Im going to sand blast my frame this weekend, im getting a Harbor Freight 110lbs blaster, and my compressor is a 60gal/3.5hp with 12.85cfm @ 90psi which is more than required. My question is what media should I use to remove the rust from my frame? I have heard sand is cheap, but hazardous to use. So I will stay away from that.
Thanks

 

Depends on the material to be blasted.

A fresh air source (think SCUBA) or a pressure-fed hood is needed when using sand. The silica dust will eventually kill you.

However, sand is the most economical.

 

I use regular silica sand for blasting, along with a respirator.
The sand is mined locally to me and costs $4.05 for a 50 lb. bag.
The grade I use for heavy things like a frame is 20/30. When I'm blasting sheet metal, I switch to the finer 30/65 grade.
I run the air pressure at 90 PSI.

 

Aluminum oxide from harbor freight or elsewhere. Sand contains salts and elements that embed in metal and more quickly corrode it. Crevices will collect sand and hold moisture and will rust. Never use sand on a restoration. Also, heat generated by blasting with sand or steel shot will permanently warp sheet metal panels.

 

Thanks for the input, what grit should the aluminum oxide be? Also, for those reasons, killing me and rusting my chassis, I am not goin to use sand.

 

On heavy steel I use black diamond from tractor supply $8.00 50 lbs. Either in my blasting cabinet or a siphon feed blaster.

 

What grit do you use?

 

I'm watching this thread since I have the bed off my truck and want to do a frame/suspension clean-up as well! I'm curious to see how well the HF blaster holds up.

 

I want to say medium mesh. I believe it's around 80 grit. As far as i remember they only carry 3 different mesh size. I would only use it on heavy steel though. It's takes a heavy bite for sure.

 

How many lbs of blast media is required to do a frame? The aluminum oxide is a dollar/lb from Harbor Freight.

 

Don't buy your media from HF, you can get it a lot cheaper, what ever media you chose, from a supplier that specializes in blasting supplies.
When I blasted my frame, if memory serves me, it took 1600 LBS of silica sand. I'll go back and double check.
EDIT: I checked, it was 1600 LBS of sand to blast the frame.

 

I'll let you know how the HF blaster works. I plan on doing the blasting this weekend and I'm going to use the black diamond media.

 

Buy a spare nozzle assy., they're around $18.00. I use a HF blaster (100 lb version). The nozzle's deadman feature uses a very strong spring to close the valve. You're constantly working against this spring to keep the valve open. Gradually the valve will close without you realizing it and the abrasive stream slowly wears the valve out to the point that it won't shut off the stream anymore.
I get around this by loosely attaching a nylon ty-wrap around the handle, When you depress the handle, slip the ty-wrap over the handle and when you want to shut the valve, slip it off.
Safe? No, Smart? probably not. But that's what works for me.
Also, keep an eye on the wear of the ceramic nozzle. The more they wear, the more air you're going to use. HF has them too, but you get four with a new nozzle assy.

 

Will definitely be watching. I haven't heard the best about this blaster, but hopefully your experience is a good one

 

I've used a HF blaster and don't really have any problems with it other than the nozzles wear out quickly.
I've used it quite a bit. I've blasted the frame, axles, rear housing, cab, dash and probably other stuff that I've forgotten. I've had it clog on me a few times, this is usually because of trash that's gotten into the sand (pieces of the bag, leafs, yard debris, etc. I've never had a clogging problem from moisture.
If I was doing this for a living, I definitely would be using something else, but for what I use it for, it works for me.