cjbrown

Has anyone bought an at home sand blaster that would work well enough to do a whole frame and not break my wallet. Its hard to find one without knowing what has worked well for other people. Thanks

jensenracing77

it is much more worth it to let a professional blast the frame and parts. most home blasters i have been around take a very long time. if you have a blaster that is big enough to not take forever it will require a very large air compressor (around 14 cfm @90 minimum). if you are doing a major restoration i personally would rather spend the money on a blast cabinet and do all the little stuff myself and have the big stuff like a frame done by someone else. after having a blast cabinet with glass in it i have realized how much time i wasted before i had it and didn't get the quality of job.

Gary's 2 442-S

I bought my blaster from Eastwood. I tried to copy their link but it must be having some trouble right now because I have tried 3 different computers and it would not open up. They are at www.Eastwood.com. The blaster I bought was model 5119 which has 200 lb pressure. Maybe later you can try to look them up. I used that blaster on my frame. I also used "sugar sand" as the media. I used it is because that is what the media company I bought it from,suggested i use that. Eastwood also has a soda blaster but the media is very expensive compared to sugar sand, which I paid $8.00 a 100lb bag. It did what I wanted it to do and as Jensenracing, suggested it takes a long time. Harbour Freight also has blasters but I did not have much luck using their equipment,had to take back anything equipment wise back to them.

Allan R

If you're looking at sandblasting, there is another option. Call a sandblaster who will come to you. Only thing you'll probably want to do is build containment. That dust and used media flies everywhere. I wouldn't want to invest that much money in something I will likely not see a return on invesment. You'll need a good compressor that is at least 80gal and that's gonna run well over 2 grand. I would however say that getting a small home unit for cleaning parts and stuff will pay for itself in time savings alone

I agree. Plus you don't have to clean up afterwards. It's a dirty job - ask Mike Rowe .

Al Graaf

Sorry to ear about your luck at HF. I bought the standing blast cabinet along with the midrange soda blaster. I love it. I didn't buy the compressor there though. Read too many problems. Got Kobolt unit at Lowes on sale. Had to learn the use and effect of the different media on my own. Now using aluminum oxide media and glass bead for brass hardware. The soda blaster is the bees knees Doesn't "pit" the surface. Also here in Kentucky they have what they call Black Beauty in 100 pound bags for $12. fine, med,course. Works excellent on heavy rust outside on large parts and you don't have to worry about saving it at that cost. But I agree with Gary, the time and money saved doing all the small stuff is great. Plus, it's fun! By the way I did put another light in mine.
AL Graff

Napoleon Solo

Hi guys, I am a professional industrial / automotive / marine sandblaster and I own my own company. If you want my two cents worth, here are a few things you should consider. Jensenracing77 is absolutely right about the CFM considerations. A piston compressor will barely keep up with the output required for blasting. A good rule to go by is take the hp rating and multiply it by 4 which gives you a pretty close CFM output for the compressor. Screw compressors are the only way to go for volume. I run two of them at my shop pushing 200 CFM. It's different than using other air tools because there is a constant draw on the system.
Also the other big factor is moisture. You can probably get away without dessicant water filters at lower CFM but any more than say, 15 CFM you will likely be blowing mud out of the tip - until it plugs up of course. Another important aspect is the nozzle tip size. Larger nozzle tips get more work done but are a large strain on the compressor. It'll be running at WOT to keep up. Think of it as punching that sized hole in the side of your compressor tank.
A small cabinet to do small parts is a great idea and it is fun. I agree with Jensenracing77 again with regards to the big stuff. I talk with customers all the time who tried to do their own frames, suspension, rear ends etc. at home and it takes FOREVER! Trust me - there will be a mess if you have your frame ( or anything) done at home. Bring it to a shop and have them deal with it. I do frames all day for $250 a pop and you get it back spotless.
If anyone has any questions about media blasting have a look at our "sandblasting 101" page on our website - www.sureblast.ca.

