Sandblast Media Question

I want to try the POS C-H type siphon sandblaster on an old Exh. manifold and maybe on some other things such as frame brackets. I also have some surface rusted repair panels I'd like to try.

THe local source for "Black Beauty " medium has it in Medium, Fine and Very Fine. What's the common wisdom on general purpose use stuff. What is the main use of each grade?

I know I can't get too ambitious with my garage compressor but I figure it should be OK to try on some smaller less important things.

I just had two sets of Headers blasted clean at a commercial place and I'll be trying POR 20 (Hi-Temp) stuff on those now that they are nice and clean.

Thanks
Powerband

 

I just use alum oxide in my cabinet?

 

Your media supplier should be able to tell you which is which.
We use Black Beauty on frames and Iron castings (like manifolds and brake drums). For sheet metal it depends on how rusty it is.
For rust we use Star Blast and for stripping paint we use Walnut shells or Baking Soda.

 

Common white #80 silica sand works for me.

 

Wait, wait... You're makin' my head hurt

I'm asking which GRIT of Black Beauty is used for what:

Medium - Fine - Very Fine

1) Which's best for rusty cast exh. manifold

2) Which's best for surface rusted panels?

3) Why the hell they gotta make things difficult. I got to the supplier and instead of getting Black Beauty, he asks "which grit do ya want"?. "I don't know" is the answer. Nobody at the local supplier-(a lumber yard) had a clue. I figger I'll ask on the HAMB, those guys probably know...

Powerband

 

I'd use the coarsest on the manifolds and wouldn't get black beauty near sheet metal......Unless you are SUPER CAREFUL.
Too easy to overheat it and warp the crap out of it.
Airride sold their original Buick wagon project for parts due to an apprentice blasting the panels 'till they warped.

 

I used medium on my chassis and rear end parts. I would think it would be fine for manifolds.

 

I don't know what compressor you have. But do yourself a favor and get something with a decent size motor and decent size tank. I'm sick otherwise I'd drag myself down there and look. but I think it's like 17 peak horse and like 5 sustained horse. Rated to 150lb. And about a 4 foot tall tank. It works but I wish I'd waited and gotten something bigger from Harbor Frieght or someplace. The pressure drops pretty fast and once you get down to 75 it really starts blasting rust crappy. I got a great cabinet from Harbor frieght for $99. Takes I think 2 feet or at least 20 inches of material. I also got alum oxide from them and it's not as aggressive on rust as I would like. pulls the paint off real quick. but the rust is a wrist breaker.

I would suggest the course grit and lower your pressure if it gets to aggressive on you.

49Lincoln

 

I think what you should be concerned with is the equipment you have, it might not be able to move anything larger than table salt.

 

Will the salt work or will it season the metal too much?

PB

 

You think? It's a total peice of shit. I bought it small to use on my little sprayer. Had I waited and found what I could get for $350 from harbor frieght (and considered blasting at the time) i would have waited. The bummer is my brother in law builds compressors for ships and huge industrial plants! He's built stuff out of extra found parts that were incredible. Unfortunately he's in WA and I'm in CA.

But hey, it'll sand a taco shell with Johnney's Seasoning like nobodies business!

 

As a rule of thumb the more course the grit the better it is at getting heavy rust and paint off but the worse it is at getting into the smaller rust pits. The more course the grit the rougher the stripped surface will be.

More air pressure plus more media = more/faster material removal. Bigger media is tougher on the parts surface and not really needed unless you've got a big pressure pot system and your blasting bridges.

Don't bother with the medium Black Beauty. Use the fine grit for your experiment with the siphon gun. Same goes for regular old blasting sand, use fine sand only - the medium is too course. (Don't bother with 'play sand', too many impurities and stones)

Unless you've got the patience of Jobe you'll grow tired of the siphon gun in a hurry. I find that trying to use a more aggressive media to cover up for weak equipment isn't worth the effort or money. If your really going to blast your own parts its WELL worth the money to invest in a small pressure pot system rather than throw your money away on the Tinker-Toy siphon systems.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a respirator and a good hood when doing any open blasting work.

-Bigchief.