Looking for someone to sandblast some wheels.

[ncduckman]

Anybody know a good/cheap sandblaster in/near the Triangle?

Thanks,
Robert

[fourtrax]

there is a guy over old jenks rd and green level (near apex) that does alot of work for most of the local body shops, don't know what he charges, but he is good (repairs rims as well). if you contact "true 2 forum" on capital blvd they can give you his contact info, as i don't remember his name.

[Mtbcoach]

Thats good to know. I've tried to contact (they don't seem to answer their phone, left messages) A1 Sandblasting (near Wake Tech) several times without a call back, once. I've also talked to Dave's Signs and Sandblasting (401 and Perry Creek Rd) who quoted me half the price the one time I did talk to A1 but haven't been able to get in touch with them again either. I guess the are busy and don't need the work enough to return phone calls.

Oh well, I may just have to buckle down and do it myself. I've got a sandblaster just that living in yuppy Cary, I'm not sure how my neighbors will like me spewing sand all over the neighborhood...

[ncduckman]

I spoke to a guy who posted on CL. He just moved to the area and has 36 years experience. He quoted me $20 per wheel to have my factory alloys done for powdercoat. Seemed reasonable to me. His ad is as follows (not my all caps):



THIRTHY SIX YEARS OF RESTORATION ON CARS, BOATS, HEAVY EQUIPMENT, SWIMMING POOLS, BUILDINGS, LAWN FURNITURE, THE LIST GOES ON. WE CAN BLAST ALMOST ANYTHING ANYWHERE, WE HAVE TWO FULLY SELF CONTAINED MOBILE UNITS READY TO GO.GIVE US A TRY. COATINGS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE. CALL BLAST-IT-HOLM FOR MORE INFORMATION @ 919-552-1190 AND ASK FOR JOHN OR LONI.WE WILL BE GLAD TO HELP YOU

[little_joe]

There's a place right at Cary Parkway and Old Apex Rd (and the RR tracks) that sandblasts and powdercoats, damn I forget their name but they are supposed to be good.

Why not just spray paint them? I painted my wheels with the Duplicolor wheel paint and IMNSHO they turned out very well, cost around $30/total, and I can touch them up any time.

[ncduckman]

Originally Posted by little_joe

Why not just spray paint them? I painted my wheels with the Duplicolor wheel paint and IMNSHO they turned out very well, cost around $30/total, and I can touch them up any time.

I will probably do that. I am just checking to see how much it would set me back for powder coat. The dude listed in the local shop thread from Greensboro will powder coat them for $50 each, not bad. They just need to be prepped first.

Robert

[Mtbcoach]

Originally Posted by little_joe

There's a place right at Cary Parkway and Old Apex Rd (and the RR tracks) that sandblasts and powdercoats, damn I forget their name but they are supposed to be good.

Why not just spray paint them? I painted my wheels with the Duplicolor wheel paint and IMNSHO they turned out very well, cost around $30/total, and I can touch them up any time.

I agree with the Duplicolor wheel paint being relatively cheap, strong and easy to touch up. I've done mine on my FJC and they have done very well. Anytime I beat them up, I go out, do a quick scuff with a "greenie" and touch them up...

[jfz80]

If that is unique coatings that i listed, he told me 60-70 per wheel for blasting and coating in a normal color. It gets pricey when the wheels get elaborate, but the 80 design is pretty simple. I have read that b/c the 80 wheels are cast that they will need to be outgassed for a proper application of powder. Rattlecan starts to look nice in comparison $ wise. If you check out ERG80's thread about wheel painting he spells it out and his dark graphite wheels look great.

Ellis Media Blasting is here in High Point as well, but only do the sand work.

[fourtrax]

spray painting mine as i type... i will post some pic's latter.

