Sandblasting?

[Jim]

Anyone here with experience sandblasting?

I'm getting lazy with the sanding on the old Honda and want to speed things up...

Considering going to a u-blast place with some parts... Or buying equipment myself...

I was looking on princess autos website and found a few different items...

http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...ed-sandblaster

Not sure what that is, does it do everything, or is it only a gun to be hooked up to one of the other items?

Like this, http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...on-sandblaster or this http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...on-sandblaster

To use those, I guess I should have an area specifically for it, so the sand doesn't get everywhere, like a blasting booth or something?

The one I'm actually thinking of is a cabinet though, http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...asting-cabinet or http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...asting-cabinet

Would have to go and look at them to compare prices and so on, and check out other stores... The non cabinet one would be kind of neat to have too though.. I suppose it would work for the smaller parts too but be messier, and I would need to get the safety gear (mask or what have you).

Thanks for any insight.

[TeamCheap]

I hate sandblasting :!:

I have done it both ways, in a cabinet and out in the open and the cabinet is much better as far as staying clean and breathing less dust but it still gets everywhere unless you have a good dust collector.
I never tried it with the full face goggles and respirator though.
Like this.

Even so you need the right filter to be sure you are filtering out the harmful dust plus those masks cost over $100.
I dont care much for the sandblasting hoods but it does keep your head a bit cleaner and they are cheap.


I still have a small cabinet and it is good for doing small parts and sometimes its about the only way to easily clean stuff up.

For stripping paint on large parts I now like to use a chemical stripper and then power wash it off followed by light sanding I cant do this as easily in the winter though.

[Reveeen]

There is a dandy sort of a spot sandblaster with vacuum, that is just the thing for doing spots on cars, and limits the mess.

Just remember, unless you buy one of those hand held types (about $20), you will go through an excessive amount of air, even the small hand held type uses as much air as a 1/2" impact gun, the larger types use even more, so a light duty compressor won't "cut it".

Truck guys will know of a place locally to get sandblasting done, considering the mess involved, and the tool investment, it might be cheaper to flip someone a $20 bill to get your sandblasting done.

[Jim]

Thanks for the info

[suprf1y]

Jim, I have this unit
http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...on-sandblaster

and it works quite well.
The nozzle is pretty cheap, and it takes a bit of time to figure out the best 'settings' for the valves, and what sand works best, but it definitely does the job. Great for spot work, or small parts, but I have also done car rims pretty easily. It uses a fair bit of sand, and lots of air. I have a cheap 10 gallon 5hp (really a 1 hp) oil less compressor, and for what I do, it works OK. I don't regret buying it - on sale

[Weldangrind]

I've struggled over this issue and decided that I can't afford the floor space for a cabinet, and I don't want the mess or the protective gear. I try to find other ways to strip surfaces (flap disc, wire wheel, clean and strip disc).

If I needed to sandblast something, I'd go to Langley U-blast.

[TurboT]

I would suggest you hit up a U-Blast place as well.

From what I've read, you're living in an apartment and something like this takes up space, money and lots of air pressure (compressor). I know our glass bead cabinet used to suck air out of a huge industrial compressor, so I can imagine you'd need a fairly hot home compressor to run one.

Since you're likely not needing it everyday, just taking it a ublast is going to be cleaner, cheaper, and more effective for you for the times you'd need it.

[Jim]

Thanks for the great responses guys

Yes I am living in an apartment, but I am lucky to have access to a nice shop. I don't know how big the compressor is, it's in a separate room that isn't really accessible, but I think it is bigger then me, so air shouldn't be a problem. Floor space, that's another question... It shouldn't be a problem, but the amount of projects in there... Still with a bit of rearranging it should fit fine... Making a big mess in there though with the other projects might not be a good idea.. I did find out though that my dad has a setup kind of like you mentioned Reveen, with the vacuum. I believe it is a 5 gallon. He also has one of the gravity feed ones like this http://www.princessauto.com/air/sand...ed-sandblaster and another with the sand canister on the bottom of the gun. Will have to look into trying those out. Suprfly, that's sort of what I was considering, looks like a good deal and they have a good return policy... I'll have to try out the ones my dad has first though. Mostly I would be using it for small parts, swing arm, kick stand, battery box and so on. A cabinet still may be handy, so small items don't require as much clean up afterwards, we'll have to see if I find a deal. Princess has the cabinet for $350, KMS same price for what looks to be the same cabinet. I would expect from experience the cabinet at KMS to be better quality, but Princess is easy on returns so it's a toss up there. I'll keep an eye out, and also give the available ones a try. The guy at KMS said they do go on sale and I might save up to 25% so that's something to keep in mind too.

Thanks again.

[suprf1y]

The one I have will do what you want with ease.
You can always use a cardboard box, and clear plastic bag/sheet as a temporary cabinet.

[Jim]

That's a good idea , I will see how the one I have access to works out, it should be a similar idea to what you have, only with the vacuum added.

[phil]

i have a cabinet if you want to ship it ill do it for you no $, but if your stripping here's my advice and i did the same thing to my honda 50. use a stripper called "dad's easy spray" its faster easier much cheaper and a couple of quarts later and you have one bare frame. i have tried every stripper known and as a commerical business i have acess to some things normal people arent supposed to be able to get dads is the strongest by far, and available at a high end paint store to everyone.

[Jim]

I appreciate the offer Phil. very generous. I think I'll give a try with the couple options available here.

Thanks

[Weldangrind]

Hijack.

Jim, your new sig is hilarious!

End hijack.

[MICRider]

Hello, I blast and paint for a living... Been doing it for over 20 years. If you have access to a good sized compressor, a cabinet would be dandy for what you are talking about doing. For bigger pieces I would recommend a pressurized blast pot, much better control of the sand and air. I have never heard of U-Blast but it sounds like an awesome idea. Save a ton of $$$ on equipment and they get to keep the mess . Let us know what option you end up going with.

Regards,
Stew

[Jim]

Originally Posted by Weldangrind

Hijack.

Jim, your new sig is hilarious!

End hijack.

Thanks, I got the idea after reading your sig :P

MICRider, I think I am going to attempt to use what I have available, not sure when I will get to it though, maybe on the weekend. Otherwise, I am going to keep an eye out for the cabinet to go on sale at KMS, or an eye out for a good used one. Here's a link to the u-blast place, http://www.langleyublast.com/