Thread: do i dare sandblast sheet metal

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will a siphon feed sand blaster warp sheet metal, i made the mistake of using a pressure feed on sheet metal once, wont do that again . or any other practical ideas, i gotta clean this thing up

i am not shure how yours will turn out but i will let you know in about 2 weeks what happens to mine
i have a day off and a friend at a local bodyshop has done some restos and told me he has a fine media sand that he uses in a big pressure blaster for old steel.
he told me he cuts back the pressure and and doesnt have too much trouble with warping if your careful just takes more time as is so fine a sand.
he is going to set me up in the right direction with my original t bucket body and when i am done it goes right to the paint booth for a heavy bath in 2 stage sealer primer.
cant be too bad only going to charge me for the materials .

Friend of mine ruined a primo 57 Ford hood the other day blasting with sand.

See if you can get some crushed walnut shells.

There are all kinds of media blasting these days. Buddy had his project soda blasted. Guy came right to his house. Cleaned it up perfect with no metal damage

Pat

ps
i think a siphon feed would warp steel more as there is more airflow pressure to move the sand .
i have used my little 50 lb siphon blaster for little jobs and can warp stuff with a coarse media but have used a finer media and still had troubles but better results .
i bought a couple of bags a while ago with a really fine sand near dust and it worked pretty good but my compressor could not keep up with the flow amount i think i need a different nozzle.

i havent done enough sheet metal blasting to be considered half experienced but its my 2 cents

regardless of what you do, sandblasting will cause a certain amount of warpage. Sodablasting does an excellent job of removing paint, not so good on rust. walnut shell is not much better and is a bitch to clean up. Poly media is better than either but is costly and few blasters can use it. best bet is metal prep, wire brush and lots of elbow grease on the rust then soda blast

thanks guys, i didnt really think it would hurt it but now i think i better not do it. i think i will D/A the thing the best i can and sand blast the nooks and crannys and the seams.

Originally posted by 61bone
regardless of what you do, sandblasting will cause a certain amount of warpage. Sodablasting does an excellent job of removing paint, not so good on rust. walnut shell is not much better and is a bitch to clean up. Poly media is better than either but is costly and few blasters can use it. best bet is metal prep, wire brush and lots of elbow grease on the rust then soda blast

61Bone, i just seen where you live and i am in your neck of the woods. do you know off the top of your head if Sturdevants or ABS in Sioux Falls carries soda for blasting media,i guess i can call them too.