Sandblaster Hurt Me Bad Today...

[ChumBucket]

Sooo I'm doing my first large-scale (to me) mechanical endeavor, a frame-off '69 restoration; bed, cab, motor/tranny removed, LWB already cut down to SWB and welded back together.

So today was sandblast the frame and misc parts day....got 4 boxes of cool stuff from Nate at Porterbuilt over in the corner starting at me.

Today was the first time I've ever attempted this job, and it will be the last. What an enormous PAIN IN THE A$$!! Using a Westwood blaster, lots of air pressure, perfect weather here in mid-TN...but I got 8 bags of the wrong size Black Diamond and thus the dam nozzle kept plugging up.

So after a 1.5 hour round trip BACK to TSC to swap the stuff out I finally got started only to discover that sandblasting is a $hitty job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Results look great but wow, I think I'll write a check next time.

[PanelDeland]

Sandblasting is not for the faint of heart.It does a great job of cleaning stuff up tho.I hope you get it covered with something so it doesn't flash rust.Just think,now you get to start putting it back together.

[webfoot]

I agree it sucks, but having the right gear can help a bunch too. Also knowing how to hold the gun to make the angle you are blasting at keep a lot of the crap from blowing back in your face. A set of thicker rubber gloves is a must! Also if you are trying to blast through greasy or thick undercoating the media doesn't remove this very efficiently.

My last big job I got 3 bags of 70 grit and all were contaminated with larger chunks of sand. This caused the nozzle to get plugged up frequently and it was very frustrating. Ended up buying a strainer and dumping all the sand through this. I could not believe the amount of large pieces being filtered out. This was Lane Mt stuff I have used many times in the past with zero problems.

Here I am doing the frame of my 68 goat in the backyard.

[68gmsee]

Yeah, it's dusty and dirty and it's best to wear a sandblasting respirator if doing a big job. I've done small sandblasting jobs using a regular dust mask and even then it was a pain with all the dust flying around. The worst part is the silica which can cause lung damage if breathed in.

[mbgmike]

Originally Posted by ChumBucket

Sooo I'm doing my first large-scale (to me) mechanical endeavor, a frame-off '69 restoration; bed, cab, motor/tranny removed, LWB already cut down to SWB and welded back together.

So today was sandblast the frame and misc parts day....got 4 boxes of cool stuff from Nate at Porterbuilt over in the corner starting at me.

Today was the first time I've ever attempted this job, and it will be the last. What an enormous PAIN IN THE A$$!! Using a Westwood blaster, lots of air pressure, perfect weather here in mid-TN...but I got 8 bags of the wrong size Black Diamond and thus the dam nozzle kept plugging up.

So after a 1.5 hour round trip BACK to TSC to swap the stuff out I finally got started only to discover that sandblasting is a $hitty job I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
Results look great but wow, I think I'll write a check next time.

How did it hurt you?
Welcome to the world of restoration

[no moa]

I have a full heavy hood, and I use a paint resporator and only do one bag a week. Any more than that and it's a huge pain in the butt. But I love the results. So much better than using a grinder and wire wheel.
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[ChumBucket]

You know the deal...nothing is easy.

I'm doing my resto at a buddy's shop, so my time is limited and I want to maximize my time while I'm there by getting my "to-do list of the day" knocked out, so when I start off stalled cause the stupid abrasive was too big it kinda threw my schedule off. NOT TO MENTION the fact that with my "I can make it work attitude" I tried to make big stuff go through a small hole about 10 times before I was banging my head.

Also, I found that blasting, which makes a nice finished product isn't fun. Some parts of the build are hard labor but fun, some are easy labor and suck, and this one just sucked. You know, cutting the frame and re-welding was cool, taking the thing apart was cool, this was the most un-fun/un-cool thing I've done since...well it sucked.

However, at the end of the day, as I was driving home, I was cool with the process because the next time I get to work on the truck I'll putting stuff on....porterbuilt front and rear stuff, air bags, notch, new rotors, etc.

[msgross]

best bet is to find an industrial trailer shop that does blasting... I did my frame and it took me about three days to do it all... major PITA as you stated...

I took them my axles, springs and few other parts...picked them up a few days later for a few hundred and had zero hassle...

took them my cab, tailgate, bed crossills and a few hundred more... too easy.

[Ackattack]

yeah, I sand blasted my whole frame. After doing that (and going through multiple bags of sand, buying the blaster, clothing, living in hell, bla bla bla, I will gladly pay someone to do it for me the next go around.

