VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1965-1970 sandblasting

I have a 53 and a 66 chevy pickup. i was wondering about how sandblasting works and if the price was reasonable. What would it intel and about how much would it take to get started?

for general information type in this sight (wikipedia/sandblasting)
as to cost wow thats a tuff one it depends on what you want
to do a small cabinet about $300 to $1000 plus a good 5 hp air compressor mim.
their are other ways also like out side but you need to be away from other residencies or you will get the neighbors p.o.

Get off of the computer go to a couple of paint & body shops that do restoration work and ask them about some reputable abrasive blasting contractors, you don't want the guys that do steel bridges or the ones that put the names on tombstones, ones that do antique cars trucks and tractors.

If you do it your self a 5 hp home air compressor and a sand blaster will work but you will be spending much of your time waiting for air pressure to build up. Harbor Freight has a small pressure unit for a low price. you will need a supply of sand and a good water knockout for your air supply. But think on the positive side, after you spend all that money and go thru a training and learning period you are ready to start blasting! and you will have that air compresser you always needed.

You need to do a lot of reserch on this one. Because if you just go at it you may be learning how to shrink metal after you are done. There have been many a car ruined because of sandblasting improperly. You can go to a rental shop and rent the equipment you need for cheap. Remember. What warps the sheet metal is the thousands of grits of sand peening your sheet metal. Not heat. go to diff. sites like Hot Rodders and such and do a search there on sandblasting. A 100lb blast pot needs about 35 cfm to work properly. About 13cfm for a blast cabinet. Stay away from silica sand it will kill you and stay away from soda blast. Was never meant for cars. It will come back and bite you as it is really hard to clean properly. Good luck and happy reading.

If you use a hobbiest 40 gallon regulated pressure size sblaster hooked to a shop compressor (up to 10 Horsepower and an 80 gallon tank)and have a means to seperate the moisture and compressor oil from the air supply to the blaster and use good abrasives. you won't have much trouble with shrinking metal unless you are working on a 70s or later thin metal car or truck. You will have to learn the process. When you start blasting keep the nozzle moving around in a small 8 or 12 inch square, and as soon as the color changes to metallic gray move on. The problems with shrinkage are words of caution, and apply to the large industrial sandblasting units (100 hp compressors and one inch blasting hoses) I have had a couple of truck doors done at a commercial sandblaster (they do cars, bedsteads, etc.) and they did a very good job. I think most of the bad stuff about sandblasting comes form the sellers of the paint and rust removing chemicals that you see advertised and at swap meets, I tied the rust removal stuff Phosphoric acid based, and it is dangerous, to your body and to all the steel tools in your shop, even with the garage door open I had a lot of tools, drill bits etc. that were rusted badly with me using the stuff to remove rust from a couple of hoods and trunk lids and a welding table.
These chemicals are harder to protect your self from than silica, which is bad If you are worried about your innards like lungs, invest in an air supplied positive pressure breathing device, they are about as cheap as a couple of days in a doctor's office. I paid around $500 for mine.

I recently went thru a similar exercise in trying to decide if I wanted to invest in the equipment and materials. I was getting ready to restore five wheels, inside door panels, interior molding, etc. I asked a nearby P&B shop and auto paint supplier. I concluded that for my needs, purpose, work space etc. it was a lot less hassle to have a professional do it. The guys referenced suggested an outfit that had lots of experience in doing cars and small parts. They bead blasted all the parts for less than $200 and all I had to do was drop them off and pick them up. They were done in less than 24 hours and I didn't have a mess to clean up or cranky neighbors or family because of the dust and grit.

I have used a small siphon feed sandblaster to clean small parts, but when it came time to remove several layers of paint on my wire wheels I used a local shop. It was a good decision; 6 years ago they charged me $100 for 5 wheels.

When you inquire at a pro shop, be sure to ask about different types of media. Black Beauty (coal dust) is aggressive and fast cutting, but may distort sheet metal. It's ok for frames and heavy components. For sheet metal ask if they have experience with walnut shells, baking soda or ground corn cob. Just about any abrasive media can be used, but be aware that since "time equals money" most shops will use the fastest compound available unless you specify otherwise.

I have invested around $500 in a bead blasting cabinet that uses a siphon gun to bead blast, since I already had a 6.5HP and a 5HPhop compressors, a large shop vac for dust removal it worked out well for me.
Before that I had a "Sandblast from a bucket" That also worked for panels, and small parts, they take a lot of air. I did a used and abused Craftsman riding mower that I bought for $50 with the "blast from a bucket" in the back yard, and it worked fine. One of my friends that runs a radiator shop uses one of the gravity fed spot blasters on radiator tanks etc. very effectively to prepare small leaks for soldering.

There are a lot of possibilities out there if you are interested in scouting around.