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Anyone made their own 'soda blaster'?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Greenbraes
  • Start date Start date
G

Greenbraes

Guest
Hi guys
I have read a few articles about soda blasting engines before painting.....has anyone made a soda blasting gun before?...I can only find expensive soda blasting kits that I can't justify buying just for my own use in the garage. I have an air compressor so only need some ideas on how to make a siphon type gun
Any help would be great

Cheers

RB:)
 
There is a write up on the interwebs where someone had taken a piece of plastic tubing, cut a slit in it and inserted the tip of a air blowgun into the slit, then put the other end of the tubing into a box of soda.
 
I've made my own using http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/ as a reference. They show you step by step.

However, I didn't have really great results with it, and it would take forever and a day to try to clean up an engine.

Harbor freight sells soda blasters :

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-lb-...-782A-E011-B31E-001B2163195C&mr:referralID=NA

They have 2 different sizes and one is right around or under $99.

I picked mine up second hand off of craigslist and it does pretty well. Definately better than the diy one.

Nic
 
niclpnut said:
I've made my own using http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/ as a reference. They show you step by step.

However, I didn't have really great results with it, and it would take forever and a day to try to clean up an engine.

Harbor freight sells soda blasters :

http://www.harborfreight.com/15-lb-...-782A-E011-B31E-001B2163195C&mr:referralID=NA

They have 2 different sizes and one is right around or under $99.

I picked mine up second hand off of craigslist and it does pretty well. Definately better than the diy one.

Nic
Click to expand...

This one from 'Harborfreight' is just what I am looking for really.....just have to find something like this over here in the UK......but for now I might just try to make one up with the grit gun I have....you never know???

Cheers for the info niclpnut

RB:)
 
Sodablaster

Sodablaster

The simplest soda blaster can be built with an air compressor where you take some tubing and cut an elongated hole in it. You slide it over the tip of the air chuck out and gravity feed out of a box of soda. It works, but it's not super fast.

If you are going for one of the DIY methods, one thing most people leave out is a water trap. Put one in, they can be super cheap. If you don't, even a little bit of condensation in the line and soda gum up pretty fast.
 
Forgot

Forgot

You don't need to build a gun for it.

Maybe the easiest diy is just to put a t joint in after hte airchuck, but before the tip. It goes straight from the airchuck, the other side is the tip. The other line is just a hose that feeds through the top of a box of soda into the bottom. The pressure difference will force it out and all over your workspace.

Expect a mess. The cleanup involved always makes me want to pay someone else to deal with it.
 
I made one, it only worked so so, the bought one at HF, the $12 model, it works well enough for my purposes. Yeah, do it outside, let the birds and bees and wind and plants clean up the mess.
 
well took delivery of one small soda blaster

bikepics-2364963-full.jpg


the plan was to try it out on a spare cam cover out the back of the garage so......loaded the tank up with about 15kg of soda and off I went.....well :eek: it now looks like christmas, the soda goes everywhere...lol......I will have to build some kind of cabinet to keep the mess down....I also used about 6 or 7 kgs of soda just to do the cover so I think I have some fine tuning to do...lol
anyway the cam cover is done and I have some chrome paint I have had for a while so I will give this a try just to see how it goes...I will post some photos later

RB:)
 
Very interested to see how your Chrome paint comes out... Thinking about doing the same thing to my seat / tank and cowling. Are you going to clear coat it as well?
 
Soda blasting, garnet. silica sand, shot, etc. blasting can all be very useful but there are problems as indicated in previous posts. One of the biggest problems for the home user is air compressor capacity because these devices use a huge air flow rate in order to obtain a cleaning rate which is satisfactory. No question that a cabinet is useful in order to confine the mess and to recycle the media but this adds additional problems in terms of cost, space, ability to accomodate larger components and so on.

Very small units of high quality are rare and can be costly but the alternative is higher air consumption. Water removal is a huge issue in some applications as someone noted. There are kits on the market which have "rubber" nose pieces which can be placed against the work surface beyond the area being worked in order to confine/capture the media and these might be useful to someone or the basis for modelling or copy.

I have considered the acquisition of a blast cabinet or hand held unit but limited space and air compressor capacity combined with the ability to use a friend's commercial ID ventillated cabinets seems to make this impractical.

A big caution is that the media dust and dust resulting from material removal can both be very detrimental to the user and others. This issue is not one to be down-played! Consider the long term health effects to auto body repair and wood workers, especially from the time prior to the appreciation of the need for respiratory protection!

I encourage the reading of this article as an example: http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DCBasics.cfm

Be safe, on and off the road.
 
DCrippa said:
Very interested to see how your Chrome paint comes out... Thinking about doing the same thing to my seat / tank and cowling. Are you going to clear coat it as well?
Click to expand...

The instructions are (after prep):-
1/ primer
2/ gloss black...or black then lacquer
3/ lots of dust coats of chrome paint...says this is acually like lots of layers of fine metal.
4/ gently polish the chrome paints once it is dry
5/ lacquer when your happy with the polish effect, 2 to 3 coats or as you see fit.

