What abrasive do you use for rust/paint removal?

[Darren]

I'm looking into setting up a second sandblast cabinet for paint and rust removal on metal. FYI - HF has them on sale this month. I'm leaning toward glass beads but unsure of what size grit to buy. Please let me know if you've had better luck with a different abrasive and what size grit you used for it. My glass cabinet has 180 grit aluminum oxide but it's too aggressive for metal cleaning.

Thanks,
Darren

[doug hodder]

On stoves...I use Jasco stripper first. Large flat surfaces of sheet metal can't take the blast well and you will warp them. I just blast the really bad spots. I don't blast stove tanks anymore, especially on really old ones, stripper only. If you do a cast iron grate, zip tie it to a piece of ply first, helps minimize potential damage when working with it in a cabinet.

For a blast media, glass beads are top notch, not as aggressive as a silica or alum. oxide. For grit size...I dunno...it's what Mike has in his cabinet. The more it gets cycled, the smaller it gets. I will do some sand through my little blaster once in a while and I get the finest stuff I can.

You might just try taking a beater into your cabinet and trying it on the metal. Keep the gun at a lower angle and at a distance to see how it all works. With your experience at blasting, you may find it will work OK. I always sand the metal after a blast as well. Old tire valve stems are great for stuffing in the tank openings so you don't get grit in the tank or pump openings. Doug

[Darren]

Thanks for the tips Doug.

[eamarquardt]

Lye works well as a paint stripper. Hardware stores generally sell it. I recently had to clean some grates for a stove that had baked on crud. Soaked em for a week in a lye solution and the crud came right off.

Wear gloves and goggles though as lye is very caustic and just as dangerous as an acid.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Gus

[Kevin A]

For glass beads, I think I would lean towards the finer grits. And like Doug suggested, use lesser angle of attack with sheet metal panels like stove cases. You could also turn the air pressure down to lessen the impact on the sheet metal.

[WarPony]

Darren, we use glass beads at work all the time to clean aluminum parts but I have used it on metal parts of some of my Coleman projects. I'll look to see what grit we use and post tomorrow at lunch.

Jeff

[Darren]

I forgot to come back and thank you guys. I've setup the 2nd blasting cabinet and it's great. Got the one from HF on sale for $299 and it has no leaks plus fairly easy to assemble. Using 80 grit glass beads to clean up metal parts.

Putting in a utility sink next and then a small area for painting with a fume hood of some kind.



So thanks for the guidance on this, I appreciate the help.

[eamarquardt]

Fergot to mention that I had a motorcycle engine case blasted. The fellow used walnut shells. Left a really nice burnished finish. Much nicer than sand or glass beads.

Cheers,

Gus