Sunday in New England was a perfect day for sandblasting so I called a guy I know with a portable unit and he came over and did the whole frame for me.






I hope to have it painted by the end of the week. Starting to feel like I'm making some progress.

 

Looks great... What are you going to do with it? What color is the paint for the frame?

 

Don't let it sit too long or you'll get flash rust and have to clean it up again.

 

IMO, there is never a good day to blast but you did something I couldn't, have some one else do it. Blasting is only out ranked as the worst job by doing fiberglass work. I know, I've done a lot of both.

Frame does look good. If you're interested I painted the frame on my '37 Buick, the car I blasted a few weeks ago, with a PPG epoxy mastic paint, it's a direct to rusty metal paint used on outdoor structures like water towers and bridges. It's a lot like POR-15 but a lot cheaper.

 

Bob, you reminded me to post a link to a company that makes very nice industrial coatings, they are very big in bridges and water tanks too. I spec'd some of it for repainting some vacuum spheres, 28 ft diameter, that could not be sandblasted, sanded, wire-brushed, or even pressure washed due to site restrictions. They warranted the paint for 10 years despite that lack of prep. The finished tanks looked great and the stuff passed my fingernail test.

Tnemec Industrial Coatings and Architectural Coatings

 

what kind of sand did you use? and how did you collect it? I've been considering setting up a lil outdoor booth myself on the side of the house. I love the look of clean virgin metal!

 

I used regular sand, I know, I know, silicosis. I did it out behind the silo on the farm with respiratory protection. I had to blast twice this year. The first time I blasted the first body and frame and found they were in pretty rough condition but then I got a very good offer for another body and frame but still had to blast that one.

The first time I blasted I collected the sand in a nylon tarp laid under my rotisserie. I blasted a couple of pots then rolled the car off, pulled the corners of the tarp up to get a pile of sand in the middle, then sifted it back into a couple of five gallon pales and then rolled the car back and did it over again. A real PIA. The second time I just left the sand lay using fresh dry sand in each pot.

Most people don't have the luxury of being able to have an open place to blast. I would strongly suggest not to blast anywhere near the house. If you do I will guarantee you will have sand in the house no matter how well you try to seal the booth. You'll be finding sand six months later. Also, I mentioned silicosis about, do a Google search, it's a nasty affliction. If you read the government reports it says it affects people with long term exposure to sand dust, which contains silica. I know it's dangerous but I only blasted for a couple of days out in the open air with a good breeze so I wasn't too concerned about it. I would be concerned though with having a booth attached to the house. Like when painting, the person doing the job should have proper respiratory protection but the people in the house won't and there is a good change of fumes and dust penetrating the house and exposing the people within. Blasting and painting should not be done near the house.

 

"Proper respiratory protection" = a force-fed, pressurized air delivery system to a hood. Just using cartridge filters isn't enough. If you wear contact lenses, fuggedaboutit. Have a bottle of clean sterile water for flushing your eyes no matter what, VERY painful. Blowing across the work area with a big box fan, even if outside is a good idea. For what the pro's charge, I let them take the risk and deal with the mess.

 

Ross,

I totally agree about letting the pros do it. I blasted quite a few years when working in a truck body shop and hated every minute of it. I just didn't have the $1000 the pro wanted. I also have done blasting on my own projects before the internet and all of information available about all the dangers we expose ourselves to and am still here without any devastating effects.

I also painted many times using only a face respirator without any affects except the one time during my first paint job when my boss removed his respirator after spraying a truck hood and I followed. We weren't using a booth and I didn't know any better, I just thought he knew what he was doing. By the afternoon I could hardly breath. I learned a valuable lesson that first time. I take extra care never to remove my respirator unless the room is complete aired out or I'm outside. I also don't linger in the paint area once I have a coat of paint laid. I open doors and windows to air the area out.

I figure the key is "prolong exposure", I don't do this kind of stuff on a regular basis, no where near as much as if I was doing it on a daily or weekly basis like a professional. I may paint only 2-3 times a year at most. I am not trying to down play your warnings and I think any one thinking of doing this type of work, even if only once, should know all the dangers and plan accordingly. If anyone has any questions about the safety of doing a procedure they should err on the side of safety and over do any safety precautions, or better yet, have a pro do it. I personally think if some one has never done any of this type of work, and only is going to do it once at home, they should leave it to a pro. It's just not worth the time,mess and costs to do it yourself and the dangers if you don't know how to do it properly.

 

Hope you didn't think my comments were directed at you, Bob, I know from previous discussions you are aware of the issues. I admit to being a fascist when it comes to safety. The industry I worked in was very serious about safety and it sunk in that shortcuts don't pay. I cringe when I see people's comments about the EPA/OSHA *******s doing these awful things that are spoiling all our fun; the world nowadays is a far safer place than when I was a kid. Doing it yourself is a great thing but only if you don't kill yourself doing it!

 

Ross,

No problem. I think we've known each other via FTE long enough to know where we each are coming from with our posts.

I think if every one was totally honest there would be a lot who would admit they don't follow safety precautions to the letter. Most of us will skirt safety procedures to save time and money, maybe not intentionally but because we don't have the exact equipment, time or money. It's a lot easier to say what we should do than to do it. I am being totally honest when I explain how I do something, I don't follow all the rules myself. I know it's not the smartest thing to do but I'm human and I try to get away with doing the least I can. Again, it's not the smartest thing to do but I'm being honest. I'm not out to impress anyone and I don't see any reason to act holier than thou. I'm not saying you are, I totally appreciate it when some one sees the real value in doing things by the book, I'm just trying to say I don't say what I don't do. It's hard to express in written words what I am trying to get across. I'm not trying to run down anyone's ideas, how I do something is how I do it. I won't be any safer to say I do it one way when I really do it another way. I don't like putting up a show. If you were standing in my shop you and I, any one else present, would be discussing a variety of subjects and would it would easier to get our points across.

Boy, I hope I was able to express what I was trying to say.

 

I got it! If we define the high road, at least people will know when they are taking a shortcut. Risks are everywhere, if you understand them, you can make intelligent choices about accepting them.

 

Ross,

You just said in two sentences what I was trying to say in one big paragraph.

Thanks,

Bob

 

ct50f1,

When are you going to paint it. Are you going to do anything else to the frame first?

 

We didn't actually use sand. It was a product called Patriot Blast - Slag Abrasive Product. Since the frame wasn't in that bad shape to begin with, we used the fine grit - 4 bags did the job at around $12 per bag.

Regarding safety, the bag contains the following label:
Health Hazard - 0
Specific hazard - 0
Fire Hazard - 0
Reactivity - 0

"Contains 99-100% coal slag. Treat as nuisance dust. Typical free silica is less than 0.1%. This material is not a recognized as carcinogen or cocarcinogen. Mechanical irritation may occur if proper protective equipment is not used."

We didn't try to collect it. Most of it blew away as dust and what was left will be covered by weeds as soon as it gets warm in the spring. I was really surprised how little of it was laying around when we were done. I'm lucky that I have about 2 acres and the building where I work on the truck is far enough away from the house and the neighbors that it wasn't a problem. At least I haven't heard from any of the neighbors yet.