Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[rcx822]

That all makes sense now.

I've heard of soda blasting, apparently it's used for doing body work because it doesn't work harden the metal.

Never seen the dry ice stuff!

I'm probably going for the big tarpaulin, and force fed mask because I have things I want to blast while they're fitted to the car.

[ka]

Your neighbours and the Environmental health Officer will be relieved!
_________________
KA

Better three than four.

[ukdave2002]

[MikeEdwards]

For blasting very small rusty areas, I've used a Spot Blaster - basically a blaster with a shield around the nozzle. The idea is that you press the shield up against the panel you want to blast, and the grit doesn't escape, it's re-circulated into a bag from where you can re-use it.

It worked OK, based on being around a tenner from Aldi. The shield is too hard to seal properly, so I added a bit of foam to compress against the panel. The media that comes with it also isn't very good, but with a lot of patience it's possible to clean some rusty pitted areas quite effectively. Wouldn't work on anything large though, or anything where you couldn't get a decent seal to gather the media. I've got an attachment for a pressure washer that will turn it into a sandblaster, using water pressure to drive the sand, but it seems wrong to blast it back to bare metal and send water at high-pressure straight afterwards.

[Bitumen Boy]

[ukdave2002]

[Kenham]

Another thing I have just thought of is after you have blasted your parts quickly rub over them with abrasive paper of some sort. Blasting can leave tiny pointed bits that the paint won't stick to very well, the rubbing off of these tiny points will stop rust coming through at a later date. Ken

[baconsdozen]

As an aside I once supplied a water blasting company with protective gear. One day the boss offered to show me what they were doing on an old boat that had been abandoned years before. They were cleaning the metal of the hull before cutting it up and were actually using the water blaster to cut the steel. It left a neat narrow cut on the thick steel of the hull,frightening to think of the damage such a thing could do to a person.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[MikeEdwards]

On that subject, I recall reading a book about the short-wheelbase Audi Sport quattro, which is largely made with Kevlar outer panels. They described how one of the problems they faced with Kevlar was that it was quite a new thing at the time, very strong and light, but when it came to cutting off the excess when the panel was removed from the mould, it blunted traditional cutting tools very quickly indeed. So a high-pressure water cutting system was developed to get around it.

[rcx822]

I see quite a few more tips have been added since I last checked in.

I tried contacting HSE for advise but they say they can't give advice on general safety.

A few people in this thread said that they use regular sand with a regular mask. I know on other forums lots of others saying they do the same. I haven't found any official documents on this, but when I see contractors using what looks like play sand because they are sand blasting outdoors, they are wearing full forced air masks. And when I read the warnings about silicosis on the HSE and World Health Org website, I have to say, I personally would not risk it. Either use safe media or full mask.

I haven't started my blasing yet so not sure which route taking yet, but I really have had some good tips here.

PS needle scalers don't seem to work effectively! Just wasted £35 !!

[ukdave2002]

[MVPeters]

You might be interested in the videos on this web site:

www.dustlessblasting.com

It looks very impressive, but I imagine very expensive.
You might get some ideas from it, though.

(I have no connection etc etc....)
_________________
Mike - MVPeters at comcast.net
2002 MINI Cooper 'S'

[rcx822]

Looks awesome. I will have a proper look later.

Watching that video though, my main question is, what does it take to keep your workshop so clean? My tools are all greasy, does this guy have a garage maid?

[ukdave2002]

[ukdave2002]