Soda blasting advice: Grassroots Motorsports forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

Subscribe get a full year for only $23.95 Sample Free Test Drive—no strings attached

April 26, 2011 11:05 p.m. curtis73 Dork

So I have almost all the factors in place to start soda blasting my 66 Bonneville. I have the whole thing disassembled (and I mean disassembled) and parts all over the lawn. I have a good 2.9 gpm 3000 PSI pressure washer and plan on buying the media blaster attachment for it here in the next couple days.

The plan is to blast and prime the "easy" parts here at home, but the shell is going to a shop for pro work.

I'm a little worried about legality and environmental stuff. The parts that I plan to do here are front fenders, 4 doors, inner fenders, cowl, etc. Do I just blast and let the water run into the street? Do I let it collect in the low spot of my driveway and vacuum it up after it dries?
April 27, 2011 12:55 a.m. Joshua Reader

For legal stuff just call your the local courthouse and ask, here in Sioux Falls we can prime within city limits but not paint.
April 27, 2011 9:02 a.m. ncjay Reader

Supposedly one of the advantages of soda blasting is that it is environmentally friendly. Hot Rod magazine soda blasted a car a while back, and did it right in a parking lot. Clean up was not an issue.
April 27, 2011 9:03 a.m. orphancars Reader

Soda blasting using a pressure washer? Please explain.............this is new to me. And I have a pressure washer!
April 27, 2011 9:08 a.m. dean1484 SuperDork

drifting a bit off subject but I saw an advertisement for blasting with dry ice. I thought that was a neat idea. I am not sure how / where you get the dry ice media and I am betting that must be some sort of grinder involved if you purchase dry ice pelts but I liked the idea that you were left with only what ever you remove from the item you are blasting.
April 27, 2011 9:09 a.m. curtis73 Dork

orphancars wrote:

Soda blasting using a pressure washer? Please explain.............this is new to me. And I have a pressure washer!

Its pretty slick. There is a venturi nozzle that fits in the end of the wand in place of the normal fittings. It has a hose and a probe that you stick in a bucket of sand, soda, walnut shells, glass beads, whatever and picks up media as you spray. Another benefit is that you can blast/degrease at the same time by mixing in a little powdered laundry detergent with the media.

Its like $100 for the basic system and then you typically buy different nozzles for different media size/hardness.

http://www.watercannon.com/p-173-industrial-wet-sand-blast-system-adjustable-flow....
April 27, 2011 9:38 a.m. curtis73 Dork

I had an idea... if I go get one of those eggshell mattress pads and lay the parts on it, theoretically it would catch most of the junk and let the water through. That probably won't satisfy local laws (if any) but I would sleep better.
April 27, 2011 9:41 a.m. Teh E36 M3 HalfDork

curtis73 wrote:

I had an idea... if I go get one of those eggshell mattress pads and lay the parts on it, theoretically it would catch most of the junk and let the water through. That probably won't satisfy local laws (if any) but I would sleep better.

That's actually a pretty good idea. That or a big towel or sheets or something?
April 27, 2011 10:06 a.m. Nashco SuperDork

Keep us posted, that's a good idea on the mattress pad to simplify clean up. I have a soda blaster that I haven't yet used, so I'm getting anxious to try it out. I have to find a local source for soda, just haven't made it a priority yet and I'm not about to pay out the nose to ship a consumable like soda from an online company.

Bryce
April 27, 2011 11:17 a.m. PseudoSport Reader

Doesn’t soda dissolve in water? How well can that work with a pressure washer?

I have a pressure washer and this would be awesome way to clean up a bunch of parts I have kicking around along with a bare engine bay, trunk, door jams and interior of my Camaro. Do you know of anyone using this on rusty car parts? I’d like to see some pictures or video of how well it works.
April 27, 2011 11:21 a.m. alfadriver SuperDork

PseudoSport wrote:

Doesn’t soda dissolve in water? How well can that work with a pressure washer?

I have a pressure washer and this would be awesome way to clean up a bunch of parts I have kicking around along with a bare engine bay, trunk, door jams and interior of my Camaro. Do you know of anyone using this on rusty car parts? I’d like to see some pictures or video of how well it works.

is a home made sand blasting booth out of the question? It's not as if water stripping something is going to be a very neat (and in clean) process.... You'll get wet, without a doubt.
April 27, 2011 11:35 a.m. PseudoSport Reader

I can see both methods being messy. I have a pressure washer and a hose but my 30 gallon compressor is not really up to the task of sand blasting large parts. This looks like it could be a good option for me without much additional cost.
April 27, 2011 11:40 a.m. alfadriver SuperDork

In reply to PseudoSport:

I missed the part about the actual Camaro. That I can see. Either you get covered in sand or water- you get to choose.

But for the parts... seems like a booth would a good choice.
April 27, 2011 11:53 a.m. Ian F SuperDork

I wonder how hard it would be to build a DIY version of one of these:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_138744_138744
April 27, 2011 11:54 a.m. YaNi Reader

curtis73 wrote:

http://www.watercannon.com/p-173-industrial-wet-sand-blast-system-adjustable-flow....

I has one of dem! Flow rate is more important than pressure. I can't remember the specs on my power washer, but it was about 2800psi @ 2.5gpm and it was not enough with the standard nozzle. I ended up buying some smaller nozzles and it works pretty well. It's brutal to use but gets the job done. You are completely soaked and sandy by the time you are done. Goggles or a full face shield are a must. I don't see how these would work with baking soda though.
April 27, 2011 3:33 p.m. curtis73 Dork

PseudoSport wrote:

Doesn’t soda dissolve in water? How well can that work with a pressure washer?

Yes...but a few reasons why it does not in this case. The soda is pulled into the water stream immediately before it leaves the nozzle, so in the couple milliseconds between the mixing and where it does its work it doesn't have time to dissolve. Second, its injected at pretty high concentrations. Even if it could dissolve, there is way more soda than could be dissolved by the water.
I have a pressure washer and this would be awesome way to clean up a bunch of parts I have kicking around along with a bare engine bay, trunk, door jams and interior of my Camaro. Do you know of anyone using this on rusty car parts? I’d like to see some pictures or video of how well it works.

I couldn't find one that was wet soda blasting that used this type of kit, but here is some wet sandblasting. Ignore the elevator music. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqPiF49DZu4