreah.com/gallery/sandblasting/DSCI0025

 

[Jason84]

you can buy a pretty decent blast cabinet anywhere from $1-300. they aernt that expensive... depending on what size/table top or whatever youd like

 

[turbosax2]

Back from the dead!

I have been thinking about getting a small, affordable media blasting setup. This blast cabinet is the one I'm interested in - cheap, decent size, and it comes with a gun and accessories. Would I need anything else besides the media and a compressor?

What kind of media blasting setups do you guys have and how do you like it? Any other advice or tips for me?

 

[snowborder714]

I would also be interested in any info someone has to offer.

 

[r6speed]

I would also like some more info on this, and maybe some pictures or links that work for me I keep trying to open these links and they are going to 404 error pages. Easy way to size down the picture is open it in paint (every computer has it) select edit : Stretch/Skew : and make those "100" like 30 and click ok. Then you should beable to upload them faster and easier. I really want to see this I have been wanting to do this, how does it work with grease?

 

[snowborder714]

I keep trying to open these links and they are going to 404 error pages.

This is most likely because those posts were made in 2005.

 

[Mr Peepers]

I highly suggest getting ceramic nozzles/tips for the sandblasting gun, the steel ones wear out too fast(I even tried tempering them, marginally better). I'm still on my first ceramic one.

I've only used "Black Magnum," which is just coal slag. It's cheap and works pretty quickly, plus it has a really low silica content(ever heard of black lung disease?). Still a bit dusty and doesn't leave a smooth finish; perfect for painting though after it's wiped down. There are many different types of media, each with it's own advantages and application, I wish I could find the site exlaining them all...

Grease and sandblasting don't mix in my experience. Everything I sandblast is washed with Dawn and hot water before hand. Dry stuff doesn't matter, it's the sticky/greasy stuff that makes it a PITA.

This blast cabinet is the one I'm interested in - cheap, decent size, and it comes with a gun and accessories.

Weak You could try making your own, too. The materials only cost me $50 to build this, not including the sandblasting gun. As long as you don't purposely try to hit the walls, wood will work fine. I haven't noticed any erosion actually, just have to replace the glass for every 10 or so hours of use before it gets pitted/cloudy.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

You must be logged in to view this image or video.

 

[1995 eclipser]

after you blast your parts youi should be spraying them with self etching primer and then painting them or they will probably rust later on down the road.

 

[turbosax2]

That's a nice cabinet Matt! I think I'll stick with buying one - I'm not the greatest carpenter, plus I tend to go overboard on my projects and I don't think my parents would be happy seeing a huge blast cabinet taking up half the garage Does the cabinet I linked to come with everything I need then?

For ceramic nozzles I have a choice for coarse or fine abrasives. Is the coal slag considered coarse?

Where do you get the Black Magnum from? Would this be similar? How many times can you reuse this stuff?

I'm mostly going to be using the blasting to prep parts for powdercoating. A local guy has a powdercoating setup, and he said if I provide the powder he can help me coat some stuff. Does that affect which media I should go with?

 

[My98slvrGSX]

I would also like some more info on this, and maybe some pictures or links that work for me I keep trying to open these links and they are going to 404 error pages. Easy way to size down the picture is open it in paint (every computer has it) select edit : Stretch/Skew : and make those "100" like 30 and click ok. Then you should beable to upload them faster and easier. I really want to see this I have been wanting to do this, how does it work with grease?

im getting the same thing.

 

[t25fury]

be carefull blasting parts where bearings go as it can damage the smooth surfaces , specifically the head where the cam journals are.

 

[Mr Peepers]

That's a nice cabinet Matt! I think I'll stick with buying one - I'm not the greatest carpenter, plus I tend to go overboard on my projects and I don't think my parents would be happy seeing a huge blast cabinet taking up half the garage Does the cabinet I linked to come with everything I need then?

For ceramic nozzles I have a choice for coarse or fine abrasives. Is the coal slag considered coarse?

Where do you get the Black Magnum from? Would this be similar? How many times can you reuse this stuff?

I'm mostly going to be using the blasting to prep parts for powdercoating. A local guy has a powdercoating setup, and he said if I provide the powder he can help me coat some stuff. Does that affect which media I should go with?

Thanks! My dad wasn't too thrilled when he found out I made it a little bigger than planned...

Coal slag would be on the coarse side, along with aluminum oxide which you may want to look into even though it's more expensive. I've never used the Harbor Freight sandblasting equipment so I don't know for sure. IIRC I couldn't buy the sand separate, it came with the cabinet.

There are many different types of coal slag: Black Magnum, Black magic, Black Beauty etc. I got mine from Menards, I don't remember the exact grit since I only had one to choose from. 2 bags were needed to fill up my particular sandblaster and I've been using the same stuff for quite a while, I'm sure I've cycled through it many times(with a vacuum sucking up any dust). Aluminum oxide lasts longer IIRC.

I'm not really sure about prepping for powdercoating and what media you should use, I'm sure your powdercoater would know.

be carefull blasting parts where bearings go as it can damage the smooth surfaces , specifically the head where the cam journals are.

I wouldn't attempt sandblasting a head; too many parts like you said to get damaged. Even if you tape/cover everything you still risk dust/stray sand making its way into the oil galleys. Have a machine shop take care of cleaning it.