Sand Blasting B8200E

[phildac]

Hey Guys,

I'm going to be repainting this spring and want to know what is a good size and type of sand blasting media to use for getting the old paint off? I bought a new 90LB tank sand blaster and i'm unsure on which media to use. Has anyone had any experience with this?

I plan on priming and then painting with New Kubota Orange #2 using the rattle can method. Picked up the Valspar cans from Tractor Supply for about $5 a can. As you can see, the previous owner repainted the front with Orange #2 while the rear half has Bright Orange #1.

 

[dusty-t]

Hi phildac. I used to do a lot of sandblasting. Back then we used silica sand.I don't even know if you can buy it any more. It doesn't really matter what you use for media. there is all kinds of new stuff on the market. But you want something fairly fine. In my day we called it brick sand because it was mainly used for blasting brick buildings. Again they change the terms over the years and its been 20 since I was involved. But a 55 gritt was what I used on brick and restorods, antique cars. A little advice, you can warp flat panels, louvers, or your front side panels with all the holes in them. Anything that has a curve or is within an 1 1/2 from a corner is pretty safe. On the frame or any thing thick you can just giver. Blast far away from your tractor,truck,house,shop, this stuff gets everywhere. I have seen lots of dummys have to replace engines ,trannies etc, because they didn't seal things up well enough. Any questions I will try to help. I think Wildfire has a sandblaster, he may be able to help with what type of media to use.Good luck and keep us posted. Dusty.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Here's a question about sand blasting. Between my dad and I we have like 3 utility trailers and we are not sure how to go about knocking the rust off to repaint. I've heard blasting can be tedious and take a while and you have to lay out tarps or some kind of something to collect the trashed sand once it has paint mixed in with it. Or can I just take them out into a field and go to town sand blasting?? I've also read about a product in the Gemplers catalog about a rust converter. Has anyone played around with that product? If not here's a link to learn about it.

http://www.gemplers.com/product/RCQ/Rust-Converter-One-Quart

 

[Randyj]

I sandblast on ocasion, Hate it. Nasty, very dangerous ( to your health ) work. But when you restore old cars as a hobby, it's part of the process.

I have a pot ( pressure blaster ) and a blasting cabinet.

Depending on what I need to do, I use several types of media. For sheet
metal work ( not large flat panels ), I use a product I bought from Dupont.
It's sand. Beach sand, from Florida. It's brown in color. Great stuff. Removes
paint & rust, and leaves a nice smooth finish. Not real coarse, not real smooth. I forget the name of it. I bought a pallet of it years ago. 50 lb bags.
If your interseted in checking into buying a bag from your local paint jobber,
let me know, and I'll go out to my blasting shed & get the info off one of
the bags for ya.

You have to be VERY, VERY careful when using media. Not only can it remove
your flesh, it can lead to SILACOSIS. CANCER. I'm serious. Years ago, before
I was set up to sandblast myself, I took a 61 chevy bubbletop to a local
sandblaster. He did a fantastic job. I was doing a complete resto on the car.
Turned out great. He died a couple years later ( from silicosis ). His son took
over the business. A few years later, guess what. His son died from sisicosis, too !

I can't remember the name of the Dupont stuff off the top of my head, let me know if you need it.

Phil........
That hood looks familiar !

 

[dusty-t]

Randy is right. Very dangerous to your health. You must wear good protection.Even when filling the pot. The deal with silicosis is that for the most part it doesn't show up on xrays for years. 10 to 20 years.And it is not like cancer. No cure, very very little for treatment. Some people can live for years after being diagnosed depending on how much they have ingested. Others die fairly quick. Just my very educated 2 cents worth. Dusty. Yupp Dusty the name says it all.

 

[Rust Addict]

Sandblasting sucks. Please DO NOT let your kids do it!
About 10 years back I got sucked into restoring a GMC Suburban. This thing was rotten, wish I never did the truck. There must have been 100 pounds of rust that I took off that truck body and frame, every panel on that truck had cancer, no wait, the hood was clean. Enough with that truck.

