To pay or buy equipment RE: Blasting

[fade94]

I have been checking around for prices on getting my frame blasted and powdered. What I am finding, is that I can purchase a blaster for a little more than what it would cost just to have my frame done. Then I could blast whatever I wanted to. I already have a very large compressor as well as a shop. I will still pay to get the coating done, but by me doing the blasting, I will be able to coat more parts.
Opinions?
Or, I could blast the stuff myself and the use Rust Encapsulator.
What would you do?

[mocwon]

This is a nasty, time consuming and potentially dangerous job. A small pressurized sand blaster is a nice and convenient tool to have but sand blasting a frame is quite a chore. The equipment professionals use is nothing like what most folks could or would afford to buy. They spend thousands of dollars on equipment and materials and are capable of blasting a frame in 1-2 hours at the most. Its well worth paying the $100- $200 to have the frame blasted professionally. Be sure to get self-etching primer applied immediately after blasting or have the frame powder coated right away or flash rust will develop.

[Gee_Emm]

I vote for get someone else to do both. Its cheap enough to get done, not worth the hassle.

[cdowns]

i've had a pressurized blaster for over 15 years and the thing has paid for itself a hundred times.2 weeks ago i blasted a streetrod frame ,it took me about 3hours total cost for sand was less than $25

BUYING TOOLS IS GOOD

[shifty]

can you just use a hardcore pressure washer to blast it, or is that a really dumb question? I mean, thinking about it, if you blast the crap out of it with water, you can get most of the stuff off of it, then set it out to dry in the sun, sand it (to remove any light surface rust, run some mineral spirits over it and paint it with rust encapsulator and it's good to go.

Forgive if me my naivete if shining through

[Daxcor]

You can actually use a 2900 psi washer with a sand syphoin tip. the idea is that the water will create a vacumm and it will pickup the sand out of the bucket via the tip and tube. the nice thing about this is that there is no dust. I is a very messy and wet job but you usally can rent both items for very little. then what I did was use the por15 process to clean , metal prep and paint. the flash rust didnt matter as por15 likes it. but if you where to dry blast it after then you would be ok as well.

Brad

[wanted]

I just blasted my own frame. I bought a cheapo pressure tank style. It worked OK but next time I'll pay someone else. When you wear the correct safety gear it gets pretty uncomfortable and it's really tough to see what you're doing cuase the mask lens get dirty, scratched and foggy. When I was finally done the blaster components were worn out. I'll have to replace the valves on it.
I'm just going to build a enclosed box and use the blaster for small parts, I'll gladly pay for the large stuff.

[chief bobber]

I've had blasters of many types and shapes. These days I have a pressure blaster that holds about a half a bag of black beauty and will clean up a frame in about two hours. It's nasty work, but if you intend on contiuning with this madness (I.E. old rusty trucks) and you already have a big enough compressor, then all you need to do is hire a helper to blast for you LOL. Seriously in the long run it is well worth it. I've never used the rust encapsulator ,but I thought it wanted a bit of rust to do it's job. I'm more of an oiler when it comes to frames.

[racer face]

Let someone else do it. It makes a big mess,sandblasting

[Erl]

Blast it yourself. The time you will spend loading it up, dealing with the guy, then picking it up will be more than doing it yourself. Why are you using a rust encapsulator down here? Are you planning on moving up north? How about a 2 part paint, it will out last you down here. Paint it yourself, it is just a frame (unless it is a show truck). Just my thoughts and they may not apply to you.
Erl