Media for sandblasting

36Bill

36Bill

Senior Member
I want to cleanup a set of wheels for my '36. I looked for blasting media and the choices are many. We now have soda, walnut shell, glass bead, crushed glass, sand, and several more grits that sound like sandpaper. What is the best media to remove rust without too much damage to the wheels?

Bill
 
Are you having some one do them or doing it yourself?
I do my own wheels with a syphon type hopper style sand blaster and a 5hp compressor. I just use standard blasting sand (Don't know what the grit is) and have never had a problem with damage. You could use finer grit sand(3X) if you want.
I have used walnuts shells and corn when working on log cabins due to the softness of the wood but never used it on metal.
I don't do enough metal blasting to justify purchasing a soda blaster so i won't comment on them.
Torchie.
 
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I use what Ken uses in my blast cabinet. I guess it depends how cruddy your wheels are. If there are multiple heavy coats of paint or heavy rust scale then sand may cut faster. Some times if the paint is thick, glass beads just take a little longer but won't etch out the steel as bad.

For big jobs that won't fit in the cabinet, I now take the work to a local professional. He can get the job done a lot faster and easier than me trying to mess around with the sand pot and fighting water problems. I don't use my sand pot anymore, it's just not worth fighting it to me.
 
I take my wheels to my local automotive
Machine shop and have them run through
their steel shot machine, does a beautiful
job and leaves a new, smooth finish.
 
When I was getting my model a wheels powder coated the guy showed me what he uses to blast with, it is recycled glass fine grit it is about $ 7.50 for 50# at a local hardware supply store, I use it in my blast cabinet and in my Pressure sandblaster, In the sandblaster I run it thru 3 times then get rid of it, I really like the finish. Jim
 
1930pu, is there a brand name on this glass material your using ? I buy a bag from TIP now and then but shipping is pricy. In my outdoor pressure pot I am lucky as there is a sand and gravel pit not many miles from where I live. I take five gallon sheetrock pails and fill a lot of them at once, bring it home and spread it thin on a piece of plastic sheeting on the basement floor till the moisture dries up then screen it back into the pails and I'm good to go. I know it sounds like a lot to go through but the price is right and being retired helps to have time to do it.
 
Give your monument guy a call,we have one that only works on metal on Fridays after he has used the grit all week on granite.works out nice and reasonable price
 
I use silica sand from home depot. ust be sure to wear a respirator along with eye protection.
 
mfagan has the right answer. I have all my engines baked and shot peened. THey come out like a new casring. I have had wheels done in the shot peen, just like new metal in no time. Spoke wheels take hours to clean with sand blaster. Shot peen like new in no time. Walt
 
I will check tomorrow and let you know the brand name, hopefully it is available near you, the powder coater uses it for powdercoating and I did my fenders and hood and the painter likes it too. Jim
 
I use 00 grit sand to sandblast with that I get from a masonry supple store. Cost about $11 for a 100# bag. I use it 5 times before I throw it out. I hate sandblasting. It is about the dirtiest job there is in restoring an old car, but it does get the metal clean.
 
Thanks for all of the replies.
I looked in the yellow pages and didn't find anyone still in the blasting game. I have an old hopper style gun that I got years ago from Sears and it was never fun. I haven't used it in years but if I can get some grit locally I might try it again. I like the idea of taking them to someone and picking them up done. They are not really over painted, only one coat with some overspray from a long ago paint job and not much rust. I have been thinking about a Harbor Freight cabinet to make it more user friendly, has anyone used one?

Bill
 
For outdoor sandblasting I use #50, it is finer than 00, in the booth I use crushed glass, the first batches I bought from TIP at Hershey, lately I have bought it from ENCO when they have free shipping ---it is interesting to hear that 1930pu gets it at a hardware store for a good price I wish there was a good hardware store like that around here

One thing I learned is to always sift your media before using it, all it takes is 1 pebble to stop up the flow.
 
36Bill said:
Thanks for all of the replies.
I looked in the yellow pages and didn't find anyone still in the blasting game. I have an old hopper style gun that I got years ago from Sears and it was never fun. I haven't used it in years but if I can get some grit locally I might try it again. I like the idea of taking them to someone and picking them up done. They are not really over painted, only one coat with some overspray from a long ago paint job and not much rust. I have been thinking about a Harbor Freight cabinet to make it more user friendly, has anyone used one?

Bill
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I have never used a HF cabinet but thought about buying one once. Until I read the customer reviews.
Talk to your local auto parts store. They may be ble to point you to some one that can blast for you.
 
36Bill Sorry I don't have a bag I thought I still had one, but it is fine grit recycled glass I got it from a hardware supply locally
 
Torchie, The auto parts guy said to try the body shops but none of them list that as a service. I will check though. Thanks for the tip off on the cabinet, I didn't read the reviews.
1930pu, Thanks for looking. Its just crushed glass?

Bill
 
36Bill said:
Torchie, The auto parts guy said to try the body shops but none of them list that as a service. I will check though. Thanks for the tip off on the cabinet, I didn't read the reviews.
1930pu, Thanks for looking. Its just crushed glass?

Bill
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Hey Bill,
Sounds like you have the same simple equipment that I have to blast with. I checked out harbor freight cabinets and none that I inspected were large enough to do something large as a wheel. They do sell the hood/mask and various types of blast media..tho pricey IMO.
If you blast outside , as I do, you will use lots of media. So, I get 100# bags of silica sand from building supplies places (brick/stone,etc). CHEAP :) too!
Silica really cuts quick/nicely...because it is fine. Therefore, it is important to wear protection, i.e.-hood /mask/gloves/coveralls. I only own/use one horse compressor and still get pretty quick results. Good luck
 
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