Got rust ? Here's a DIY sand blasting set up i use

[my67xr]

i thought i'd make a thread for Sand/Media Blasting.


you need a basic sand blaster kit, and a compressor (minimum 10 cfm), air line, sand, something like this-

You will need some good protective eye wear, safety glasses at the minimum, but you're best off using enclosed goggles, a hat and long sleeves.
i would advise you at least use a mouth/nose filter or respirator too.
the sand seems to get in everywhere, down your shirt, behind and in your ears etc, under your clothes too, and don't do it in your good clothes lol



here is my cheap Sand Blaster i use at home, i picked it up on sale at Supercheap Auto a few years ago, cost me about $15 for the kit.
i found that the suction feed make's your compressor etc work a bit harder so i set mine up as a gravity feed.
i run the compressor at 110 psi.






i buy my sand at the local hardware shop, for $7 for a 20kg bag of dried building sand.





this is a exhaust manifold i wanted to clean up for a mates' Landcruiser on his 3F motor that i'm doing the head gasket on.
it has done 300,000 odd km's and has plenty of surface rust over it, and dried/caked on mud

here it is after a couple of minute's blasting, you can see the clean cast iron that's under the rust/mud









and a picture of the manifold after being finished, all painted up with 1050°C Exhaust paint ( high temperature)
the sand blasting really helps the paint to stick and stay on.
the fine pitting left after blasting gives the metal a greater surface area for the paint to bond to.





and here's a quick video of the process involved, click on it to view.




same video here on Youtube-

[video=youtube;sfSaz1AvD84]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfSaz1AvD84&feature=youtu.be[/video]

 

[LJasonH]

That's a great system. How well does it work with rust on mild steel?

 

[my67xr]

yeah just the same on steel and alloy's















this one was Soda Blasted using the same gun-

 

[Cordogs]

Lol that's killer!

 

[lil_fmx_kid]

That's an awesome idea

 

[motorman]

Awesome post Craig.

Looks like you need to sand blast your sand tin. Ironic that one. lol

Is this the kit your brought?

AIR SAND BLAST GUN KIT BLACK RIDGE - Supercheap Auto Australia

I can't view your video for some reason as would like to see how it all works. Bit hard from the pic's. Where does the sand come in?

 

[my67xr]

if you have a look at the 4th picture down in the first post, that's my gun, the sand feed hose is the red 1/2" id hose coming off the top/front of the gun.
that hose is 1.8m long, and runs up to the bottom of my gravity feed sand tank which i hang from somewhere up higher than where i'm blasting (top of my shed door or cloths line etc)
then all you need is to plug in the air line from the compressor into the fitting on the gun


that video link is from my photobucket acc,
i might try and upload it to youtube when i get a chance.
it only runs for 1 minute and just shows how quick the sand blasts the rust off


yeah that black ridge gun looks like it might be the latest model they sell.
most tools shops sell them too.

i do have another one that i bought 20 years ago too, that one cost about $100 from motortrader's sa/coventry's.
it's more of a spot blaster for doing flat areas like rust repairs on cars etc, and it has a recycle bag that catch's all the grit/rust etc
it has 4 or 5 rubber caps with different sized holes, angled tips etc that concentrate the sand to a smaller area
they aren't quite as good though.

eventually i will make a blasting cabinet to use with the sand blaster,
that way i wont have to sweep up where i'm working and sift the sand so i can re-use it
i have a stainless steel frame here and a steel base i can use.
i just need to knock up some sides, find a bit of suitable glass and a pair of elbow length super duty rubber gloves
then put it all together.
i have used plenty of workshop sand blasters/ bead blasters before so i know how the work.
the better ones have a small vacuum cleaner sucking out the dust so you can see what you are doing
they also have a dust proof seal around the door so hardly any sand escapes the cabinet.
they also have an air filter to let fresh air in on the opposite side of the vacuum take off port so the cabinet is not under a vacuum pressure.
in the bottom of the cabinet you need a heavy perforated palet to do the blasting on, and a sump underneath that for the sand to drop into.
the sump is where the pickup hose sits too.
i guess it'll take maybe half a day to put it all together once i have all the components i need here and ready to go.

 

[my67xr]

video has now been uploaded to Youtube, and the link has beed added to the bottom of the first post

 

[motorman]

I know guys that use a painters sheet to catch the over flow so they can reuse it.

Think I might grab one from supercheap if we don't have anything.

Come in real handy and cheap to setup yourself as you demonstrated.

 

[my67xr]

yeah they sure are handy when you do the sort of things i do.
the sand flies up to about 10 meters from where you are blasting,
my wife always whinges that there's sand in the washing, from when i'm blasting while washing is hanging on the line, lol :hidesbehindsofa:

Supercheap have them on special now and then for about $20

 

[my67xr]

I have stepped up a level with my blasting,
i picked up a second hand blasting set up yesterday for $100.
Cabinet is about 1.6m tall, the blasting area is 1000mm x 500mm deep, x 600mm high, it's home made from chipboard, but built strong, and it helps to keep the noise down.
It has twin 2' fluros, a water trap , glass protector screen, and came with 45kg of glass beads








This new blaster has given me the chance to try out hydro/vapour blasting too
I like it, the parts come out like brand new, it peens the surface leaving it a shiny satin finish like new, instead of the plain bead blasted finish leaving it dry/coarse/ruff.
So that's my next project, build a wet blasting cabinet.

Here's a couple of pic's showing the finish vapour blasting leaves
Top pic there is a piece of rusty steel i hit with the blaster for 10 seconds.
Alternator is about 1 minute worth of blasting

 

[gottagetacheaperhobby]

Nice rig craig!

 

[motorman]

Far out Craig you are the Gumtree king!! lol

What a score for $100. Can't go wrong.

Results speak for themselves.

 

[velociraptor]

Nice man the other good thing is it compresses parts making them less stressed try this on con rods and such as well but use material other than sand it makes the Structure less apt to have stressors they do this in some race car builds

 

[velociraptor]

Shot blasted con rod

 

[my67xr]

Yeah, lead shot is used to relieve them, my con rods ahave been polished, deburred and shot peened in my XR 351c

 

[Cordogs]

Very jelly Craig! :congrats:


One of the first few things I'll be buying for my shed once I finish off my cupboards.

 

[ClassicHonda50]

I used to use sand for blasting all the time in my backyard (looked like a beach) until a local blasting supply company owner told me about silicosis, I was worried about the kids playing in the yard so I built a large blasting cabinet, one of the best things I ever built.



I use glass bead in the small cabinet and ilminite currently in the large cabinet.

Cheers

Jaimie

 

[velociraptor]

Nix my last bit anyways we did a lot of blasting on the submarine plant in large scale sand is nasty stuff with dust glass is not any much better really nothing is truly safe for breathing but using a respirator helps a lot. Doing a 56 willies pickup restore we just used beach sand and it's been a show winner for three years now just required air filtration sand screening and then some

 

[my67xr]

Yeah i used to wear my 2 Pack Painting respirator with the first set up.
My new cabinet will be in a well ventilated area once i make some space and move it there.

That Ilminite isn't cheap, and how's the weight of it too, pretty heavy duty stuff.
I have a 5kg tub of that too.