Sandblasting at Home

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1973Guppie

1973Guppie

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Hi,

I am looking for opinions on how to SAFELY sanblast at home. I have a compressor with an attachment I bought at home depot and was going to try to sandblast some areas on the 55 this weekend to see how extensive the rust is. I have heard others mention in posts "silica poisoning", what is this? and what should a person be using to safely sandblast? I have a generic type masque with the replacable puck type filters, is this sufficient? Any info would be appreciated. Please no posts on how I should take it somewhere to be professionaly blasted, that's not what I am looking for. Appreciate the help. Here's a pic of the project at hand........

Noah
sandblast001.webp
 
Most sandblaster use a fresh air supplied hood. Be prepared for a dusty job and for sand to get EVERYWHERE! You won't be able to see much for all the dust. just remember to keep from blasting too long in one spot. For sheetmetal glass beads or a very fine sand is better. You won't die or get "poisoned" from a few minutes of blasting with a decent resperator on.

Nocents
 
At work we use a 7.5 hp compressor to run the sand blaster, it seems to work fine. We use "Black Bueaty" blasting media, suposedly Silicosis is not an issue with this media(I can get more more info on the stuff tomarrow if any one's interested). The stuff works great on everything from sheet metal to heavier stuff. I'd recommend wearing a blasting hood with safety glasses, a good respirator, good gloves and tape up your pockets, sleeves, pant legs, colar, etc. or you'll get blasting media everywhere. Blast your rig somewhere away from other vehicles, tools, buildings, people, etc; somewhere you don't mind making a mess of. It helps to have a peice of scrap metal lying around to use to test how much "media flow" is going to work best for you. Blasting is kind of fun, I'm sure others will add more info/tips.
 
I've blasted in my driveway with fine sand. Gets everywhere. Definitely use a compressor with enough hp. No issues with poisoning. Like everyone else said.. respirator and hood etc. Have fun!

Brian
 
IHMO silicosis is like global warming...take some statistics and make them do what you want them to do.
and none of the statistics even come close to one week of sandblasting on a 55...they're based on workers' lifetimes of ceramic processing work.

dealt with a bunch of regulations and crap for silicosis and other airborne particulates (which are a little more serious...)


that being said, let us know how the homebrew sandblasting goes...i'm interested b/c a compressor and setup would run me about as much as blasting the body and frame of my 40...


malphrus
 
yeah, I got quoted today about 8-900 bucks to do the body and frame sandblasting, plus some epoxy primer coat. I found some questionable bodywork on the 55 this past weekend, bondo over rust, but it looks like it is confined in a few spots so I think if I blast a few areas I should be ok. I plan to go over the whole body, inch by inch and scratch the surface to see if there is bondo there, if there is, I will be making sure it is not patched over rust by breaking into it a bit with the blaster, etc......
 
Silicosis is only an issue with silica sand. Using aluminum oxide, garnet, coal slag (black beauty), walnuts, corn cob, etc will eliminate the risk of silicosis. I used and continue to use garnet, its reusable and has zero risk of silicosis, no respirator or mask needed, just face protection.
 
alot of good information given by these guys,to bad for me this is what i do for a living:crybaby: anyway get the black b. the fine stuff.test small with the pressure before going wide open to make sure you do not eat the sheetmetal.always use a blast hood hook up your fresh air line to your airtank,and have somebody at the tank away from you to cut you off if something happends to you.its a messey job but its fun.
 
how much does that black beauty stuff run you normally?
and how reusable is it?
could i collect it and blast with it a 2nd or 3rd time? or will it get too fouled up with the paint/rust comin off the body/frame?

sorry for the semi-hijack...

malphrus
 
72cruiser said:
how much does that black beauty stuff run you normally?
and how reusable is it?
could i collect it and blast with it a 2nd or 3rd time? or will it get too fouled up with the paint/rust comin off the body/frame?

sorry for the semi-hijack...

malphrus
Click to expand...
i dont know how much it cost i ve never seen a invoice you can not reuse it at all
 
thanks cruiser88, any idea where i could pick some up retail?


malphrus
 
You definitely want a hood. Harbor freight has a canvas one that works fine. You can use your respirator underneath.
 
You might also check into StarBlast, it is a ground volcanic media that can be reused and normally is shot at 50psi, which will extend your blast time with your compressor and at 50 psi, you are much less likely to warp sheetmetal.
You can just sweep it up and reuse it. Please do use a good particulate filter because even is the media is not harmful, the paint you are removing probably has some lead in it and it does not take much of that to make you sick. It will not only affect you, but your babies will be born naked;)
Disclaimer: Only the last part is a joke

GL

Ed
 
I called the local napa and no luck, shipping the stuff is expensive, does home depot carry it? I bought some standard industrial blasting sand at HD, but sounds like this stuff would be much better, might have to stop by later tonight and check....
 
Silicosis

I believe silicosis is a load of crap. Foundry workers wouldn't live to be 40 years old if it were true. Some people are affected differently, I realize that. I deal with it daily and the OSHA PEL's etc.

It's kind of like asbestosis. There are plenty of 85 year old people with asbestosis.

Don't worry about it.


Dupont makes the Starblast someone was talking about. It does good. But your gonna need a good compressor.

100 hp/1000 gallon receiver tank/120psi at work does great.

JR
 
JRFJ4- said:
I believe silicosis is a load of crap. Foundry workers wouldn't live to be 40 years old if it were true. Some people are affected differently, I realize that. I deal with it daily and the OSHA PEL's etc.

It's kind of like asbestosis. There are plenty of 85 year old people with asbestosis.

Don't worry about it.


JR
Click to expand...

This is extremely bad and dangerous advice. I have personally seen lots of asbestosis, mesothelioma and a few cases of silicosis. All are bad news. I don't know how high the risk is doing sand blasting on hobby projects, but I would still protect myself.

Remember a few people who smoke make it to 80, but it doesn't mean it is good for you.
 
JRFJ4- said:
Some people are affected differently, I realize that. I deal with it daily and the OSHA PEL's etc.

JR
Click to expand...


He shouldn't worry about sandblasting at home. I've worn the OSHA air samplers before.

I've only known of one case of silicosis in almost ten years of foundry work at three different foundries. That guy was healthier than most of us, he just collected a check for it.

You won't even see results from asbestos exposure for 40 years.

EDIT: THIS IS ONLY MY OPINION, AND OBVIOUSLY I AM NOT A DOCTOR, AND OBVIOUSLY I HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH MY TIME.

JR
 
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