Seems a lot of trouble but I bought the stuff just to see how it comes out, I think if I was going for a tank or the likes I would consider a spray shop....but you never know how the cam cover will turn out!!!

just got the primer on so will post some photos

RB:):)
 
Normk said:
Soda blasting, garnet. silica sand, shot, etc. blasting can all be very useful but there are problems as indicated in previous posts. One of the biggest problems for the home user is air compressor capacity because these devices use a huge air flow rate in order to obtain a cleaning rate which is satisfactory. No question that a cabinet is useful in order to confine the mess and to recycle the media but this adds additional problems in terms of cost, space, ability to accomodate larger components and so on.

Very small units of high quality are rare and can be costly but the alternative is higher air consumption. Water removal is a huge issue in some applications as someone noted. There are kits on the market which have "rubber" nose pieces which can be placed against the work surface beyond the area being worked in order to confine/capture the media and these might be useful to someone or the basis for modelling or copy.

I have considered the acquisition of a blast cabinet or hand held unit but limited space and air compressor capacity combined with the ability to use a friend's commercial ID ventillated cabinets seems to make this impractical.

A big caution is that the media dust and dust resulting from material removal can both be very detrimental to the user and others. This issue is not one to be down-played! Consider the long term health effects to auto body repair and wood workers, especially from the time prior to the appreciation of the need for respiratory protection!

I encourage the reading of this article as an example: http://billpentz.com/woodworking/cyclone/DCBasics.cfm

Be safe, on and off the road.
Click to expand...

points taken Normk
I was only giving it a quick try to find out what I need to get now, the air compressor I have is large enough but I need to regulate the pressure down a bit (was running just a bit close to the PSV setting) and think this may have been one of the causes of the high soda usage...more likely me being a novice..lol.....I think the way ahead will be a DIY wooden cabinet out the back of my garage, this should allow the media to be collected/cleaned and re-used. Our recycling guys said today they would be happy to take what ever was left..so things are getting there.

RB:):)
 
cover before blasting
bikepics-2365334-full.jpg


didn't take a photo right after blasting (doh) but next is after etch primer
bikepics-2365340-full.jpg


and now after the black base coat...is now sitting under a heat light...next will be lacquer
bikepics-2365341-full.jpg


the cover is not the easiest thing to spray but is looking so much better than before...almost good enough to leave as is..lol....NO!!! will lacquer tomorrow

RB:):)
 
i'd be inclined to leave it as is... looks good and easy to touch up if needed
 
here is the cover lacquered....it looks really good in the flesh....I think I will just try the chrome paint on the breather cover and see what happens.....I am looking at blacking the engine soon and with the cam cover looking so good I might do the engine satin black and have the covers gloss black like the cam cover.

bikepics-2365988-full.jpg



RB:)
 
Greenbraes said:
I also used about 6 or 7 kgs of soda just to do the cover so I think I have some fine tuning to do...lol
Click to expand...
Is your soda blaster capable of being converted to use glass beads as the blasting media? If it can be, that and some sort of media containment device (think plastic rubbish container with a plexiglass window), would go a long ways to lowering your material usage.

Oh... and that's one nice looking cam cover! :D
 
Unfortunately soda is a one time use only blast media. It isn't hard (like grit) but cleans as it 'explodes' on the surface being blasted. You can't reuse it.

Easiest is to use it outside on the driveway or wherever and wash the mess away with a hose. A particle mask will be fine for H&S and the stuff makes my head itch like mad so I wear a hat.

Don't be tempted to use grit or beads or the like on your engine. The stuff will get in and you'll be boogered. Though the guys at Redditch claim they can blast an engine safely:

http://www.redditchshotblasting.co.uk/

By the way, where did you get the blast pot and the soda from and what compressor are you using?
 
I think I just need to set the unit up and get some practice in to get the usage down, the book says with a 2mm nozzle (like the one I was using) it should use 20 to 30lbs/hr (approx 10 to 15 kg). I was using it for about 15 minutes but I think the air volume I was using was to high. My compressor is running at about 115psig, I need to regulate this down to 80psig for the blaster. I am also looking at building a cabinet out of wood (probably marine ply) out the back, just like a big blasting cabinet with holes for gloves.....I am pretty sure I will find other garden type things to store in it when it is not being used..lol This will allow me to contain the soda and I can sweep it out and then dump it, it will also be good for sand blasting small parts too. The guys at the recycling centre have no problems taking the waste so all is well there too

RB:):)
 
just a quick post about the chrome paint.......I followed thge instructions to the point and it looks like...well.....it is so good I will be blasting it in the morning...I don't even want to take a photo to be honest..lol (I will before I strip it)....all I can think is the spray nozzle on the can was goosed...it came out in lumps instead of a very fine mist......thank goodness I only went for the breather cover and not the whole cam cover....:rolleyes::rolleyes:

RB:(
 
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