can i sandblast my ..........

i was going to pull apart my 40 rear leaf spring and sandblast the leaves separately. but my friend said i will ruin the spring by doing that. something about taking out the temper of the spring. is this true? thanks

 

sounds like an old wives tale... i cant see any reason why sandblasting would take the temper out of a spring. heat on the hand, will.

 

No worries about temper. You can distort sheetmetal with sandblasting but the leaves will never get that hot.
Depending on how coarse the sand is, you may create too much 'tooth' on the surface. This is good for paint adhesion but not so good when the metal is left bare or in constant contact.
If the leaves are just cruddy looking, try a sander with 100grit.

 

Blast away, it will be fine. Some people say powdercoating them will ruin the temper also, but I have yet to see that happen!

 

In another life,while working at a monument shop,a guy brings in a crosscut saw to be "de-rusted." I really didn't want to "blast" it for him,but he insisted.
I turned the air pressure way down and the shot up and while dusting the saw at a glance,you could hear it "sing" as the temper went out of it.
When it came out of the blast room it was really pliable all the stiffness was gone.
I doubt any harm will come from your plies being blasted;watch the sparks fly off of them when you hit them,tho.Tempered metal really sparks when hit with other metal abrasive.
Sand won't hurt them.

 

should be okay...blast away

 

I would wire wheel the leafs .Better safe than sorry .

 

Blast them. I did, it's fine.

 

We media blast, and powder coat springs all the time, no problems.
When we first started powder coating I call a local spring shop and asked this question.
I was told by the spring shop that the only way to affect the spring rate is above 900* f.
after 5 years of custom coating, never had a complaint