anyone know of a place in southern california that will do media blasting at a reasonable price. Also what equipment is needed to do it. if im gunna need it a lot can i buy the equipment?

 

Lon (a.k.a. - Top-Down Solutions - http://www.top-downsolutions.com) has a nice little Harbor Freight media blaster that works pretty darn good. I just used it today to prep some parts for paint.

Other than the blast cabinet, you'll need a good air compressor and small shop vac.

 

what a blast cabinet...the thing that the media hits when it misses the item ur blasting.

where do i buy the media?

how to i use the air comprssor to blast the media.

etc. etc. etc.

can someone go into detail a little more?

 

[ has a nice little Harbor Freight media blaster that works pretty darn good. I just used it today to prep some parts for paint.

[/B][/QUOTE]
Don't you mean a bead blaster? (as in glass bead )

 

I can do it if you want. I've used both aluminum oxide and glass-bead media. My cabinet has aliminum oxide media in it currently. I found it is a little more agressive in cleaning the parts. As Bret indicated Harbor Freight has several blast cabinets available ranging from table-top to stand-up models (which I have). You need an air compressor that has a good SCFM air flow rating. That would be the most expensive part of putting your own system together. Most cabinets have provision for attaching the standard shop-vac hoses. The shop vac pulls out any dust as you are blasting so you have better visibility of what you are blasting.

Another alternative is to take your parts to a powder-coat vendor. If the parts were painted already, they will put the parts in a burn-off oven and sand blast them prior to powder-coating them. If I am having something like a used sway bar powder-coated, I don't even sand blast it first. The powder-coat vendor I use has a huge blast cabinet consisting of an old shipping container and a sand blast gun the size of a fire hose. The operator is in a respirator suit and steps into the container along with the parts to be blasted. You can imagine that is a little faster than I can do with my cabinet.

Lon

 

well i wanted to know if it was at all possible to put one together. i have a compressor but that is about it. i know i can probably find someone with sonething like it that i can use, but when im taking stuff off of my car when i have time i want to be able to clean parts up.

could i make one for a relitivly small amount of money?

 

Yes. I recommend this pressure type pressure blaster from Harbor Freight. You fill it with 20 lbs of media, then pressurize it with your air compressor. The sand will go everywhere! So build yourself a box out of plywood or a frame covered with a tarp to help contain the sand. When the media or pressure gets too low, just recharge and refill. Harbor freight also sells the aluminum oxide or glass bead media. There are also some real cheapo sand blast guns that consist of a gun with a tube you shove in a bag or bucket of sand. But this type works on a suction and would require a larger SCFM compressor to work well.

Lon

 

Lonsal,

can you recomend a shop to remove some paint and powdercoating from some IROC rims? Do you have any idea what something like that would run?

I took them to a shop to get powdercoated and they messed up big time.

thanks,
James

 

Sorry no. I would use a paint stripper product myself. Do a search. This topic has been covered already with good answers on this web site.

Lon

 

I've heard aircraft stripper works very well. The technique suggested to me was ... spray the wheels with it, place them in a large trash bag out in the sun for an hour, then remove them from the bag and hose them off. Just an idea.

 

As Lon mentioned, the inexpensive blasters will work but will be VERY messy. You'll have sand/media everywhere.

If you're going to use it quite a bit, I'd spend the money and get the set-up similar to Lon's. Here's what he has: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=47603

Hey, you could also make some $$$ on the side by prepping arts for others and end up getting your money back for the equipment.

 

No, media blaster is the correct term since, as Lon mentioned, you can run glass bead, aluminum oxide or other MEDIA thru the gun.

 

the cabinet looks good but can i fit large items like rims and quarter panels? also would platic media mess up rubber wheels?

 

Close. This is the cabinet I have. They are often on sale for $199. My SEARS Professional air copressor is rated at 10.2 SCFM @ 90 psi. Which should be enough, but gets sucked down to about 65 psi within about 5-6 minutes of full blasting. It i also very important to add a large capacty water dryer to capture any moisture.

Lon

 

A rim might fit, but forget quarter panels it's nowhere near that big. For body parts you need the canister type blaster and build yourself a shed to blast in.

 

I wouldn't strip or bead blast the rim mounted to the tire. Have it un-mounted first.

Lon

 

i looked around the harbor frieght web site and didnt find where to buy the media. possibly i have gone blind.

does anyone kne how hard it is to media blast a part clean . is it an art or something that can be picked up with a little piece of test sheet metal?

 

It's very simple. Especially when the gun is getting full suction. Right Lon?

 

I tested a small amount of aircraft stripper on the rims and that doesn't affect the powder coating at all.

 

Seen an Optomitrist yet? Do a search on Harbor Freight's web site for the key words "Aluminum Oxide" or "Glass bead" and you'll have your answer.

http://www.harborfreight.com/

Lon

 

hey i have 20/20 vision...just cant find what im looking for...ever...lol

 

hmmm...good search words just found the stuff? what is the plastic stuff that can be used? does anyone know what that is?

 

I'm surprised your GOOGLE search using the key words "plastic blast media" turned up nothing. It worked for me and my vision isn't 20/20.

Lon