Anyone ever use a wet sandblaster?

I've got an old pressure washer I could probably convert. Like to know your experiences. Anything special about the media? I take it its just a siphon where the vacuum from the water jet leaving some Y adapter ****s the sand out?

I don't think my compressor is up to a big sandblasting job. I'm thinking this option might allow me to sandblast my cab, frame, etc in the driveway.

 

Never heard of wet sandblasting but used to do Vapor blasting which was a fine powder slurry. It is primarily used on stainless steel or other materials that are not susceptible to rusting. I suspect that you are looking for trouble if you go that route.

 

My sandblaster at work was wet once, but I used it anyway...


I would think running the media through the power washer might damage the veins in the pump, the valving, or the gun. Depending on where you siphoned the media in. As far as I can tell you are right though, the va*** pulls the media into the stream.

 

Never herd of it.
Hell, never thought of it.

Try it and let us know!

 

might end up more like a water-jet cutter instead of blaster?

 

would rust before you got done

 

I recently read about these on a Chevy truck board. I don't think the media goes through the power washer. I believe the water through the hose causes a syphen and pulls the media through the wand. Im thinking about buying one and giving it a try.Im guessin you just make sure you dry and coat your metal quickly. Here is a link to one from Northern Tools.

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_6970_8520_8520

 

Buddy of mine uses one. He's done some truck fenders, hoods, and some other stuff. It took everything off, but it did flash rust as soon as it dried. He scuffed it and went on about the paint job. He's used it for two or three years and hasn't any problems come back to haunt.
.02 worth

 

The media never goes thru the pump, but the one we had at work; never worked well, Used hot water so it would dry off fast after blasting, then used air pressure to dry, still instant surface rust. Not much luck with it, Got chucked in the corner.

tc

 

We had Vacu-Blast machines at work cleaning turbine blades. I never ran one. Looked pretty boring.

 

Used an electric drill while standing in a puddle of water once when I was a kid ...

 

I used to date a sandblaster......she was wet every now and then.

 

DId some googling again and ran across this for anyone curious. Explains the pros and cons. http://www.rentalmanagementmag.com/ARCHIVES/SortedFiles/CYM/cymsand5.html

I have some thick paint on a frame and cab. I'm not worried about the flash rust so much as just getting all the **** off the metal. Flash rust can be dealt with by chemical means.

I can easily build a Y adapter like this for the end of the wand to siphon from a container of media. If I try it, I'll post up results.

http://www.pressureparts.com/None-C-SandBlas-Pressure-Part-391631.aspx

 

I bought a sandblasting kit at Home Depot for my pressure washer. What was cool is the pressure from the power washer blasts through grease, undercoating, loose paint, etc, while the sand strips away any paint or rust that is left behind. I use it only on sunny days and had no problem with flash rust because the parts dry pretty quick. If it does flash, just wipe down the metal with some laquer thinner and a brown scotch-brite pad. It will come right off.

 

We had one in the late 70's. The brand name was HYDRO-BLAST and they were used on swimming pools (our line of work). That thing was very effective at removing pool paint and plaster but it was a DANGER to use to say the least! We had a guy that shot another in the hand with that thing and it pumped a sand and water slurry into his flesh and damed near took off a finger! We promtly sold that thing to the oil field where there used to **** like that!

 

Here is what my sand blaster attachment looks like. Now that I think about it, I bought it at Walmart for $15-20. One advantage to using water method is that I have never overheated and warped a body panel. One disadvantage is you end up getting wet from the mist and the sand sticks to you. You end up looking like a giant human sugar cookie.

 

I forgot to add that the unit we had used a V-4 Wis. hooked up to a Cat tri-plex pump so it had a LOT power and volume!

 

I have heard of wet soda-blasting but not sand. sounds interesting

 

I had a guy with one of those "hydra-blast" wet blast a customers VW for me a back in the early 80's, told me it didn't warp sheetmetal. When he was finished I had a muddy mess in the yard and one totaled VW. Besides warping every panel it filled every nook with mud from the carb to the glove box.

 

They showed a pressure washer sandblaster on "Musclecars" on Spike a few weeks ago. They did a frame on a 67 Tempest. They said the benifits were there wasn't as much dust to bother the neighbors. Seemed to do an ok job. Not quite as thorough as a standard blaster but it was acceptable.
Todd

 

they used some sort on that OCC show. I watch it because I find Mikey to be funny as hell, and he tore some guys bike completely apart with it.

 

I dropped by a local electric motor rewind shop that we use at work, and asked if he could blast a `40 gauge cluster box for me.It is pretty rusty but not rotten.He put it in the cabinet and fired it up...then he switched on the window wiper..wtf..it seems it is a wet blaster..sand and water,He just did a corner while I watched to test how it came up.It removed the crud no problem.....I found it very theroputic...I love to see old stuff brought back to new.A good blast off with an airline nozzle removed the damp pronto.