Sandblasting-sheetmetal distortion
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,495
Likes: 2
From: Northwest Fl
Most home or hobby type blasters will not likely damage sheet metal but you should use a little caution. Hold the nozzle to a 45 degree angle or less while blasting and use the lowest amount of air that will do the job. This will save your compressor, reduce water in your lines and lesson the chance of damage. Move the nozzle around and avoid blowing in one spot for too long.
I don't know the year truck your working on, but most older vehicles had pretty tough skin, hard to warp with home stuff unless you were just trying to. I blasted every square inch of my 55 without the slightest bit of damage, but it is 16 ga. The newer the vehicle, usually the thinner the skin, so it might pay to experiment a little with your set-up before going hog wild. Good luck!
I don't know the year truck your working on, but most older vehicles had pretty tough skin, hard to warp with home stuff unless you were just trying to. I blasted every square inch of my 55 without the slightest bit of damage, but it is 16 ga. The newer the vehicle, usually the thinner the skin, so it might pay to experiment a little with your set-up before going hog wild. Good luck!
Senior User
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 166
Likes: 1
From: Aviano AB, Italy
as long as your sheet metal is thicker then .0625 inch then you should have no problems sand blasting without distortion. 90 psi is way to much though you need alot of volume but use the lowest pressure possible to get the job done as Huntsman said NO MORE THAN 60psi measured at the Nozzle!!!! that's very important. With sandblasting you should have an impact angle of 90 degrees to the surface and a stand off of 6-8 inches in a cabinet if you're in a walk in booth or are just plain using a huge nozzle size or are really worried about warping the steal then you can step back to about a 10-12 inch stand off distance as jacque_strap said don't blast in one area continuously work along the panel sort of like you're painting it you don't have to take it down to bare metal with one pass either. I media blast (either sand or plastic) on F-16 parts quite often and they may look like tough aircraft but they're quite fragile so if I can get away with these techniques on the aircraft's aluminum or steel then you should have no problem with it on a car. just have fun cleaning up afterward you have to make sure to get all media off and out of cracks before you paint.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
From: WV
just an idea..... i saw a long time ago where some people were using high pressure water mixed with some type of grit to remove rust and paint. they hit the glass and rubber with it to show how it wont damage them. and the heat was not there. looked like a good idea but like i said it was a while back and i have'nt heard anything else about it since. Eddie II
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