I got my truck bed off, all the suspension out, and I'm ready to sand. The angle grinder and wheel brush just aint cutting it, and after an hour of sanding, I havent got that far. How do I use a sandblaster? I am thinking of renting one for a day. What sand grit size do I need to blast away some pretty serious frame rust? And, will it be very messy, I am in sort of a tight area with neighbors around, I dont want the cops called on me. But, what can I use?

 

I saw this used on musclecar a while back, it uses a pressure washer to expel the media and because its used with water, there is no dust, just the mist like normal. It might cost more than your local rent center, but its an option for you:
sandblaster, sand blaster

 

If you have people close to you then you dont want to be sandblasting. You will probably get sand on their vehicles or house. The only whay to prevent this is to build a tent around the vehicle. You might be better off hauling it somewhere and having it done by someone else.
What grit sand paper are you using? 36 grit will eat thru alot of rust. I use 2" 36 grit discs for grinding welds smooth. Works better than a grinder IMO.

 

Your angle grinder with a twisted wire cup will bring that stuff off the frame. Wouldn't advise for anything else though. Regular 4 1/2" grinder, not an angle die grinder.

 

A cup brush is a good start, but it can't get into pits and corners like a sandblaster does.

Sand will fly everywhere... you need something like a portable garage with walls, or just a very big tarp to enclosure where you're working.

The pressure washer sandblaster is a great way to go. A place that rents pressure washers ought to have the sandblaster attachment as well. (Doesn't mean they _will_ have it.)

 

Yeah the wire brush does a nice job but I really want the frame down to bear metal. I will call around to see if I cant get one good day out of the pressure washer, thank u all

 

I hauled my frame to a sand blasting co. and they charged me about $200. for my bed i talked to a soda blasting co. and they wanted $600 to do the hole bed and the same for the cab. if you go with sand you need to watch it it will heat up the metal and will warp it and it can pit the metal. also the sand gets into small cracks so you need to take the extra time in cleaning it. im going soda i have heard that it will not heat up the metal of pit it, and will disintegrate with water. but it will leave a residue that needs to be cleaned off. also it is environmentally friendly.

 

But with soda blasting, if there is any left in the seams, and it gets wet, it can be just as bad as rust and will push apart the seam. Try to find someone that uses either ground up walnut shells or plastic shards to media blast.