grit bead blaster - any good ?????

[mattyb]

this bit of kit on flee bay - Sandblaster Bead Pot Sand Grit Blasting Blast Sandblasting 10 Gallon/40L - item no 351123690180 -

Anyone got one ? used one ? have an opinion ? what medium to use ? grit ? glass beads ? size ? etc etc - I believe the ceramic nozzles can wear out quickly - I have a very large compressor !

Local firms to me want £10 to £15 per wheel to refurb a wheel for painting

Any thoughts ?

All the best

Matt

[bmcecosse]

Just strip the wheel with a good knotted wire brush in an angle grinder - wear goggles. It works......and only takes minutes. Or mess about with Nitromors - which takes ages........

[philthehill]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from= ... 0&_sacat=0

If you want to do your wheels use this grit blast gun from Machine mart.

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/sb3-gritblast-gun/

I have one of the grit blast guns and it works well.
I used it to grit blast the bulkhead on my Landrover Ser 3 plus anything else that is too big to fit inside my grit blast cabinet.
Just spread a tarpaulin on the ground - place the wheel on top of it and blast away.
Having the tarpaulin allows the grit to be gathered up and be re-used.

The nozzles do wear. I just got a spare set from Machine mart, not very expensive.

[les]

I'd say it would depend on how often you would use the equipment. Sometimes it's prudent to pay for the service if it's likely to be a one off. I dont know where Roy gets his job times from, hes done before I start planning it!

[oliver90owner]

Grit blasting works a treat. BUT!!!

Cabinet type are good, if big enough or for small items. Otherwise you need to consider a dedicated room or make a lot of mess outside. You need a biggish compressor. I used a 10cfm compressor at 10bar and I could empty the approx 150l tank. Grit gets everywhere.

It is a two minute job for a grit blaster. Maybe expensive as a single job but they could do more than 30 an hour and many will just blow it over when doing another job. Maybe a bit bigger job if you want the 'inside' blasting as well.

RAB

[mattyb]

Thanks for the replies - I do have a compressor that is more than capable of powering a grit blaster and was thinking of making up a ply cabinet to blast away in ! and I can think of lots of parts I can clean up.
Have always cleaned up wheels etc by hand Roy (flap discs, cup brushes etc) - Midget wheels cleaned up by hand and then sprayed using a Rostyle wheel mask from Moss- but do think a grit blaster will be useful

thanks again

Matt[frame][/frame]

[volrod544]

the blast pots are much more effective than the vacuum type blasters .all blasters use a lot of air and you cant compete with a proper industrial outfit for speed But the home ones still do a great job.if you get one you will feel you want to blast everything l.o.l ,its quite satisfying seeing things clean up.if you build a cabinet,remember,you will need light in it and a high volume dust extractor otherwise you wont be able to see what youre doing.

[alexmcguffie]

If you do make your own cabinet good light is very important and also a good replaceable viewing screen. I find low light outside the cabinet and 2 light sources either side inside the cabinet work well. Also earth any metal parts of the cabinet including the blasting gun. I know somebody quite short who always used to get a shock when their nose touched the window!

I recently had some wheels blasted, zinc coated and powder coated. Fantastic job and bullet proof from past experience. £40 per wheel but the set on my other car have lasted 20 years without a mark on them.

[GBond]

If you like restoring stuff then a blaster is going to be a good purchase.

My suggestion, once you blast the wheels, would be to go to powder coating as it's more durable than paint. Make sure the wheels are in the oven a good time to get a smooth surface and use lots of soapy water when fitting the tyres afterwards as it's less slippery than paint.

[moggiethouable]

Blo*&y stuff gets everywhere.
I reckon if you calculated the energy costs required to power the compressor, added to the cost of grit, parts including nozzles, you would save money letting the local guy do it.
Better for your health too, that dust isn't good for lungs.
Sincere apologies for appearing a grump.

[don58van]

If you get a blasting box, it would be a good idea to use a workshop vacuum cleaner with it. It is connected to the box to clear the dust from the air. Without it, you will have a tough time seeing what you are doing.

If you want to get a bit more sophisticated about it, you could insert a cyclonic dust cleaner between the blasting box and the workshop vac. This will stop your vac filter from getting clogged with fine dust. There are clips on youtube showing how this works.

I use a workshop vac and Dust Deputy with my blasting box and it works very well.

Don

[mattyb]

many thanks for all the replies and suggestions - excellent advice and I don't think anyone is grumpy ! but I do fancy having a blast at many bits of car parts ! I'm fairly careful Health and safety wise (without being a namby pamby ) and as mentioned, my compressor is very large (200 litre receiver and next step up would be a 3 phase)

Blast potty ordered and on its way from Belgium !!

Will update once I've used it in anger

thanks again

Matt

pic of my son with his Morris Minor just before he sold it - much missed by him ![frame][/frame]

[Blaketon]

A good blaster is worth it's weight in gold. It gets it all off and gets into the pitting too. I have a small Clarks one at home and it's Ok for little things (I clean plugs with it) but the one at the shop is a Guyson 6, with a dust extractor and that takes it to another level (If I ever retire, I will make every effort to hang on to it). It has been converted to use a Vixen pressure pot and that uses iron grit, rather than aluminium oxide, so it's faster. The bigger machines take more air, whereas the Clarks ones will work on single phase (Up to 3hp) compressors.

One thing, to bear in mind, is that powder coating is a swine to blast, as is soft "Domestic" paint. The former is just tough and the latter just soaks up the grit. It is a good idea to burn both types of coating first, as this makes them brittle and they come away more easily.

Heavily pitted steal can start to "Go off" after blasting (I suspect there maybe microscopic traces of residual rust left) and it can be a good idea to put Trustan or similar on, as belt and bracers (Esp if the item is not being painted straight away).