I hope this helped without sounding too smartypants....

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Great Info! I'm guessing you're based out of BC? I definitely need to sandblast some parts. Do you have any suggestions for the Montreal area on the east coast? I basically need a set of 4 control arms blasted, they're already out of the car. Any idea what i should be paying?

Thanks!

-Tony

Stevec

Whats the best media to use for automotive use? I'm thinking of buying a sand blast cabinet. Thanks...

jensenracing77

i'm sure napoleon solo will answer better but you can use differant media for differant parts. my problem is that if you have one cabinet and want to change the media, it is a pain. you have to clean all the old media out real good before you put something differant in it. lets say you were going to blast a rusted control arm with something rough like silica sand then wanted to go to fine glass. if you don't get the cabinet cleaned out real good you could ruin a part from the left over silica. i just stick to glass only now in my cabinet but it don't work good for some things. other things to consider are your air compressor and vacuum. i got a cabinet that has a built in vacuum . it clogs up the filter very fast and the filters are not that cheap. i clean the filter 3 or 4 times before i have to replace it. some units use a shop vac and for smaller cabinets it seems to work ok. lighting is another big thing. my first little one didn't have a light in it. you couldn't see anything while working. when you buy one make sure there are replacement nozzles available for it. my first one was used and from H.F, the nozzle was wore out and it took H.F a month to get replacements. for the air compressor, you will have $1000 at least in it to keep up with even a small cheap cabinet from H.F. that is my next thing i need. i have an 11.3 CFM and it is not even close to big enough. i just don't have the $2000 right now for the one i need.

i am only a novice at this and learn more every time i use it. i would love to hear more form napoleon solo also on blast cabinets.

Indy_68_S

x2

I looked into what it would take to do my frame and the whole bunch of other pieces with it and it wasn't worth the $$, time or mess. I took my frame along with ~ 25 other pieces (arms, bars, brackets, etc..) to a local place and got it all back a few days later in shimmering cleanliness for ~ $200.

They later did my rearend & couple of other little things for $25.

I do have one of those little $20 blaster guns for little sporadic stuff like pulleys, brackets, braces, etc...& it works fine, but even a wheel rim would take forever with that. And, I don't have a cabinet. I just blast stuff behind the garage on a tarp spread up the wall so the media all falls in a pile. I recycle some of the media by screening, but its cheap and eventually most just 'goes away' !

I used to wire wheel /sand little stuff. But with the little gun, watching rust/crud 'disappear' is actually pretty cool!

Allan R

Great explanation. Had a look at your site - looks like a very nice setup. Will be moving to BC in about 2 1/2 years. I've been wanting to pull the chassis for a long time and that might be when it happens. Do you offer pickup and return deliver of the frame? Also if you strip it, do you know any good PC shops around you that would save me having to ship it out twice? (1 to you and 1 to them).

I'm probably going to go the route of a small unit at home to do small parts.

Al Graaf

Very informative. I love your U.N.C.L.E ! Use to watch that show all the time as a kid. Even had our own UNCLE club. Pleasant suprise.
Signed,
Illya Kuryakin

Allan R

Hey Illya, or should I say 'Duckie'?
Whatcha doin working on Oldsmobiles? Last I saw you were working in the morgue at NCIS? Never mind, I'll ask Gibbs, he knows everything!!
Signed,
Very Special Agent Tony Denozo

Al Graaf

Aren't we the clever one tonight!
-Alexander Waverly

Stevec

What would you guys recommend for a compressor to run a 40 lbs sandblast cabinet from harbor freight? I have a craftsman 33 gallon and I'm thinking it's to small....thanks.

jensenracing77

the gallon size is a little less important than CFM. many compressors i see with that size tank is around 6 CFM or less @90 psi. i had a small bench top blaster to start with and my 11.3 would keep up with it as long as i was using a very small nozzle. the smaller the compressor the smaller the nozzle will have to be but also the longer time it will take to do the job. i consider myself as a beginner at all this and don't know any more than the very basics but these are the things i am learning the hard way. in my opinion, the air compressor is the biggest issue and expense of the entire thing. with your compressor i think you will wear it out and only be able to use it on real small parts. my next compressor will be at least a 15 CFM 2 stage.

