proxlamus© Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 After spending weeks with a wire wheel and sand paper and chemicals.. I'm going crazy... Having the car on a rotisserie is great, but I still can get the damn thing clean and all the undercoating off.. I'm stripping the under body, interior and exterior paint.. basically everything lol. I'm considering Eastwoods Soda Blaster starter kit that you can convert to an abrasive blaster for rust removal and soda for paint etc.. http://www.eastwood.com/soda-blasting/soda-blasters/soda-blaster-starter-kit-w-media.html I've looked into Harbor Freight Abrasive Blasters and Eastwoods "soda conversion kit" but I would prefer to buy it all in one piece that would be guaranteed. I've looked into having a shop blast it.. they want about $250.. plus i have to have the car towed to the shop. Ouch. Might as well buy my own blaster So anyway.. How do you like your soda/abrasive blaster?! Worth the $300?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philly_G35 Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 Personally for $250 dollars plus towing I would have it done. That's cheaper than most prices I have seen. Also have you checked into any mobile soda blasters in your area? The time and money I spent blasting this summer I wish I had it done professionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 I agree about having a shop do it. I have a Harbor Freight sandblaster and a HF bead blast cabinet, and both pretty much suck and are very messy to boot. You can't buy a GOOD blaster for that kind of money, and the one the shop would use is probably a several thousand dollar unit. They'll do a much better job with much less hassle. As for me I used a wire wheel on an angle grinder after struggling with that crap for a while. When the wire wheel had taken almost everything off, then I used brake cleaner to get the last bit off. Still took a lot of brake cleaner... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexicoker Posted December 3, 2009 Share Posted December 3, 2009 We've got a cheapy 'total-loss' blaster... its terrible. I bought some blasting soda and did my wheels, and it cost almost as much as having someone do it (just the price of the soda) the blasting soda also killed all the grass I did it on top off... It works, it just takes a really long time, many refills of the machine, lots of waiting for the air compressor to charge back up You will get sand in every nook and cranny of your body. for $250... definitely have someone do it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted December 4, 2009 Author Share Posted December 4, 2009 im actually pretty surprised by the responses!! I thought the machines would be "ok".. for at least $300 !!! ouch! Are they completely useless?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19762802+2 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I looked this up a while ago and you can do a google search but I believe there are some guys that do mobile sandblasting down in the Springs that charge by the hour. They go where ever can come sandblast and what not. You might also want to look in to Dry Ice Blasting because it doesn't leave any sand or media behind except for the stuff you blasted off. Here are some links. http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/excalibur_manufacturing-b494112 http://www.thecityofdenver.com/sandblasting/index.html Here is a link, the ad is down the page a ways, but here is the info http://www.blastcleaningdirectory.com/Countries/USAWest.htm ICC P.O. Box 2087 Englewood Colorado, 80150 USA Telephone: (720) 933-4422 Fax: (303) 233-2463 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 I bought a soda blaster from Eastwood, seeing as I could convert it to either Soda, or use it for abrasive blasting. Kinda price on Eastwood, so I checked Ebay and found the exact same one being sold by Eastwood on Ebay but for cheaper..... Makes no sense but I saved some money there. Anyways, works pretty well, but you do need to have a big enough compressor, or you can hook the compressors up in series, if you have multiple ones. Other wise you will have to wait for the compressor to catch up. For a one time use I figure its a waste of money, but if you plan on using it later on, for other pieces, projects or loan it out to friends etc, I think its a pretty good buy. Friend of mine did his wheels on his M3, and coated them came out very clean, and easier than scrubbing the PO's paint off. And all the dust created, make sure you don't inhale any of that stuff, its old paint plus soda/sand/glass. Can lead to some nasty stuff later on. We've made an enclosure out of PVC tubes and plastic sheets so that we can contain the dust a bit more, and where long everything (pants, shirts, gloves, hood) The other thing too, make sure that the air coming out of your compressor is as dry as you can get it (without splurging on a $1k desiccant system, its possible for under $50) or else the humidity will travel through the lines and clump up your material. