What type of media works best for sandblasting a frame?

[Leathernek]

After buying a bigger compressor, sandblaster, a good frame, I'm finally ready to sandblast! My question is what type & grit of media works best on the model a frame without leaving a bad profile on the metal? Someone suggested aluminum oxide- but that stuff's expensive!

thanks in advance,
Josh

[Tom Wesenberg]

I use BLACK BEAUTY from Menards. It's ground up coal slag and it works just fine. It does a good job of cutting rust and leaves the metal ready for paint after a wipe down with wax and grease remover. Actually the wax and grease remover may not be neccessary, but I do it on my sandblasted chassis parts.

[Leathernek]

what grit is that Tom? I'm going to Tractor supply and I think they sell something similar

[Kurt in NJ]

When I sandblast I go to the local drywall warehouse and get 100 lb bags of sand, they have 2 sizes ,#50 which is too coarse, and "00" which pours through window screen---I learned to always sift the media---it only takes 1 pebble or wad of paper to clog the metering valve and there is enough to do when you are sandblasting without having to take apart the pot to remove debris jammed in the passages.

given the heavy nature of blasting media different regions may have better options, here in south jersey we have sand mines.

in a recycling blast cabinet I like crushed glass media

A good water seperator is important.

[ford1]

for single use go to your local gravel yard and get dried plaster sand, take it home and sift it thru a window screen, its about $15 a ton good for about 15 bags of sand, sand blast on dirt and it will just disappear into the dirt

[Craig Lewis]

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I had my frame blasted with black nickel slag.
It came back super clean and bright, with a rough abraded texture that hangs onto primer or paint like nothing else.
I'm no expert on this stuff, but it sounds as if the coal slag Tom speaks of is very similiar.
The blaster dude worked over my frame on a large tarp in his back yard. I got right outer there when he started, but believe the idea was to recycle some of the grit on the tarp as it can be used over & over again.
I bought a 50 bag for use in my bead blast cabinet and your can't wear it out. It just gets finer and finer.

Back to the original subject...I found that fine grit nickle slag is extremely sharp and cleans into corners well. By comparison the medium grit seemed a little course and bounced back unless the pressure was cranked.
Different products will very and in fact last time I asked they couldn't get me nickel slag and sent some crushed green bottle glass which works just OK.
The nickel slag gives a finer abraded surface to accept paint in my opinion.

[Terry, NJ]

I buy broken bags of general purpose sand for $1.00 a 50 lb bag . Since the bags are broken, they won't be 50 lbs. It works fine! My sand blaster has a screen on top that filters out the pebbles. My biggest headache with this is the fact that I'm always shoveling up the sand. My sand pot runs out too quickley. I try to recover the sand on a plastic tarp. But before it hits the tarp, it hits the secondary piece of sheet metal I place behind the primary piece of work. This way, I'm preparing another piece with the "Overspray" from doing the the primary piece. It helps!
Terry

[Doug in NJ]

Black Beauty works well for me, and Tractor Supply sells it. If you are able to sweep up the used material, you can recycle it once or twice before it gets too dusty. The once-used material is finer, and nice for removing paint from not-too-rusty sheet metal.

Doug

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

I/we use aluminum oxide for rust removal and plastic for paint stripping.

[Kevin in NJ]

Just throwing this out there...

If you do not wish to do blasting, some have made an electrolytic rust removal tank. A large plastic and some kind of form big enough to submerge the frame and let it bubble for a day or two.
It will get rid of the rust. The process also seems to get rid of many paints.

It is a safe cost effective alternative that may work for your situation.

The tank could also be used for whole body panels. I know of at least one person that used this method for his body panels too.

Blasting with sand or black beauty does a nice job too. Just messy and you must expect to have dust get everywhere even places you thought were sealed well.

[Keith True]

For mechanical parts I've always used Black Beauty.Even on heavy rust I use the fine,it really isn't all that fine.#2040 under the old Black Beauty name,if your local plant is one of the plants that was bought up,the new # is 2043.Now called Patriot blast.It is coal slag,the plants are set up at coal fired power plants.All zero's on the hazardous chart,treat as a nuisance dust only.You're talking about heavy parts,not sheet metal,and that stuff cuts well on them.It does leave a toothed surface,on heavy metal parts I always found DP40 worked fine on them.If you do any flat finished surfaces,such as the panels on the sides of fire trucks,dump bodies,etc.you can hit it with 80 grit and prime after that.They do make a finer grit I've used on sheet metal a lot but I can't remember the number.At a blasting seminar I went to years ago I got a lot of interesting info.For sheet metal chilled iron grit was a good choice,it hits the surface and kind of spreads on contact,and that is what strips the surface.Silica,also does a good job,hits and explodes,and the fracturing does the work.They are used at a fairly low pressure.Aluminum oxide is great,but you need to be using it in a booth to recover it.Otherwise you have to mortgage the farm to buy it.I've always blasted with total loss.I have a 175 CFM compressor,and 200,400,and 600 pound pots.I doubt I use 60 PSI while blasting.When the new owners of the slag plant put all the old records in their computer,they told me I had bought over 300 tons of media over the years.

[Honkey84]

DO NOT USE SAND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Silicosis is a respiratory disease caused by breathing in (inhaling) silica dust. Symptoms: Cough; Shortness of breath; Weight loss.

Same thing as asbestosis, use a proper blasting media such as black beauty, coal slag, alum oxide, etc. Even when using the proper media you still need a respirator for the inhale hazard. This is serious stuff!

