Sandblasting

[arkracing]

I posted this in the 67-72 general message board...but will put it here too...

what is the average price for sandblasting a frame with the crossmembers and ctrl arms these days..
I've never had one done..but was curious to see what it may set me back if i wanted to.

any info would be helpful...thanks guys

[kewlbear]

I'd do it for $150, most prof places charge $200-250 an hour, sounds high but just think how long it would take by hand. You can blast alot of small parts in and hour, and the frame you described prob take bout an hour or hour an half. I just did a bare bone nissan frame for $75.

[arkracing]

It's actually a Fabricated frame that I made for my '33. The reason i'm asking is cause it is all new 2x4 steel and I want to blast it to get the surface uniform before painting (also advised by POR-15 to do this) something about the coating on the metal and the weld areas or something...i don't know

but the frame is much smaller than my '69 frame..and I have a front straigh axle that i want done too...so i'm hopeing somewhere around $150 or so. I could do it myself but i don't know if my compressor can keep up..it is a 7horse dual stage 60gallon upright??? and it seems everytime i use a blaster it clogs up on me no matter how many water filters i use

is it possible that the sand grit is too heavy and clogs the tips??? - i usually have to clean the tip out and it will work for a few minutes and then do the same thing.

Any Info would be great
Thanks Guys

[mikeperez22]

Local sandblast shop wanted $65/hr. I took my 72 Blazer frame outside, bought 9 100 lb bags of sand and a 20 gallon pressure blaster from Tractor Supply. It only took me one afternoon and the frame was perfectly clean when I was finished. The best news is that I spent the same or less money than a professional shop would charge, and I get to keep the sandblaster. Just my two cents.

[kewlbear]

That compressor should keep up with no problem. Mine is 60 gallon single stage. Sounds like you did samething I did, hook air line directly into compressor?? If so your gonna have to redo it, mine keep clogging too. Mine is a 10 gallon pressure blaster, kept clogging where air and sand meet. Ask around and looked around on here for a solution, and the most common answer was to get outlet away from compressor. Most want the outlet atleast 30ft away. You can look on air compressor web sites and most will have a diagram on how they recommend you do it. I did this, ran 3/4 pvc 35ft on a slight slop, put down spout at compressor end and far end with ball valve on both ends to drain water build up, put my outlet at the end, tee off one foot above the ball valve with filter and then airline. Water problem solved, I also use disposable filter on blaster tank for extra protection. I also sift the sand before I use it, to sift out big stuff, cause If you don't, you will be down cleaning tip every couple of minutes. If you used playground sand its a must. Grade #4 sand is best but I still sift it, this sand is also getting hard to find here where im at. With all these lawsuits poppin up everywhere, nobody wants to liable for it. I made a sifter out of a gallon coffee can, cut the bottom out of it and put metal type window screen on the bottom, ran small piece of all thread thru top and hung it on top of a five gallon bucket put a industrial viberator on can and Another problem solved. No sand and no air tip clogged, no sand but have air water clog (assuming you have pressurized blaster)

[Alex Hayley]

kewlbear, that is GREAT information!!! What disposable filter do you use?

[arkracing]

KewlBear...Great stuff there...I have my PCV Lines in a 50x25 garage and all the line have a drop off for draining...i'll try sifting the sand maybe that is the problem.

#4 huh??

I'll try it and see what happens...but thanks for the great info on that

[kewlbear]

Any disposable filter, you can buy them at any hardware store and auto paint stores or lowes, and home depot. They run bout $5 to $7 for a two pack, it screws inline just like your fittings. The Grade #4 sand is what it is called, says that on the bag. Sift a bag of the this in under 2 min and bag of "play ground" sand will take you 15 to 20 min. Thats a big difference when you are strapped for time, and need 8 or 10 bags to complete a job. Eastwood has some sandblasting stuff if you ever want to look at there web site. www.eastwood.com www.tptools.com the tptools has all kinds of sandblasting and media blasting anything you need and help you can get from this place. Maybe this will give you somemore help, think both places offer free catalogs.