[AirSpeed]

I always liked sandblasting! I think it's kinda fun! The only time I dont like it is when the nozzle gets plugged and I have to stop to clear it. Watching all the old paint and rust flying off steel is cool, specially since its a LOT easier than a wire wheel on a grinder!
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[special-K]

Like anything,it's not so bad if you know what you're doing and have the right equipment. You can't expect a smooth ride going into something blind. But,that's how you learn. Or,you can read up and ask questions first and have a head start.

[no moa]

Originally Posted by special-K

Like anything,it's not so bad if you know what you're doing and have the right equipment. You can't expect a smooth ride going into something blind. But,that's how you learn. Or,you can read up and ask questions first and have a head start.

Well said!
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[cdowns]

i liked sandblasting and over a 30year span i've saved many thousands of dollars and ended up with a great final product

i learned real fast the importance of safty equipment the need for a respirator and the importance of covering every square inch of my skin
tricks for ease of containing the sand for recycleing were learned as well as having a breeze at my back to aid in vision and breathing safely
learning how to pile things up so that secondary things were getting preped while i was doing the main targeted piece increased effectiveness of the process

but yes it still was a nasty dirty job no matter what

the end of the process was the used sand went into compost pile to be used to repair/build my lawn

[no moa]

What are you guys using for sand? I used Black beauty, and a customer told me to get the Playsand at Lowes/homecheapo and it works great for the softer metals. I haven't tryed it yet.

I also want to buy another blaster for Plastic bead and walnut shells.

[dfwright]

Every time I start to dislike blasting, I just get out the wire wheel for 20 minutes or so, and I'm quickly back to enjoying the blasting again...

[cdowns]

i use blasting sand it is well graded and sterile and has a far sharper cutting edge than "play sand"

play sand in many places is stored outside in the rain and is full of moisture, as well as not being that finly grated and depending on where and how it was mined can have minerals in it like salt that effect your longterm result

the brain surgen my brither in law couldnt see the need for "buyin" sand he just went to the beach and helped himself to a truck full when he was restoring a 58 chevy needless to say it rusted to the groud in 18months after being blasted to bare metal with that ocean sand

[special-K]

I buy white silica sand graded for sandblasting. It doesn't matter what brand. Then,I use the appropriate nozzle for the grade of sand.

[BossHogg69]

[QUOTE=msgross;4971802]best bet is to find an industrial trailer shop that does blasting... QUOTE]

This is exactly what I did too, and I'd do it again. Got a great deal.

[ChumBucket]

OH, so that's how it works!

Y'all let the new guys live through the pain of doing stuff the hard way then telling them after the fact all the tips and lessons learned that would have made it better!

HAHA, just kidding, wouldn't have changed a thing about my experience. My boss told me to write the check to have someone else do it, I told him I was going to do it. He also told me to wear all the protective stuff, I did follow his advice on that one, but my wife was puzzled as to what all the black particles were doing in her clean shower last night.

The best thing of all for me is that I did it myself, on my truck and learned something new. In fact not only did I learn the hard lessons of sandblasting yesterday, I also "learned" how to weld, although I think welding is one skill that you never stop learning how to do.

[gearheads78]

Originally Posted by cdowns

i
the brain surgen my brither in law couldnt see the need for "buyin" sand he just went to the beach and helped himself to a truck full when he was restoring a 58 chevy needless to say it rusted to the groud in 18months after being blasted to bare metal with that ocean sand

That made my day. Thanks for sharing that

[Tx Firefighter]

If building old trucks was easy, everybody would do it. Doing jobs like this that really suck is what separates the "haves" from the "have nots".

[mlevario99]

question for those who have done sanblasting, what kind of air compressors are you guys using, does it have to be really big, or what is the minimum size that you guys run.

Thanks

[webfoot]

Originally Posted by mlevario99

question for those who have done sanblasting, what kind of air compressors are you guys using, does it have to be really big, or what is the minimum size that you guys run.

Thanks

Need a pretty good sized unit for big jobs. I have a 5 horse 80 gal unit and it runs constantly with the blaster.

[AirSpeed]

Originally Posted by mlevario99

question for those who have done sanblasting, what kind of air compressors are you guys using, does it have to be really big, or what is the minimum size that you guys run.

Thanks

Pressure means nothing, what you need is airfllow. Most compressors will give you 120 psi but not all give you a lot of cfm, get a compressor that puts out the most cfm you can afford! Mine puts out 18 cfm and is just big enough to run my sandblaster. A large tank is also a plus, it will keep your compressor from running constantly and overheating the motor. Absolutely stay away from oil less compressors, they suck as far as I'm concerned!
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[bigsnookmaster]

I use oven cleaner and a pressure washer several times over on my frame, then drop it off at the local blaster and pick it up in a couple of days for about $150. It doesn't get much easier.