[Jon-Ohio]

If you do use sand make sure you have good respitory protection preferably an air supplied respirator. Silicosis is a deadly disease associated with sandblasting (long term) and other activities where fine silica dust is generated.

http://www.ehow.com/about_4596363_wh...utm_source=ask

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Leathernek

what grit is that Tom? I'm going to Tractor supply and I think they sell something similar

I thought the bag used to be labeled 80-120 grit, but I just looked at the last bag I bought and it says 1.5-2.0 MIL. Anyway it is what I'd call medium or medium fine. In my cabinet it just keeps recycling and getting finer and finer until it gets sucked out by the fan. Years ago I started using silica sand, but that broke up so quickly and made a dust cloud in the cabinet that the fan couldn't keep up with. As soon as I switched to BLACK BEAUTY things really improved, as the blasting was much cleaner and faster.

For your frame I'd work outside and place plastic around it, so you can capture and reuse most of the media. I bought a small pressure pot from Northern Hydraulics about 20 years ago. It works much better and faster than my syphon gun. Harbor Freight sells a similar pressure pot.

[sukhoi]

The easy,economical way is electrolysis, if you have the room for a large plastic tank for large items. Black beauty works very well but does require clean up.

If not familiar: google: electolysis

[ford1]

honkey 84, so is cigerette smoke, gas fumes, wood smoke, dust, cleaning supplies and almost every thing else you come across in every day life, the only difference from them and sand blasting is you breathe them 24 hours a day with out a mask, and sand blasting is only done once in a while and you have on a resperator and a dust mask, the odds of getting sick from sand blasting is a 1000 time less than all the other things i mentioned, especially second hand cigerette smoke

[nick c]

I use a sand called pom 25, it is fine. If you buy it from a retail place it will cost about $6.00/ 50lb. The same bag at the at the plant that bags it is about $3.00 a bag. I buy in bulk, that means I have a stainless steel container that holds 4,000 lbs, thats about 3 cents/lb. If there a plant near you take a barrel or other container in the back of a truck and they will fill it for you. Use a good painters mask and hood!

[Leathernek]

Thanks for all the great info, guys! I think I'm gonna go with Black beauty coal slag- I like the fact that its low dust, no silica and doesn't absorb moisture like sand. I like the idea of electrolysis but just don't have the room for a tank in my two car "carriage house" lol-

Josh

[d.j. moordigian]

I like and do a lot electrolysis! The frame, for me, would have to be done in 2 steps,
front & back. If I blast the frame, which media is the BEST to leave the original finish
and draw marks in the metal?

Thanks, Dudley

[wrndln]

I have found silica sand is the best and cheapest, except for bulk sand. I use a fresh air breathing system for sandblasting and painting. Works great, except for tangled hose now and then. I purchased Black Beauty coal slag once and will never buy it again as I couldn't easily sift it through my screen when I recycled it once or twice. It kept getting stuck in the screen. I spread a very large tarp over the ground and reclaim over 50% of the sand to blast again. I have also found that wearing coveralls keeps most of the sand from getting in your shorts and other places that aren't desirable. Until I purchased the fresh air system and started wearing coveralls, I hated blasting, now it is still not a pleasant task, but much better.
Rusty Nelson

[Mitch]

Leathernek,

Just finished the whole car. At Tractor Supply, its "Black Diamond" in 50 lb. bags. You will want to get the finer grit, which is marked 40-80 or 60-80 (don't have the bag in front of me). This will leave the best finish for paint and will run thru a 3/32" or 1/8" nozzle nicely. We blasted from 40-60 psi.

For the frame only, the 20-60 grit would work fine. It will require a bit larger nozzle to keep the grit from clogging the nozzle. And fresh air supply works best.

[Joe Young]

I am lucky enough to have a friend in the sand blast business. He uses nothing but black beauty and I get it from inside his large indoor blasting building. Fill up 5 gallon buckets and strain through window screen. The air supplied hood is a must if you do much blasting and it won't fog up. I use a meat cutters coat that my wife put velcro on the sleeves to keep sand out. I can sand blast for hours without getting material in my ears,
pockets or navel. If you have done much blasting without proper equipment you know what I mean.

[Honkey84]

Originally Posted by ford1

honkey 84, so is cigerette smoke, gas fumes, wood smoke, dust, cleaning supplies and almost every thing else you come across in every day life, the only difference from them and sand blasting is you breathe them 24 hours a day with out a mask, and sand blasting is only done once in a while and you have on a resperator and a dust mask, the odds of getting sick from sand blasting is a 1000 time less than all the other things i mentioned, especially second hand cigerette smoke

If you want to shave years off your life go right ahead! I simply stated that there are SERIOUS DANGERS to using the inappropriate media. You say its every once and while, but how many once and whiles is that over a life time? Think cumulative effects. I sure you don't handle asbestos every once and a while do you? So light up a butt at the gas pumps, and have a great day it's your life to live!

[jmeckel]

I also use Black Beauty media, Menards and TSC sell it around here. I also wear a good resperator as I already have major lung issues and kind of want to protect the old lungs! Be very careful if you use sand, it will cause lung issues, maybe not today, but it will at some point.... Black Beauty cuts rust and old paint very fast and leaves a very good finish to paint. I have also used it on metal yard chairs without causing any warping to the thin metal. I highly recommend it.

[TD]

I found that when using sand a good mask is a must and do it with your back to the wind and most of the dust is carried away. I spread a tarp same way and get much more sand to re use.