[fourtrax]

I cleaned, then scuffed the rim pretty good, then i applied a couple coats of etching primer, lightly sanding between coats (pitted some from lack or care of PO). then i used a primer sealer, followed by a couple coats of krylon black hammered paint. then 2 coats of clear. I have 3 of them done. i will wait til it get a little warmer to do the other two rims.

[Mtbcoach]

Nice job. I have to admit that I didn't work nearly as hard as you did. I scuffed mine with a "greenie" pad, wiped with some acetone and painted with the Duplicolor Black Wheel paint.

Here are a couple pics of mine...

[Mtbcoach]

All this sandblasting issue helped push me to further "encourage" my wife to that I NEEDED a new compressor. I've had the same crappy one for almost 25 years and I'm WAY overdue. I'd been researching for the past few months and had a good idea what I wanted. I wanted something that could push at least 135psi and over 10cfm @ 90psi.

Luckily, I read the paper everyday and found the Lowe's add with 20% off on ALL air compressors. They had the Campbell-Hausfeld I'd been looking at over at Northern Tool. I rationalized the $350 expense as that was how much it was going to cost me to get the trailer blasted, just have to do the work myself. Now I just have to figure out how I can manage the mess without disturbing my yuppie neighbors...

[GarnerFJ40]

Originally Posted by Mtbcoach

All this sandblasting issue helped push me to further "encourage" my wife to that I NEEDED a new compressor. I've had the same crappy one for almost 25 years and I'm WAY overdue. I'd been researching for the past few months and had a good idea what I wanted. I wanted something that could push at least 135psi and over 10cfm @ 90psi.

Luckily, I read the paper everyday and found the Lowe's add with 20% off on ALL air compressors. They had the Campbell-Hausfeld I'd been looking at over at Northern Tool. I rationalized the $350 expense as that was how much it was going to cost me to get the trailer blasted, just have to do the work myself. Now I just have to figure out how I can manage the mess without disturbing my yuppie neighbors...

Just get a bunch of tarps and make yourself a tent, and do it in that. That's what I had thought about doing for blasting the tub of 40 number 2. Make sure you make yourself a floor, then it's relatively low mess

[Mtbcoach]

Originally Posted by GarnerFJ40

Just get a bunch of tarps and make yourself a tent, and do it in that. That's what I had thought about doing for blasting the tub of 40 number 2. Make sure you make yourself a floor, then it's relatively low mess

I used to sandblast a bunch and did exactly that. The plan it to put in a bunch of eye-bolts under my deck to hang some tarps from then go to town...

[southerncruiser62]

Be sure to leave a little area for respiration.

[mdemeglio]

Just built a tent in my garage so as not to disturb my neighbors. I built a frame out of two 2x4x12' and two 2x4x8's, hung it from the ceiling using light chain and eye bolts, then wrapped it in 2 mil plastic sheeting (look in the concrete section at Lowes - I couldn't find sheeting this size in the Paint section). It works great but like Greg mentioned, respiration is key, after about 30 seconds the dust is so thick that most cannister respirators will start to fail and you'll be inhaling particulate (really bad news for your lungs). I'm going to rig up a big-a$$ shop vac to some dryer ducting to one side of the tent and see if I can pull out the dust that way. The only other trick seems to be creating a decent screen to recycle the sand - otherwise little pieces of rust will constantly clog the nozzle of the blaster. One other odd thing I found was that if I held a drop light while blasting (I couldn't see at all after 30 seconds because of the dust and the fact that the goggles and face shield were either fogged or scratched from the sand) the static electricity from the blasting actually caused the drop light to constantly arc through my gloves while I was blasting - every 5 seconds I'd get a 110v shock - not quite as painful as getting welding burns on your neck when welding overhead but crappy nonetheless A strong light mounted to a stand or hung from the ceiling is probably better than holding a light.

[swampthing]

NCduck - did you ever get your wheels blasted?

I called John off CL (down in Fuquay) - he quoted me $50 to blast my bumper - it's finally gotten in bad enough shape to do something about it.