Clarke SB3 Grit Blast Gun

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Hi,

Friend has offered me one of these for nothing if I want it as he is clearing out his garage and knows I mess about with cars.
I have a couple of car projects on the go at the mo and was wondering if this gun could be of use. Basically I have a number of cast aluminium parts such as throttle bodies and the like that could do with blast cleaning to restore them. I also have a few steel parts that are lightly corroded and could also use some blast cleaning before a dip in one of those DIY zinc plating kits.

What I would like to know is what media will work best with this gun for cleaning aluminium parts and the steel parts, will it simply take anything ?
Also, looking at glass abrasive for sale, there looks to be a couple of types, one is around £27 for 25kg and the other larger at between 0.2mm and 0.7mm for around £7 for 25kg. Can anyone explain the difference between the two in what they should be used for ?

Not being able to have a compressor at home, I'm able to use a large compressor at work ( 60cfm ) that I can outdoors if needed ( it's located in a sand quarry ) , so air supply shouldn't be a problem.

Thanks for any help

 

[rtbcomp]

The SB3 will be hard work for large areas, but OK for doing small items, preferably in a cabinet. 60 cfm would be great, working in a quarry shouldn't annoy the neighbours either.

For aluminium you want aluminium oxide grit, I actually use very worn glass grit. If you want a decent finish use glass beads (after the grit if the items are heavily soiled or corroded) and polish if required.

The £27 stuff is glass beads, used to get a nice finish, the £7 stuff is glass grit, quite aggressive and used to strip paint & rust &c. Beads don't remove material from the surface of the metal, grit does and leaves a nice etched finish for priming.

PS Machine Mart's prices for grit are way OTT, I guess you found Pete Booth on ebay, his prices are good and he will sell by the tonne if you want!

 

[bigbadbugga]

Soda is very good for blasting aluminium, it leaves it looking polished. If you are only doing a few parts you can just get 1KG boxes if it from tesco or wilkinsons for around 80p to £1.

hodge clemco do a good selection of media, will deliver smaller amounts too.

they also have a good guide to all the different types, click the link below.

http://www.hodgeclemco.co.uk/viewpage.php?pageid=28

 

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

Thanks guys. I did see this link about using soda for aluminium parts. I guess for small parts and available cheaply at the local supermarket, this would be ideal for already clean but dulled items like the throttle bodies.
http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

So this gun with a decent air supply will take any media, but isn't really suitable for large items. Sounds a good cheap solution as I can't have a compressor and blast cabinet at home.

 

[Bigjoe]

i might give that a try one day.....Thats a *TOP TIP*

 

[rtbcomp]

Make sure you use bicarbonate of soda, not washing soda.

Hodge Clemco don't stock all the media listed on their website at all their depots.

Try these

http://www.macants.co.uk/plastic-blast-media.htm

http://www.krysteline.net/TruGrit.htm#

http://www.ineedgrit.co.uk/index.php

http://www.eisenwerk-wuerth.de/en/glass.htm

http://www.glassadvantageinc.com/index.htm

http://www.engineeringtalk.com/news/wra/wra101.html

http://www.hodgeclemco.co.uk/

http://www.esska-tech.co.uk/esska_eng_s/blast_material,p1010,,14.html

http://www.angloscotabrasives.co.uk/Abrasives.htm

http://www.armex.com/

http://www.eurogrit.nl/uk_us/profile.php

 

[superfly]

Hi Guys,

I am thinking about using such gun, with soda or sand blasting. I have a small home compressor about 8 cfm.
My usage is my personal restoration project, and more trying the soda/sand than anything else.

But I am wondering will it simply works? I am aware of the blasting cabinet and so on, but don't have money for any of that.

So I am looking at a more diy solution.

What do you think?
Cheers