sandblast media.

[sceep]

What have you all used for media?

I need to blast my axles tonight to prep them for paint. They are VERY thick with 2 coats of Mil. paint.

We just used some fine sand to do a 60 and 14 bolt and it went very slow. I need a more abrasive media. Local supplier carrys sand in fine, med. and coarse. glass beads in F/M/C, aluminum oxide, F/M/C. copper slag in F/M/C. what is going to be my best bet? my tip is too small to handle any of the coarse.

What is this i keep hearing about "warpage"? i'm guessing thats only a problem when working with sheetmetal? Not a problem with an axle housing?

Heres a pic of the paint i need to remove.
http://www.dana60.com/sceep/portals/id.jpg
http://www.dana60.com/sceep/portals/tubes.jpg

[fj40guy]

What is this i keep hearing about "warpage"? i'm guessing thats only a problem when working with sheetmetal? Not a problem with an axle housing?

Correct... THIN sheet metal. Not an issue on a Ford Tractor (heavy panels), but a friend had his Prosche 914 sand blasted. Not a straight panel was left after that work. Fellow who blasted it normally worked on old tractors and USA vehicles from the 1960's. :)

Uh, sand is you best best. If you can recycle then the aluminum oxide would give a better cleaning. Save the glass beading for aluminum parts.

My small 4 hp compressor really doesn't do the job. 90 psi @ 4cfm... means it takes a while. I suspect that is what you have from the comment your tip is to small to handle course material. Something like 125psi @ 10 cfm would scrub those suckers clean in no time!

Tom :usa:

[frankenfab]

Quartz blasting media, you can get at Home Depot. It's in the section with cement and mortar. It comes in a 50 or 80 lb bag (I can't remember which). Much better than sand, and almost as cheap.

[unimogken]

If you've got it all torn apart i'd take it and have it chemical dipped. The paint on most Unimog axles is pretty thick and i've heard of some paint with lead in them.

[sceep]

If you've got it all torn apart i'd take it and have it chemical dipped. The paint on most Unimog axles is pretty thick and i've heard of some paint with lead in them.


i wish i could, but i'm not going to strip the bearing races and such. they are in good shape and i dont wanna fawk with them. just gonna mask and work around them.

[trooper4life]

Just asking here? What size sand blaster do you guys use? I need to get one but I don't need one of those gravity feed ones. They are all I have used and t hey just take way to long to get anything clean. Have seen some of the little pressured tanks,Anyone use those if so how do they work?

Later,
Daniel

[jasonb]

I use one similar to the pic below. I got it from work as they were tossing it. Not sure of the brand since the sticker is torn mostly off, but it's blue. I just run regular play sand through it, sifted through window screen. It has blasted through everything I've needed so far. Mainly axles with at least two coats of paint and about 25yrs worth of oil/grease/dirt/crap on them. I keep the regulator around 70 psi normally and have no problems making fast passes on most things. Compressor is a 6HP plain ole Craftsman and it chugs the whole time. A water trap is a must. I know this from experience and can take apart the plumbing on that sanblaster in no time now!

http://www.northerntool.com/images/product/images/15531_lg.jpg

I've also got one of those handy dandy spray gun looking ones.. It sucks mainly because it blows all the sand out almost by the time you get aimed!

[Bundok]

Sand for sand blasting has less silica in it than play sand or construction sand. It also has sharper edges and has more bite to it. It might be harder to find, but it works a lot better. Silica is bad for you in a big way, gets in your lungs and does not come out causing silicosis.

Wear a respirator no matter what kind of sand you use.

The shit gets everywhere.

Pressure sand blaster and a rented huge engine driven compressor is much faster than messing around with small unit.

I used to have a Tip sand blaster but around here it's cheaper for me to just pay someone else to do it.

-Stumbaugh

[jasonb]

The shit gets everywhere.



no kidding.. My driveway, garage, yard, etc. looks like the beach when I'm done. And yeah, the respirator is a must. And wear full clothing and good gloves and a face shield. And expect to have sand on every part of your body no matter how much gear you wear.

How much is sandblast sand compared to regular ole play sand? I'm guessing the real stuff is more uniform and doesn't need sifting either?

[texascadillac42]

I use a product called Black Magic, its finely ground slag left over from processing at steel mills. I get an 80lbs bag for 6-7 bucks, and will cut through anything I have ever tried in one pass at 70 psi. It goes through tips like its going out of style, but I'd rather buy tips then spend twice as much time on it. Definitely only for heavy steel, cause this stuff will really chew up lighter stuff, It would be perfect for that Unimog stuff, I used it on my Mog wheels, and in one pass I was through 2 coats of military paint. But just like the previous posts, get a respirator.

[GTOffroader]

I worked at a heavy duty truck shop this summer and we also used the Black Magic stuff which was mentioned before. A resperator is a must and wear heavy leather colthes. I was wearing jeans obnce, slipped and it blew right trough them. It will eat away at the leather (I started wearing a welding apron) but it gives you a few seconds to react. We got it in 100lbs bags and Im not sure where the boss got it but those bags get heavy after lifting them over your head all day long to dump them into the blaster.

[bluesman2a]

OK, stoopid noob question:

Just got a new blast cabinet and have been really enjoying the ability to quickly strip down stuff for painting and whatnot. BUT:

1) How do you know when your media is worn out in a cabinet?
2) How do you know when your tips need to be changed?
3) I have a selection of tips, what do the different sized tips accomplish? The ones I have are ceramic, are there better tip materials?

[texascadillac42]

Its kind of hard to tell a difference in media cutting quality with a blast cabinet because it wears out pretty slowly, and its over such a long period of time. It helps to try and remember what kind of material you can cut through in one pass, and remember the speed you work at, if you cant match it, its probably time to change. The tips are a little bit easier to tell when they where out. If the stream of media isnt very narrow, the tip is getting worn out. It makes a world of difference to have good tips in a gun versus worn out ones. Different sized tips allow a finer or wider pattern, and more or less material through the gun. I use nothing but ceramic, but that is because thats what came with my cabinets and sandblaster. The more aggressive material will wear out tips faster, but if you use a tougher tip, it will last longer than most ceramic ones.