oregontopcat

There is another option and that is to rent a sand blaster. Most rental yards will rent a large sandblaster with a compressor if you don't have one big enough. I rented one on a friday, used it all weekend and our rental yard only charged for one day as they are closed on the weekend. The charge for the sand blaster was $80.00 which included the unit and the hood. I had a large trailer screw compressor already. I think I used about 10 bags of sand which I got from the local brick company. Worked very well and was quick. Dave

cjbrown

Cool thanks for all the help guys, didn't realize it wouldn't be that much to get the frame done, think I'll have a local guy in town take care of it cause I know my compressor would never work.

70Post

That's your best alternative, IMO. If you want to spend money, you'll get A LOT more bang for the buck with a blast cabinet and a compressor than you will with a large outside potblaster and a compressor.

Leave the big stuff to the commercial places and save yourself the headaches. It's not like you can just flip a switch and start blasting with an outside pressure pot. Where do you live?? (out in the country or in town...might make a difference). Go buy sand, unload sand (how's your back?? mess with lifting enough 100 lbs bags of sand and you might think twice), rent or purchase the pressure pot. Deal with the "learning curve" and issues relating to the quality of the pressure pot blaster. Maybe you would have to rig up some sort of tent...more $ and MORE TIME. What's your time worth?

A decent blast cabinet, however, you will find yourself using time and time again. Once set up IT IS more of a "flip a switch and go to work" type deal. If you are restoring or rehabbing one of these old cars a cabinet will be invaluable. There are plenty of maintenance issues with a blast cabinet as well depending on how much you use one but once you figure those out they don't take much time to deal with.

coppercutlass

I grew up ,worked and have shop privleges at redi-strip co. in roselle il. I restored my car there . I chem stripped my fenders and media blasted everything else. Im attaching a pic of my under body we did in aluminum oxide. This is what the underbody looked like .



You just cant beat the look of the industrial finish . Alot of restoration shops go through this shop simple reason they dont wanna deal with the hassle and dont have the right equiptment. This shop has 4 huge compressors the size of a caddilac . I have tried the pot set up and it just takes too long. By the time you wasted and invested in a set up to do a frame/car etc. You would have gotten your's done by a shop faster sooner and with less hassle and cost would probably be just a little more.

Napoleon Solo

Hi guys,
Open channel D - overseas relay.....U.N.C.L.E. was done the year before I was born but I loved the re-runs. Now my wife and I watch an episode almost every night with the 4 season box set. Almost done though...BTW stay tuned for the "25 dollar Vista Cruiser resto affair"
The best media to use for restorations would be plastic bead on the sensitive stuff (hood, deck doors, fenders, roof, quarters) and a processed (smashed up) garnet or aluminium oxide for all of the structural stuff. Basically everything else not mentioned above. Some shops use walnut shell but the plastic I buy is the best you can get for restos. Its the same manufacturer and grade that the USAF uses to strip the paint off their aircraft. No warpage. I did a resto on a 55 chrysler t&c wagon. Extremely clean car. While stripping the roof panel I noticed a shady spot. When I was finished, I had a look - it was the ink stamp from the factory that punched out the roof panels for chrysler! you could still make out all of the details. I've done restos that strip off all of the paint and leave grease pencil marks behind - can you say gentle on sheetmetal?
My shop is outside Vancouver in Port Coquitlam.
Did I answer everyone? Sorry If I kinda jacked this thread...

Al Graaf

My sides are still hurting from laughing. Channel D-Can't wait to watch the "Vista Cruiser Resto Affair". That's pretty amazing to find the old stamps. That must be some media. Can a person still obtain that? I have switched to the alum ox. Keep 'em coming Mr. Solo.
-THRUSH