Dipping/Blasting help please

[BigMark]

Hi all,
As you may or may not know Fiona and I are restoring a Moggie 1000, well we have decided if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing well so am looking for anyone with opinions or conections with the Sand blasting or dipping treatments.
All advice very welcome.
Cheers
Mark

 

[Silas (son of Silas)]

The best money I ever spent on tools for restoring cars was my grit blaster. If you have any doubts as to how great they are, go and have a play with grinders, wire brushes etc then have a look at my MGB thread: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=1075

It was worth every penny.

 

[MG David]

The thread Silas has pointed to also has information about dipping.

 

[BigMark]

Cheers Guys
Yep had a look at that....I think as the thread says the basic treatment sounds ok but the other stuff is OTT for a humble Moggie.
Does anyone have an isea on blasting costs?, I have a medium size compressor but I share a workshop so dont want it going everywhere which is why I would probably out source it.

 

[BigMark]

Silas, how wide spread is the crap when you grit blast, is it localised or does it get everywhere?

 

[Silas (son of Silas)]

Short answer: It goes everywhere.

You're better off rolling the car out of the garage and doing on the drive. That said however I blasted in the garage recently and I just about cleared it all up. The type of blast media also makes a huge difference strangely. Aluminium oxide makes way more mess than garnet. Probably because it strips the rust off quicker, so uses less media?

Something to consider. I bet I could strip just about anything to bare metal and clear up all the mess twice over in the time it would take to achieve the same level of finish with other mechanical methods.

The killer here is you share your workshop. If I shared a workshop with someone that made as much mess as I do when I blast I would not be happy.

You can rig up plastic sheeting to stop the spread to very localised areas, but it can be a pain in the a$$

 

[Agroshield]

...anyone with opinions or conections with the Sand blasting or dipping treatments...

I'm sure you know this already, but don't ever use sand as a blasting media - the fine dust can cause silicosis.

This sounds like a crazy idea, but it works: to contain the debris, buy a tent and do the blasting inside it. I've done the same on a smaller scale with motorbike parts, using a transparent tent from Homebase, designed as a mini-greenhouse. I've also used it for cutting MDF with a router. Let the dust settle and hoover up. No mess, no worries.

 

[BigMark]

Thanks yep knew the "sand" thing...old habit die hard...ok 'm an old git ha ha
Thanks for the idea, think I may well still get another bod to do the dirty work for me

 

[rtbcomp]

I do a lot of gritblasting with a modified ACE gritblaster. I use J-Blast Supafine (copper slag). Even though it is supposed to be a single use media I use it over and over until it disappears as dust.

I bought mine to do a Landrover, at £10.00 per wheel + £60 for the bulkhead I decided it would be cheaper to buy the unit and do it myself and I did the whole lot back to metal (apart from the new galvanised chassis!).

It has developed into a part-time business, although I really need a bigger pot.

Don't forget the air compressor, I use a Clarke 14cfm 3hp unit, this is the absolute minimum you need, after half a day contimuous use the air is getting too hot and moist to be much use.

http://www.acegrit.co.uk/acegrit/gritblaster/