Sand or Soda

[sjarrett71]

Here's my choices, I can rent a sandblaster and compressor all day for $200.00 or I can have a person soda blast for $100.00 an hour (he estimated 3). I am doing my frame and it's mostly surface rust, nothing major but I've never sandblasted anything before. It doesn't seem to hard though. I have been sanding by hand and it's tiresome. My truck isn't going to be a show truck. Do would you do?

[turp mcspray]

Soda won't cut rust. Doing it yourself isn't hard but it's a dirty, miserable, chore! If you do it yourself, do your blasting on a plastic tarp or something, so you can sweep up the sand and reuse it. Sift it through a piece of screen to remove the foreign junk.

[cdowns]

pretect your eyes lungs and skin// any exposed skin will b blasted away and bleed// a high quality hood and respirator is a must

i always use tarps and use a couple of pieces of plywood as barriers to help contain as much material as possible for recycling and cleanup// having everything that needs blasting in a pile and blast one piece at a time with the pile as a backstop also gets some secondary blasting done cutting down total time for the job



YES you're going to here the death and destruction guys pipe in but done with thought and precautions sand is a great way to go// i've been doing it for well over 40 years with no ill effects

[Hart_Rod]

I had my frame and parts blasted for less than $200....... Pay someone to sandblast it!!!! It will be less hassle and mess and will cost about the same.

[68gmsee]

Sand contains silica which is a dangerous mineral that can cause breathing problems if you don't use the proper equipment as mentioned above.

Look around to see if you can have someone sandblast it for you. Since it's the frame you don't have to worry about warping or some inexperienced person overblasting your sheet metal.

[sjarrett71]

The only person I found local who did sandblasting sold his eqiupment about a year ago.

[leddzepp]

I just picked up a frame with surface rust. A drill motor and flap discs work great.

[texanidiot25]

Sandblasting is easy, but tedious, dirty, miserable, and boring.

[blackdiesel]

call your local moument company, most of them blast in their spare time. I get all my stuff done there for $60 per hour

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by texanidiot25

Sandblasting is easy, but tedious, dirty, miserable, and boring.

Amen to that.

If you do it yourself set up your work area as far away from the house and shop as you can and then setup some barriers as the others suggested to contain the sand as well as possible. Think desert sandstorm here. The stuff drifts and tracks and will get everywhere if you do the blasting too close to the shop or house.

I'd suggest wearing at least an organic respirator to keep from breathing the dust from it. long sleeves and pants along with gloves and eye protection go along with the other safety equipment. I'd go as far as say to wear an old long sleeve shirt and throw it away when you are done to keep the grit out of the washer.

If you take it to the blaster take the time to get all the oil and grease off of it and take anything off it that you don't intend to use to save paying for the time and sand to blast that part.

The only issues or problems I have ever heard any of my friends have with having someone else do the blasting is that sometimes the workers in those places aren't too careful when the handle the frames. I've seen one that got bent by be handled with a forklift. That particular sandblast operator wasn't known for his high IQ though. If I had the frame set up on a rotisserie I think I would haul it to the blaster like that to facilitate turning it over.

[LockDoc]

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I hauled my frame to a blaster about 60 miles from me on my trailer. He said unhook the trailer and come back in about an hour. When I came back he had it all done and charged me $65. I don't know how he turned it over by himself, but he did. I was a happy camper..... 300 bucks sounds a little steep to me for the Soda blasting...

LockDoc

[72BlckButy]

Leon, that is a smoking deal. I talked with the local blaster, and to blast a complete SWB they were going to charge $400.

Scott, I would pay someone to do it. With the cost of the rental, the extra materials you will need, and the cleanup.... you will be money and time ahead. It comes down to how much is your time worth?

[sleepertruck72]

If it was to be a one time thing, I would pay someone. I personally would buy an air compressor 60 gal. or bigger, and get a harbor freight sandblaster and that way you can blast anything you want whenever you want. I cant even think of how many times I have blasted stuff for people or my own stuff. If you think you may need it for more than 3 occasions, then that would be my suggestion. It comes in handy to have, and really doesnt take up but one corner of the garage. Then again, if its just surface rust , a wire wheel or flap discs and grinder will be just as good and cheaper.

[AusMarty]

Originally Posted by sjarrett71

Here's my choices, I can rent a sandblaster and compressor all day for $200.00 or I can have a person soda blast for $100.00 an hour (he estimated 3). I am doing my frame and it's mostly surface rust, nothing major but I've never sandblasted anything before. It doesn't seem to hard though. I have been sanding by hand and it's tiresome. My truck isn't going to be a show truck. Do would you do?

