Sandblasting / Mediablasting

[CCR]

Ive been playing around with blasting, so far its just been aluminum oxide and glass bead but really gritty stuff. Wondering if anyone else has had any experience blasting bike stuff and what works best. Ive just been doing small stuff in a blast box i borrowed from a friend. Pretty much everything i find off the shelf around here is pretty mean stuff (80 grit) and ive been meaning to order some glass bead in a medium (200ish) grit to see how it does. If anyone can point me in the right direction before i pull the trigger its greatly appreciated though :wink:

 

[Ratfink1962]

Probably wont help your situation, but I use one of these...

Hand held speed blaster, using regular sand, works good stripping old paint and rust.

Since your using a blaster cabinet, I would think glass bead would be a great choice since you dont lose any medium when blasting, might not be tough enough if you need to tackle some heavy rust though.

 

[CCR]

from what ive been tinkering with the 80 grit glass will clean most rust off at 80 psi, it strips paint pretty fast and effectively at 50 psi though but its still rougher than what i would like. and 80 psi in this box gets pretty hard to see really fast !!! anything thats been painted with a brush has been a nightmare though even with the AO. like i said im still playing around and hopefully after i get comfortable with it, ill get a cabinet big enough for fun stuff

getting ready to strip some yard furniture with some sand, that should be fun :!:

maybe i should start taking some before and after pics as i try this stuff out.

 

[B607]

THe machine shop were I used to work had a nice bead blast cabinet. A whole frame would fit in the box. One of the keys to successful blasting is having an adequate compressor. A compressor that can hold 100 psi while you are blasting is what you need. I used the glass beads we had at the shop and don't know what grit they were. It wasn't too aggressive and left a fairly smooth finish. After you blast, take the part out wearing rubber gloves and prime it right away before any moisture or oil gets on it. NEVER touch a blasted part with your bare hands! My rattle can paint jobs from 15 yrs ago are still holding up fine and I attribute it to proper prep. Bead blast then prime right away and the bad stuff is locked out. Gary

 

[CCR]

... A compressor that can hold 100 psi while you are blasting is what you need....

Ive been piling up my mad money to get me a new compressor (almost had enough til an apple krate popped up too :lol: :wink: ) the one ive got can keep up for tinkering around like im doing now but the pump is on its last leg and id like to upgrade anyway. just borrowed a box for now to see what to look for when i get my own cabinet. then its on to getting a pot to play with after that :lol:

i can tell you now though 80 grit anything is going to be wayyy too mean without making more work for your self if you want a nice paint job.

nice tip on the gloves too Gary, ive also been wearing disposable gloves inside the blasting gloves. keeps the inside of the blasting gloves from getting swampy :|

 

[Hugo]

I've built my own blasting booth . I use it to clean Vespa engines with glass-bead abrasive, but the glass eventually wears down. Now I'm trying some fine sand. My compressor is too small to try stripping paint from steel.

More info: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hugojcardo ... 517714517/

Hugo