BLASTING CABINET

[km3h 543]

I recently purchased a blasting cabinet and used it to clean paint and rust from two wheel. My problem is with the resulting finish of the wheels. They were left with a dull gray finish that is not smooth. I suspect it is the result of the material I used to clean the wheels.

 

 

I was under the impression that glass beads would leave a clean, smooth finish. What I got was a gray, kind of gritty finish. Reminds me of what I got from using sand several years ago with a pressurized outdoor blaster. Am I expecting too much?

 

 

 

[squonk 41,068]

What did the wheel look like before you blasted. Glass usually leaves a satin smooth finish unless the metal was pitted.

[km3h 543]

I guess I was ewxpecting it to be nice and shiney. When I go over it with sand paper it cleans up and gets a good shine on it.

[pacer 3,169]

Theres good news and bad news - Glass, or similar will leave a nice smooth finish but will take much longer to get all that old paint and rust off, while the rougher media - like you got - will take the old finish off much faster but leave a bit rougher finish. I find that a coat of primer will cover that easily and then the finish will turn out fine. In fact I find that even applying the finish coat directly gives me a finish that I'm happy with, course I dont aim for trailer queens but still get some nice finishes. (with Rustoleum)

 

Go to TSC and get your media - Black Beauty in fine - only 8$

 

Youre gonna LOVE that cabinet!

check out this vacuum specially for a cabinet at HF - scrounge up a 25% off code and its quite a bargain

http://www.harborfreight.com/blast-cabinet-reclaimer-kit-60739.html

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

I use

 

http://www.woodcraft.com/Product/149952/Oneida-DIY-Molded-Dust-Deputy-Cyclone.aspx

 

on the harbor freight cabinet. Works great with black beauty 36 grit.

 

Look up "harbor freight blast gun modification" on Google. A simple pickup tube mod makes the original gun perform much better

[Save Old Iron 1,566]

I guess I was ewxpecting it to be nice and shiney. When I go over it with sand paper it cleans up and gets a good shine on it.

try lowering the pressure somewhat.

 

this may help the beads from fracturing into fragments.

[Geno 1,929]

I guess I was ewxpecting it to be nice and shiney. When I go over it with sand paper it cleans up and gets a good shine on it.

 

Did you do that after we talked Nick?

[fireman 1,021]

I use garnet in my blaster. Course enough to remove the rust but still leaves a nice finish!

[km3h 543]

Did you do that after we talked Nick?

I did that before we talked Geno. It got everything clean but left a finish not as smooth as I thought it would. I am going to do another piece and use it as a test. I will prime it and then paint it to see how it turns out. Could be I am just complaining about nothing.

[JimD 3,345]

You should keep the pressure down to 60psi. Any higher and you're just breaking down the glass bead as SOI said. A good #10 glass bead gives a relatively smooth finish that can be primed and painted after cleaning. Finish will come out smooth.

Edited November 26, 2014 by JimD

[km3h 543]

60 lbs, now there's something I can live with. That will keep the compressor happy. Thanks for all the advice.