This may be old news to some of you. But I'm pretty excited about it... I had heard about soda blasting before and done a little research. Basically, it's a finer version of the Arm & Hammer stuff. It's specifically made for use as a blasting media. The nice things about it are: it's biodegradable, it provides some corrsion protection, and it virtually disappears with water. The disadvantages are isn't quite as cheap as other media ($22/50 lb.) and it doesn't cut rust or bondo. So it's a great stripping and cleaning media. I've even heard you can blast right on the engine, chrome or gl*** without damage (I haven't tried that yet). But from what little stuff I read online, it seemed almost as though you needed a special blaster to run it. Some soda blasters mix with water or just air and all of them are too big/expensive for home hobby use. Anyway, my Dad got all into researching it and talked with several equipment manufacturers of soda blasters. I convinced him to hold off because I couldn't figure out why you couldn't run it through a standard media blaster. My Dad picked up a 50lb. bag from Charleston. We decided this weekend to run it through my 40lb. Harbor Freight Pressure Pot. I wanted to know what evil lurked under my wavy rear quarter panel on the '54. It worked pretty damn good! I was able to control it to the point of being able to remove just the paint layer and leave the primer if I wanted too. Plus, I'm sure it doesn't heat the sheet metal like other abrasives would (I need to test that still). The nicest thing was not feeling all dirty and gritty afterwards. It's a little finer than gl*** bead. Plus, a quick rinse with a hose makes it go away. I am told it will kill your gr***, though. FYI, I'm running a water trap from my compressor and another one into the pressure pot. I didn't even need a different tip size than I normally run. I only needed to shake the pot a little to keep it feeding but I have to do that with gl*** bead, aluminum oxide, and starlight too. Don't let The Man tell you that you need a special soda blaster!!
Don't let The Man tell you that you need a special soda blaster!! [/quote] I've been told by another person first hand that it works perfectly in a sand blaster. I havn't searched out a local supplier yet to test it my self though. Thanks for the report.
Sorry, I meant to post that in the entry. I'm pretty sure they got it over the counter at CESCO (Carolina Equipment) in Charleston, SC. Here's the product page I also tried their Star Blast which is very cheap (~$6/50lb. I think) and it cut the rust pretty well.
This is great news , I have wanted to try it myself because,like you I could not see what it could hurt, even if it Clogged the blaster. Will it still kill gr*** if the gr*** is flooded with water when in say a few hours or a reasonable length of time?
If you want to do the job right.....you need the right equipment. I have suited up and Soda blasted some stuff. It works great, better than other media's. But you need the right stuff to take full advantage of it properties.
yes this is correct i have used soda blasting on my 50 merc it does great i just put it in my speed blaster from snap on and had no problem. the only problem with soda is it does not do well with paint, to be able to paint the car now you have to nutralize the soda with viniger or the paint will not stick ( it will bubble and fish eye BAD) . so you have to blast it with soda nutralize with viniger than you have to nutralize the viniger with water and then you almost instantly make rust . so soda blasting is ok if you don't go all the way to the bare metal. or if you plan on running your bare metal because it kindof creates a sealer on your metal. this is just fyi. but soda is great for chrome parts and gl*** if you are taking paint off of the it. it polishes the chrome and gl*** as it goes that is cool
check out this site for info. they say it removes rust. I'd like to get it done on a lot of stuff i have sitting around. http://www.sodablastofvirginia.com/index.html
I have all my customers projects soda blasted down to bare metal. And yes you have to wash it off or the paint wont stick. And yes instant rust is the problem but its only surface rust I go over it with a da and 180 grit to remove it no problems yet done about 5 cars so far that way. Its cool cuz you can leave the car bare metal for a long time and do all your work but I live in yuma Az its hot and dry here Dont know if Id try it somewhere where its humid jus my.02
I've heard the original use was for blasting barnacles and or anti-foul paint off your boat without damaging the gell-coat. Interesting read. Thanks
hi guys, i do sandblasting and media blasting for a living and have learned a few things, before i decided to go with crushed walnut shell ,i looked at soda blasters and plastic blasters and both had drawbacks. 1) soda blasting is great for a corvette or how it used around here is for cleaning stainless vats for winemaking. i originally was very excited about soda but a friend who works as an airline mechanic started telling me stories of how guys were blasting planes and later the planes would start corroding at all the seams. even after pressure washing it did not slow down the corrosion. (something about soda being a base on the ph scale). also soda is not reusable so the costs will be rediculous. 2) plastic blasting has some of the same problems as soda (high cost, won`t take rust off) although unlike soda, plastic is reusable. 3) walnut shell seems to be the best choice i`ve found, is real cheap compared to the other two and is easily mixed for rust removal. starblast is a great rust remover (thats what i mix the walnut with) but you should know starblast is a hotter media then sand, and we all know what sand can do to a panel. just rambling on, gary p.s. if i don`t respond to a question, pm me as after i make a post in a thread, it won`t seem to let me back to that page.
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