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Are they completely useless?! I would say that both of mine are next to useless. Looks like Marine1342 found a good one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffer949 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 300 bucks for a soda blaser is chump change. When i lived in florida I worked for a powerwashing company and we where looking at a soda blaster to buy. One of our friends who was a repo agent had repoed one and we where looking at buying it if they guy didnt get the money to get it back. The cost taht we where going to pay was about 10k and that was just what he owed on it not what it was worth. it was worth way more. Now this was a all inclusive tow-able machine. Honestly i would of payed someone off the bat to get it stripped. I stripped the outside of my car when i repainted/repaired it 2 summers ago using only a 90deg grinder and scotch bright pad things and a wire wheel. I spend about 200 bucks on just the pads and wire wheels that i wore out. not to mention the 40-60 hours of worrk it took to get it done. I would of gladly paid someone 300-400 bucks to do it for me and of had it done completely perfect. And i could of been working while it was getting done( I took off work for a month to repaint my car) It just doesnt add up in my book, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-Noob Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 You might want to look more into soda blasting. When something is soda blasted it is left with a coating that many times cannot be primered or painted over. Whatever is soda blasted has to have a neutralizer wash prior to applying coatings. As far as $250 for media blasting, that is SUPER CHEAP. Make sure they are using a media that will not damage/warp your panels. Also make sure the technician doing the work is skilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Z-Noob is right on the residue. Sand/Glass/Walnut Shells don't leave anything behind that can't be blown off, but soda blasting leaves a film of dust behind that has to be neutralized and removed prior to any painting being done on the car. The benefit to this 'dust' though is that it keeps the exposed metal from flash rusting if you don't have time to coat it right after blasting. I haven't found any information on how to remove or neutralize this coating fully. I've read using just water, water vinegar, metal etch, rust neutralizer etc. I'd imagine metal etch or rust neutralizer would work best to get the powder off and start to etch the metal so that you can put some sort of sealant or paint on it. Putting water on it would start the rust again (at a microscopic level), vinegar and water would have the same effect and it would smell (and maybe fizzing because of the combination). Anyone have any experience on this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted December 4, 2009 Share Posted December 4, 2009 Another thing too, if you're blasting small pieces with small holes and crevices, sand and any other abrasive material might get into these holes and could be hard to get out, soda would (in theory) dissolve away. But as I've learned many things should happen in theory yet sometimes...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cockerstar Posted December 5, 2009 Share Posted December 5, 2009 I've used a cheap blaster a few times for small parts and it really is quite amazing. It's a larger pot style set up with sand run off of a 60 gallon compressor. Not sure on the brand and price, as it's a friends, but it would definitely be worth $300 to me if I had a compressor big enough to run it off of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Well I have a big 60 gal Husky compressor.. and it looks like Marine1342 bought the exact soda/abrasive blaster I'm looking at buying from Eastwood!! Hmm.. Im going to ask Eastwood about their return policy if I'm not happy lol. I could use the blaster for many many other things in the future!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted December 6, 2009 Author Share Posted December 6, 2009 Well it looks like my compressor should handle it! Compressor is rated for 10.2 SCFM @ 90psi ... and the Blaster is rated at 7 cfm @ 80psi!! =) 60 day return policy.. just have to pay for shipping. I appreciate everyone for their input!! I will continue my research and inform you guys of the results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Well hold up Prox, the CFM they give you is the bare minimum, in order to keep the compressor from slowing down. And the 60 day return policy is not valid for this because it is a Eastwood Product. Its actually 1 -year, and I advise you to keep everything, including the box and straps or else you'll end up like me and have a soda blaster that you can't return because you threw out the original box. I was trying to return it since my friend already had one, could use the money for something else but oh well, mine's bigger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Marine, send me a PM if you want to sell your soda blaster. I could likely pick it up from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
proxlamus© Posted December 7, 2009 Author Share Posted December 7, 2009 Well I just talked to a tech at eastwood.. he owns this model and loves it.. I asked for complete honesty and said I may even upgrade.. but he told me that the $279 model is plenty for my application and compressor. The 1 year return policy is a HUGE plus. I would never use it and return it like 75% of the customers at Home Depot do.. but if I'm unsatisfied.. and isn't how the product is advertised.. return it may be I think i'm going to give it a go.. with your typical Hybridz follow up.. pictures and even a video of the blasting =) - problem is I'm cheap.. if I spend $250-300 on having a shop blast the car.. i have a stripped car and thats it.. but with $300 I can strip my own car and walk away with a blaster I can sell for say $200.. or strip future projects.. help friends out etc etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evan Purple240zt Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Let us know how it goes man, very interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marine1342 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 Yeah the upgrade is really just a bigger container for your media. Just means you get to refill it less. Meh.... And unless Eastwood gives you a really good deal on the soda, you can get it at harbor freight (same bag same everything) but you don't have to pay for shipping on things. Haven't found any local store (local to me at least) that carries the soda except for Harbor Freight. Good luck and let us know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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