I went through maybe 400 pounds of media on that project over a two year period. Most of it was shot with the truck up on blocks in the garage. The Black Beauty media cuts rot and scale down quickly, paint comes right off. I've come to the point that sand blasting is the final clean up process, not the first step to clean up for paint. I like using wire brush wheels to pull off the real heavy loose stuff, then move onto grinding wheels and then sanding pads to clean up the metal. There are always areas that wheels just can not hit, so here is where the blaster shines, it also leaves the surface with some tooth for the paint to get a nice deep bite. The brushed areas are burnished smooth, so they get blasted lightly too. This makes a hudge mess in a building, and the dust level gets thick real fast, so this is the concern about the inhalation noted in earlier posts. I've learned that rolling outside to do the blasting is the best idea, dry cool windy days are best if timing allows for it. From experience I've found that the still humid summer air can over work the compressor, air dryer, and eventually things will start to stick with the build up of compressed moisture in the gun's nozzle, now the work becomes a battle. I've found that a painters suit, welders glooves, and hooded helmet and googles underneath along with a MSA paint respirator are the armour needed to do this work, even when outside. It seems that I always get into undercarriage work and lay on my back to get the needed access to shoot at it. For me, after a five gallon bucket load (make-shift hopper) and a hour of shooting I'm done for the day. I don't know how people do this for a 8 to 10 hours at a time, day after day. Sandblasting sucks. If you findsome that you can hire to do it, don't haggle them on the price, it just isn't worth it.

After blasting I paint over those areas the same day. I like the red/brown rusty metal primer made by Rustoleum. I've had good sucess killing off cancer with this stuff. It's high building with a lot of solids content, so when it does cure (we are talking weeks not hours), you have something to sand before breaking thru and hitting metal when preparing for a top coat. I tend to put down that base coat so heavy it has runs, but I'm sure a thinner see-thru coat will dry as indicated on the can. If you cover the primer with any other Rustoleum gloss finish, you'll be impressed with the durability of the finish. Finally, get into an single stage automotive or equipment paint to obtain that final gloss with the shade of choice. The only way rust has a chance to return is if you chip the finish down to the metal, or you missed it before you painted over it.

 

[traildust]

Good Lord, I'm not even contemplating sandblasting and you guys are scaring the hell out of me

Scott

 

[Greg]

Agreed. Sandblasting sucks. But it sure works beautifully, that's why I will hit everything I can with a wire wheel on a right angle grinder. Then sandblast where the grinder just can't go. Then just a quick skim of the wire brushed areas to roughen it up for paint.

 

[Wildfire]

I've done plenty of sandblasting over the years due to my restoration and repair work. I've also designed my own blasters and one of them was featured in the Welding,Design and Fabrication magazine out of Cleveland. I will tell you that the number one thing to consider here is safety. Make sure your suited up with the right protective equipment especially a good hood and breathing system. If you decide to use silica sand remember that it has silica in it and that causes "Iron Lung" or some just call it "Cancer of the lung" if you breath enough of it in so treat it with a great deal of respect.

Some times sand blasting is the only way to get the material prepared properly to do the job right. I use silica sand for my sand blasting and if the metal is thin I turn the pressure down and always spray at an angle and not blast directly on the metal to cause heat and warpage. I use "0" sand and a 1/4 nozzle but if you use a small compressor you'll want to use a 1/8 opening at your nozzle and that way you don't use up allot of air but it will be slower and plug the nozzle faster.

If the parts are powder coated you'll want to use a good stripper first and blast after. Sand blasting don't work very well on powder coated surfaces'. Along with having good safety in mind you'll need a good blaster. The one I designed is a pressure blaster and I can regulate the amount of sand and pressure separately which is helpful. You'll also need a good compressor. Anything less than a 5 HP and a 60 gallon tank will make your blasting very challenging to say the least. It is also very expensive to do as well so you should try and recycle the sand and screen it when ever possible.

If and when you decide to sand blast anything like a tractor it is imperative that you keep all the sand out of places where it don't belong such as the exhaust, intake and breather. It will find it's way into a motor if you don't do it right and it will rune anything internal on a motor or transmission. Sand blasting can be very beneficial but if not carried out properly it can be very hazard to your health and your machine.


The first photo shows the air pump I use to pump fresh air into my helmet. This is a must to protect your lungs.
Second photo shows the hood I use. It's all made by 3-M and is very good gear. PROTECT YOURSELF.PLEASE!

 

[phildac]

Thanks guys for all the great info.

I'm planning on just doing the sheet metal. Other than the safety risks which I will prepare for, the major downside I see to sandblasting is the mess it creates. Looks like the back yard is my best option so I don't coat the garage in media dust. Do you think it would be a better option to just use sanding and wire wheels for this project? Maybe the sandblasting is overkill for the sheet metal?

Wildfire,

That looks like one heck of a mess to clean up...But I guess you get what ya pay for.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

GEEZ I think I'll spend some money and buy the product that Gemplers has for sell!

 

[Rust Addict]

Wildfire, now that is the sandblasting set up! Professional gear, and the results to match!

