Sand Alternatives When Blasting?

[peter carroll]

I have one of those little sandblasters that you just "stick" in a pile of sand and pull the trigger. So far, it is fine for my needs, however, I was wondering if there is other media that I can use with this thing. My fear is that sand will get in places it shouldn't if I spray directly on the car. Thanks for your knowledge. Pete

[Zeke]

Sand is aggressive, cheap and expendable. If you are recovering your medium, you can use aluminum oxide for a finer finish. After that, there are glass beads and walnut shells and granular plastic, to name a few. Being somewhat expensive, they are usually used in closed systems. You can use a cabinet or work in a small booth. Wear a respirator around sandblasting always. Wearing eye protection goes w/o mention. Better yet, get a hood.

[karlp]

I've heard of CO2 (dry ice) being used as blasting media.
I doubt it is for the DIY as it requires a tank of liquid CO2 at about 300 psi. As the liquid leaves the nozzle it flashes to "snow" and is pretty abrasive. Not sure it would be good to use on body panels as it is pretty cold and may cause warpage. Naturally, it just evaporates after use.

Karl

[Mark Henry]

As far as blasting a car with any media, it gets everywhere.
I have a rotisserie and can turn a car upside-down then blow it out. I still can't get all the sand out of it. Oh well, its still better then rust.

[red-beard]

Karl -

I actually have a patent for using CO2 as a media for abrasive cleaning Gas Turbines. It's most common in the nuclear industry where the blast material would become radioactive. On GTs you use it so that you don't block cooling passages with material.

Hmmmm. Karl, you may be on to something here. Except I'd use pre-formed dry ice granuals. A company in New Hampshire makes and ships dry ice pellets for abrasive cleaning.

James

[M. Hendrix]

The CO2 blaster I saw actually makes the media on the spot.. small compacted pellets.

In high humidity, might not the best thing for a large metal surface, you know.. it's like a glass of iced tea in the sun.

I saw it used on paint over wood, all kinds of ancient glop around a storm drain, a painted metal bucket, and an ant hill!

Fantastic!


M

[kenschipper]

I used to design asbestos and lead based paint removal projects using CO2 blasters. Great thing was that there was no residue. The units we used were originally designed to strip paint off of aircrafts. If operated correctly they do not mark or harm a metal surface at all. It's really the deluxe way to strip paint...but in reality I think it's too expensive to be practical. Blaster comes on one semi and CO2 on another. People were looking at a smaller trailer mounted system but don't know if they ever procuced them.

Ken Schipper

[74914]

I've heard of soda blasting. I read some about it and it looked interesting...not as messy. You'll have to do a google search on it as I've lost the links.
Ed