I saw this lil handy dandy sandblaster at Lowes for 30 bucks. Just hook up to compressor and stick the end into a 5 gallon bucket of sand and let her rip. I want to take the bed off my 74 F-250 and do the axel, frame and underside of bed b4 I por 15 it and was wondering if any of you fellas have seen and/or used it. Looks pretty trouble free and not very hard to use. Any suggestions or maybe a better idea on how to do this? Buffing the entire thing with a wire wheel would be a pain, too many hard places to reach. My frame, etc is not bad at all just needs a lil clean up before I coat it. Thanks gurus!!

 

I'm right there with you wondering how well these work. About to do a body swap, and one of these would be pretty useful...

 

I have one of those and it is great for little projects but it uses lots of air I had a 100 gallon 220V compressor and it ran probably 2 out of 10 min, tuff to keep them from getting plugged up too sand must be very dry and have not debries in it. Never blasted any sheet metal with it, you need to be careful from what I have heard it is very easy to warp sheet metal while blasting. Most body shops around here soda blast (baking soda) instead of using sand so they don't damage body parts.
-Johnboy

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that POR actually adheres better to a rusty surface than bare metal. While you could use the blaster to knock off any flaking rust, I would keep it a fair distance back to avoid removing the rust altogether. POR is awfully expensive to have it just fall back off because there is no rust for it to convert! When I did mine, I just used a hotsy to get rid of all the grime and oil/grease, let dry well and apply the POR. I have, however, found the blaster to be very useful in prepping the bed for permanent liner - still need a healthy compressor, though.

 

The biggest problem with sand blasting is the air consumption. You really need a good compressor to do a good job. With a small compressor and suction blaster you will waste a ton of sand and it will take forever to do. Sand blasting is by far the best way to restore a frame or remove rust but if you don't do this alot it may be more cost effective to pay someone who does it proffesionally. IT was posted here last week that it could be done for about 100 bucks or so . IMO

 

I agree with duste. If you're doing small jobs the suction blaster will work fine if you've got a good compressor. Otherwise, it's a good idea to let someone else do it. Sandblasting a truck frame shouldn't cost most than $150-200 providing it's stripped and ready to blast. Money well spent. I know this from experience. I ended up buying a new compressor after burning mine up... Now I have one big enough to do the job, but I'll still let someone else do the next one!

 

hey stealth,
I too had a syphon sand blaster, and to be truthful it sucked. If you ever use a cabinet then you get spoiled. Last month I bought a soda blaster that can be used with abrasives too. It takes a compressor that can provide about 80 cfm at 90 psi. I have a compressor 240 volt that gives me 125psi / 80 cfm. If you have the compressor then this is a great tool. It cost about 250 with all the little extra stuff you need to buy, gloves, mask, soda etc. I have used it three times so far and it really kicks some A--. It is a pressure pot type, really nice and can blast about a 3/4 inch strip. I have used it on body work and frame and small parts. Look up eastwood and go to their soda blaster. A note of caution, if you sand blast with sand, it can F--- your lungs up quick. So use a mask that is rated at least N100. about $15 at Grainger or paint store. another advantage with soda, it will leave a protective coating on the metal for up to 2 months if you keep it dry. So it won't flash rust on you.

JIM

 

I think those syphon deals blow hot chunks!, messy as hell too!
get yourself a pressure washer, blast it down good, let it dry and Por 15 it, Done!

 

Another advantage of the soda is you can blast chrome, glass, rubber trim and not hurt it. Nice when you need to spot blast and not take it all apart. Won't warp metal either. Baking soda also cleans up nice. Not bad for the enviroment either. Just hose it down. I put a sheet of plastic and blast then scoop it up and do it again. You can get three or so times usage out of the soda. The soda does not work good on heavy rust though. You need something more abrasive to remove heavy rust.

 

I have one of these and they don't suck (that's the problem)...... they are one of the worst things I ever bought

A person needs to keep the particles dry and one needs a pressure tank and water trap on the air line.

I wouldn't waste my money on that siphon system

 

By the time you buy what you need to do the job correctly and easily, you will have far exceeded the cost of paying somebody to do it for you who already has the equipment. Then there is doing the job itself, it has to be the most miserable thing you can do during a restoration. You will have sand creeping out of every nook and crany on your body for days after, I really hate it but it's the only way to remove rust without damaging or removing the metal.
You can buy a decent pressure pot blaster for under 100 bucks but the compressor needed to run it would cost around a grand.

 

If you don't have means or resources to get it blasted with a high power blaster, I'd have to agree with just pressure washing the crap out of it and if have to, brush off the loose rust and paint it. POR15, Rust Bullet or Chassis Saver are all made to paint over rust and are very durable paints. Also, you can just brush it on and it won't even look like you used a brush.

 

As every one else says, air compressor is the real limiting factor when it comes to sandblasting. If you have a small compressor and want to do small jobs, I would recommend a handy little gravity blaster such as the speed blaster I have. They work alot better than a siphon blaster, and cost about the same if I remember correctly.

 

is that the one that is like a gravity feed paint gun? those are pretty cool

 

There are great for small spots only, not recommended for anything bigger than rust scabs. Siphon blasters aren't worth the dynamite it would take to blow one to hell, after buying my pressurized sandblaster nothig comes close, removes skin like nothin else. lol