What are you laying down as the first coat on top of all that pretty white steel?

 

[traildust]

Paul, that is a really great post. I have tinkered witht the thought of a sand blaster over the years but I will leave that one to rest. I actually haven't had the need to blast but if I do I'll just take it to a pro.
Congrats on you invention, very impressive. I'm sure glad you are on this forum with your many talents!

Scott

 

[Wildfire]

Wildfire, now that is the sandblasting set up! Professional gear, and the results to match!

What are you laying down as the first coat on top of all that pretty white steel?

Thanks Rust. When it comes to safety how someone can compromise with ones health is beyond me so the right tools for the right job is critical. For my first coat on the forklift I use epoxy primer then followed by a high build primer then paint. With the bike restorations I just use a good quality base primer and then base/clear paint. If the surface's are really smooth I may even use an etching primer and then high build again. It's always given me great results doing it this way.

Paul, that is a really great post. I have tinkered witht the thought of a sand blaster over the years but I will leave that one to rest. I actually haven't had the need to blast but if I do I'll just take it to a pro.
Congrats on you invention, very impressive. I'm sure glad you are on this forum with your many talents!

Scott

Thanks Scott. Glad you liked the post. There are times I could post more but I wouldn't want to come across as a "Know it all" so I sit back and just read the threads. When it comes to safety I had to jump in as in this case with my 2 cents worth. With sand blasting it has to be done safely. It takes all of us to make a great site and we have some of the best members around hands down. OK now I'm bragging

 

[Wildfire]

Thanks guys for all the great info.
Wildfire,

That looks like one heck of a mess to clean up...But I guess you get what ya pay for.

Yes in this case it was a mess because I couldn't move the forklift from the area. The wheels were off. No electrical on the machine and no hydraulics. It did however work out to my advantage because I was able to recover the sand because it was easy to sweep up from the pavement and reuse it. which saved me allot of money. It took 9 hours to sandblast the lift which was tough to do but the results were perfect.

I didn't post to discourage you but just to inform you that this stuff is terrible on your lungs if you don't protect yourself so please do.

Here's a few follow up photo's of that long weekend


Yes I even had to paint it outside

Primed

Painting

Shortly after painting the wheels were installed and the machine was pushed into the shop to have the custom work completed on the machine.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

Man I want to head up north to the big rock just to play around on that forklift!

 

[traildust]

WOW! That forklift looks as hot as a WILDFIRE

Great job on that Paul! By the way, a man with your talents would not come across as a "know it all"! Your post's are always well informed and extremely polite. A real know it all doesn't come across that way and luckely we don't have any on this forum. The best on the web!

Scott

 

[Wildfire]

WOW! That forklift looks as hot as a WILDFIRE

Great job on that Paul! By the way, a man with your talents would not come across as a "know it all"! Your post's are always well informed and extremely polite. A real know it all doesn't come across that way and luckely we don't have any on this forum. The best on the web!

Scott

Thanks Scott. We all do things we are good at. I just need to figure out what I'm good at next

These site have talent all over the place with you included. I've learned a long time ago one should never feel he is better than anyone else because there's always someone waiting to show you differently. As for the old fork lift. I did a short video of it today while bringing in a tractor related item into the shop to be rebuilt. Have a look if you like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf7N4dDOs-k

 

[traildust]

Thanks Scott. We all do things we are good at. I just need to figure out what I'm good at next

These site have talent all over the place with you included. I've learned a long time ago one should never feel he is better than anyone else because there's always someone waiting to show you differently. As for the old fork lift. I did a short video of it today while bringing in a tractor related item into the shop to be rebuilt. Have a look if you like.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf7N4dDOs-k

Thank you Paul! I wish I was able to contribute more to the mechanical side of tractors but I simply can't. This is my firs tractor and it's brand new. After five years all I have experience with is fluids, filters and lube. On the other hand that's a really good thing as I'm happy that Kubota makes a solid tractor. I used to tell people that Kupota is the Toyota of tractors, but with Toyota going through there issues I wont be saying that for a while.

My contributions are really a speck, if that , compared to others like you that have vast experience with the mechanicals of tractors.


I liked your video, the forklift is a beauty! I really like that horn you put on there, that will get some attention!

Scott

 

[Greg]

Hey Paul,

Perhaps you'd feel better being known as a 'know it all' rather than a selfish bastard! What gives you the right to hold back on us? to deny us the enjoyment of looking at your talented work and perhaps learning from how you do things?

Maybe 'know it all' is not so bad?



You know I'm just pokin' fun, I hope.