UK

It certainly beats paying the price to have it done.

 

There was a neat 2-month (or so) article on dipping vs. blasting in Cars & Parts magazine a couple years ago. In fact, they were blasting a '56 Effie cab for the article. The owner chose to have it blasted (a different cab went thru the dip) because the cab corners were already replaced and had been epoxy primed before going in. He didn't want the acid to remove the primer that's down in a place you can't get to once the corners are installed.

The article give the pros and cons of both. Both seem equal as clean up methods, but the article gives reasons why you would choose one over the other.

 

I also use the Harbor Frieght blaster works great, I'm using a 6hp 60gal comp. it keeps up beter using the smaller blasting tips, and I can actually tell when they are getting worn out by the comp working harder to keep up.

Mike

 

Can anybody tell me what the model number is of the Harbor Freight blaster? I haven't found it in the catalog.

 

I've got the HF blaster also. The normal price is about $29 and I think it goes on sale for $15. Sorry I don't know the model number. John

 

go to Harbor Freight and put 'blaster' in the 'find by keyword' search field.... there are three, 20, 40 and 80 pounders.. I have the 40.. works great, but slow to fill due to the small neck size..

this one Texas Blaster is AWESOME, but costs 3 times more..


I also bought this blast hood which is a lot better than the one with the blaster.. Oh and I bought a different nozzle/valve too.. wore the first one out..

Sam

 

I had the main body of my panel and two back doors blasted and epoxy primed, inside and out, for $600, about two years ago. I was a lot cheaper than sanding with a hand sander to strip the old paint and rust. The guy who did the blasting got into areas that would very difficult to get into with a hand sander. I recently had main part of a Ford 8N tractor blasted and epoxy primed for $300, this was done by a different guy who did it out in the country on an old farm. If you look around, ask around too so you end up with someone with a good reputation, which is how I found the last guy, you will find different prices for the same service. Also, try to have it done when the person is kind of slow and looking for the work, he’ll lower his price to get work in.

I will be blasting my front end pieces of my panel in a blasting booth I built out of an 6'X6' steel enclosure I got for free. I use a small syphon feed blaster with a 3hp compressor. Since this is not a very strong system I use black slag, which is a very aggressive media and I would never use it in a pressure blaster but with my small system it helps make up for the power I don't have. I have blasted sheet metal parts on the 8N and other parts without any warpage.

Also what I have done in the past is, again I did with the 8N, if the body part had a lot of paint but a small amount of rust, I used paint stripper and stripped all of the paint. I masked of the seams in the sheet metal to prevent the stripper from getting in. After I got the paint and body filler off I rinsed the part according to the stripper instructions, removed the tape and then sand blasted the seams and the rust. This way I was able save time with the sandblaster and I didn't have to concentrate the blaster on the stubborn paint and I didn't have to worry about the stripper hiding in the seams.

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=40925
Heres the link to the blaster I use. Can put 50lb of media in it at a time.
Mike

 

Thanks, folks. Good info on the blasters. My compressor is a little on the weak side, but it will just take longer.

 

I have the 140 lb Texas Blaster. It is worth every penny.

 

I had thought I would want to blast first to find any problem area, but I see alot of you go right primer. Do I repair first or blast first?

 

The primer that you want to put it in right away is an epoxy. This is so the bare metal isn't hanging out for weeks or months (years) on end. It will begin rusting again soon. Once in primer, you can go ahead and do your repairs. Once the repair is done, you can squirt it with more primer to check the bodywork. After that, it's just prime and sand....prime and sand....prime and sand...

 

Good point MT. A worn tip makes a huge difference in the air consumption. I often forget to change mine soon enough as they wear so fast.

And it should be noted you're looking for a pressurized tank style blaster. The lid screws back on and seals the tank after you fill with sand. Open hopper gravity feed style blasters aren't very good for large jobs. And the prices of a pressure blaster have come way down. Mine was about $180, and identical to a HF model that sells for under 100 bucks now.

 

Soda blasting will not touch rust at all so for rust removal it has to be a different media or acid treated.

 

Say, I saw a thread from somone on here said that there was someone who did BEAD BLASTING in Grand Forks ND? Where abouts in Grand Forks. Thats where I am at.

Needin somethin done.

THANKS