Soda blasting is more expensive than sand blasting, sand blasting is more agressive and going to clean it up a lot better, a negative of soda is you can have paint adhesion problems, I would go with getting someone else to sand blast it then squirt a coat of etch primer over it straight after blasting to protect it, If you do it yourself make sure you have the right safety gear silicosis may not get you now "But it might later on "

[sjarrett71]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I guess I should broaden my search on sandblasters and pay someone to do it even if I have to haul it to them. I thought it might be cool to do it myself but it does seem like a big hassle to rent everything for $200.00 when I can pay someone close to that amount and not have the hassle.

The flap discs have been working well for me so far and the areas where I have sanded and repainted look excellent in my opinion but how do I get inside the frame rails? That's a little tricky. I will get pics up soon on my "Cheap Truck" project. I haven't got enough done to post yet but hopefully soon if the overtime keeps up.

"Cheap Truck" is copyrighted by the way! I don't want anyone using it for their project name!

(I'll explain later)

[texanidiot25]

Just surface rust right?

Get some of that surface rust eating metal prep for a local paint shop, and a bit of muratic acid from any pool supply place. DILUTE the acid heavily, and use it to degrease. It will create lots of fumes, so use a mask, but it works awesome at cleaning anything (once spilled undiluted muratic acid on our tile porch... it started cleaning the grout), and when diluted won't hurt the metal. Then, clean it up with the metal prep (mix to proper proportions), and get a rag and just wipe it anywhere you need. It will destroy surface rust pretty quick.

I once sand blasted some control arms and then they sat for week or so in between time to PC them. Light bath in the acid (just to further prep for PC really), and the surface rust prep, and those suckers were clean enough to use in open heart surgury... Assuming you use camaro a-arms in surgury...

[special-K]

Cheap Truck??I got all their albums,dude!Saw them live back in`82.

Soda shouldn`t cost that much.The guy I`ve talked to says he averages $300 for a whole car by the hour,whatever his rate is.This is in a pretty high cost area.What`s nice is powderblast first,then sandblast any exposed rust.The sodablaster guy by me has both set up in his truck.
I`ve sandblasted with no issues for years.i`ve had parts ruined by careless sandblasters,too.The guy I use has hired some low cost help and I`m hesitant to use him for any sheetmetal now.They warped a friend`s nice rustfree`57 Chevy truck up and blasted holes through the few spots the paint had popped off a steel work cap I had done.I know blasting can produce holes.But,this was just corners that had had started to pit.This is heavier than fender metal.i know I wouldn`t have gone that far with it.I`ve used a monument guy before that guy.It was all heavier steel.Figure they are used to blasting stone.some may do enough side work to be experts on sheetmetal.Some may have no idea how to treat it.I know of a good body shop that does it and they`d be safe.I imagine they`ll cost more than the others.It`s like they say,"there`s nothing like doing it yourself".

[72BlckButy]

Originally Posted by sjarrett71

I will get pics up soon on my "Cheap Truck" project. I haven't got enough done to post yet but hopefully soon if the overtime keeps up.

"Cheap Truck" is copyrighted by the way! I don't want anyone using it for their project name!

(I'll explain later)

Originally Posted by special-K

Cheap Truck??I got all their albums,dude!Saw them live back in`82.

Glad to see you chose that build name.... I think it's fitting for the build.

[Mudder]

Wish we would have known. Want me to call Calvin?Ususally he'll just let me use the sand blaster. That has been for small prodjects but you know how he is.

[leddzepp]

Originally Posted by special-K

Cheap Truck??I got all their albums,dude!Saw them live back in`82.

I got a guitar pick from Rick Nielsen. That's a good project name.

[ChevLoRay]

I have had all of my body panels, except the cab so far, soda-blasted. What I like about it is when it was done, the metal looked like it was freshly formed from the steel that was fresh from the mill. On the front of the bed, the markings from the steel mill that rolled the metal was faintly evident. With sandblasting, the surface would have been roughened and any of those marking would have been gone. I was lucky that I had no rust to be eliminated in those parts....bed, fenders, hood, cowl. Either media will find you in a hurry to put some paint on them to prevent surface rust. I also know that sandblasting done improperly can also harden the steel as it heats the metal.

[sjarrett71]

Originally Posted by Mudder

Wish we would have known. Want me to call Calvin?Ususally he'll just let me use the sand blaster. That has been for small prodjects but you know how he is.

Calvin sure is a hell of a guy, that's for sure! If you think he would let us I could buy the sand. I sure wouldn't mind towing it back there for the job. I've acquired some small pieces that need cleaned up too.

[Mudder]

I will call him.

[special-K]

Tell Calvin I have some stuff,too....Just kiddin`

[vegaschevy]

I would like to find deals like you in this town. a cab is $450 bucks to sand blast, a frame is $400, a complete truck with sheet metal is $1500, and a frame and cab soda blasted in my driveway is $1500