Media Blasting

[xioca]

Well good job man, that just looks like a project I'm going to have to do someday when i have time.

 

[Mr Peepers]

That's awesome!!! I can see some hints to mine Very well done

Seriously, that makes me really happy to see

 

[turbosax2]

That's awesome!!! I can see some hints to mine Very well done

Seriously, that makes me really happy to see

Thanks We used your cabinet as a basic guide, then upgraded a few points like the trapdoor and REAL gloves

I really want to get the water in the air lines issue resolved so I can actually use this thing for more than a couple minutes at a time And I would love to get a bigger compressor but that's not in the budget. We're using my friends 30 gallon Craftsman compressor and it's really struggling to keep up.

 

[chico904]

Awesome write-up. I am seriously considering doing this now.

 

[Mr Peepers]

Thanks We used your cabinet as a basic guide, then upgraded a few points like the trapdoor and REAL gloves

I really want to get the water in the air lines issue resolved so I can actually use this thing for more than a couple minutes at a time And I would love to get a bigger compressor but that's not in the budget. We're using my friends 30 gallon Craftsman compressor and it's really struggling to keep up.

You don't like my gloves?

Yeah I got lazy with my "trap door," I forgot about it till the last minute and plugged it with foam and a piece of wood Not exactly convenient. I'm jealous

 

[turbosax2]

Let me tell you, that trapdoor was a PITA to make. We didn't have the proper tools to cut a certain angle into the wood so we had to put filler pieces in, then they didn't quite fit...we ended up with a decent size gap we used the sealant to plug up. Oh well, it works and doesn't leak.

 

[tunernewb92]

I have a friend that made one of these using a dishwasher since they have that awesome locking door and a drain already on it. He replaced the top with plexi I believe and added gloves on the side. Sorry I don't have pictures of it, but it seemed like a pretty good setup.

 

[Captainredeyez]

I have a Clemco Industries, Zero blast cabinet at work. I been using it a lot lately on a few parts. It has 10-160 psi blasting capability on it. I believe it uses Ballotini impact beads. I'll try and get some pics up soon.

 

[Captainredeyez]

here ya go

 

[OddNotion]

This unit is the cheapest and most convincing I have seen for removing water from your air lines, short of buying a $400 cleaner/drier unit. I have not personally used it yet:

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The specs:
TP Tools & Equipment
1/4'' Coalescing Air Filter
$79.00
Recommended for painting and abrasive blasting in glass bead cabinets. Provides the same benefits as 3405-60 coalescing filter, but this unit has 1/4'' NPT inlet and outlet on bottom for quick hose hookup. Includes wall mounting bracket. Removes water particles as small as .01 micron. Includes one replaceable paper-like element which ''soaks up'' moisture like a sponge. 100 cfm capacity. 125 psi max. 8-1/8'' wide, 5-1/8'' high, 6'' diameter. 3.6 lbs. Made in USA.

DeVilbiss has a couple of products that caught my eye as well. I really like the "dessicant snake" idea.

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FINISHLINE®
AIR CONTROL UNIT
Order No. 130099 Model No. HAR-602

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Dries Compressed Air in the Air Line A unique design that combines desiccant drying with built in dirt and oil aerosol filters Effective with both HVLP and Conventional spray equipment
Order No. 130502 Model No. DS20

 

[turbosax2]

We used to have the Kobalt filter attached right to the compressor, then a 16ish foot hose to the cabinet, then a 12ish foot hose inside the cabinet to the gun. This resulted in a lot of water in the lines and I could only blast for a few minutes before the gun got clogged. Now we have the 16' hose connected to the compressor, then the Kobalt filter, then a 2' hose from the filter to the cabinet, and the 12' hose inside the cabinet to the gun. This works MUCH better because the air has time to cool down and the filter can better catch the water. Now I can usually blast about an hour straight before I see any water in the lines. When I start getting some water I empty the water from the filter and drain as much water as I can out of the compressor with the tank still full of air. Then I'm good to go for another hour or so.

Moral of the story - keep filters as far away from the compressor as you can.



Here are some parts I blasted with extra fine glass beads.

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[Captainredeyez]

turbosax2, that's about the same kind of finish the blaster I use puts out. Good Job!

 

[Whitegalant]

nom nom nom, man I've wanted a sandblaster for a while now, but after seeing this thread I want one even more.

 

[Captainredeyez]

send me your parts and I'll blast em for cheap

 

[snowborder714]

Hey now, that was our plan!! Plus hopefully in the near future we'll be doing some powdercoating

That cabinet is fun though. I can't wait to blast something huge in it - like a cross member or transmission!!

 

[Captainredeyez]

I recently did a rear axle for a 62 Belair, it came out very nice.

 

[BoredDSM]

Do you guys have any advice on a nice media blasting gun? I'm looking to do very fine polishing. What kind of media should I be using? I can't find any guns online but I see a lot of different kinds of media.

 

[turbosax2]

I use this gun. It works ok, took me a little while to realize the internal o-ring was leaking so I put a spare throttle body seal in and now it works better. I use this media for my parts pictured in post 87. It produces a very nice finish, kinda shiny. The pictures do it no justice, I'm going to try to take better ones this weekend.

 

[bane3d]

Turbosax2, I saw that you did your motor mounts. How did you handle not eating away at the pressed in mounts? I've been tinkering with the idea of making a blast cabinet and doing my calipers, but they have those thin rubber boots on the pistons and I'm positive it would destroy those.

d

 

[Colt4G63 also]

Turbosax2, I saw that you did your motor mounts. How did you handle not eating away at the pressed in mounts? I've been tinkering with the idea of making a blast cabinet and doing my calipers, but they have those thin rubber boots on the pistons and I'm positive it would destroy those.

d

Rubber is incredibly resilient. Media blasting really doesn't affect it.

 

[snowborder714]

Turbosax2, I saw that you did your motor mounts. How did you handle not eating away at the pressed in mounts? I've been tinkering with the idea of making a blast cabinet and doing my calipers, but they have those thin rubber boots on the pistons and I'm positive it would destroy those.

d

When he and I blasted his mounts, we had already removed the stock mount, since he planned to install Prothanes in the side mounts after blasting (had biglady aluminum solid mounts in front and rear - not blasted yet that I know of). He put duct tape around the inside of the mount to protect the inside. Yes, it was probably overkill, but we wanted to make sure the Prothanes as tight as possible. Well, they fit really tight. We had to pound them in like crazy.

I'm not sure how the dust boots would hold up, but you'll have to do more than just blast the calipers to protect them. Most people powdercoat them which requires removal of the boots anyway. It's possible to rebuild the calipers but it's a big PITA and would not recommend anyone to do it if they don't have to.

 

[turbosax2]

^^Yup, what they said. You can control the spray of media very well, so you could avoid the boots in the calipers. I would probably put some duct tape around them just in case.

 

[Mr Peepers]

I duct taped the inside face where the pistons are and didn't have a problem.

 

[turbosax2]

We bought this air filter for the cabinet. It works great! We kept the Kobalt filter as a pre-filter since it only filters to 5 microns, while the TP filter filters to .01 microns. I strongly advise using a pre-filter to make the TP filter last longer and be more effective. Since installing this I haven't seen a drop of water in the air lines even after blasting for 5 straight hours. (Tip: a spare 2g fuel filter bracket works great for mounting a Kobalt air filter. The filter sits in there so you can easily remove it to drain it fast.)

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[jjrock5]

I've been looking at some of these recently. Anybody use these to clean up their parts? Did you make your own? Did you buy one? Where? How's it working out for you? How efficient are they?

Something like this:

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