Wet sand blasting

[Skvitt]

Sharing my experience.

After reading mixed reviews, for $35 worth of hardware I decided to try it myself.

Here it goes. In a few words - it works. Ran out of glass media very fast though.

[Skvitt]

Next day tried with my granddaughter's playsand😊

[Skvitt]

Improvised "anchor" to keep part from flying
 

[Skvitt]

Trial notes:

-in general it works

-I wouldn't say it is less messy than conventional sand blasting, no dust alright, but sand is still flying all over

-all sand delivery parts MUST be absolutely dry.

-media MUST be absolutely dry, I had to spread that playsand on my driveway in direct sunlight to dry it

-uses a lot of media, need to figure out how to collect and recycle it.

-good thing I did it on a hot sunny day, so I could use garden hose to rinse myself had to toes. (wearing swimming pants helps 😊)

-It leaves a small amount of surface rust as it dries out, which should be perfect for POR15. Or Evaporust to the rescue.

-I won't do small parts, but definitely will consider  for frame blasting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[m-mman]

Quick re-rusting and need to recycle media seems similar to my experiences with dry blasting.

Decreased dust can only be a benefit. 

I think that whatever you do it is going to be a dirty ugly job. 

 

I have a cabinet that I use all the time for smaller items. It solves many of the inherent issues (dust and recycling and keeping the media dry)  

[39BuickEight]

I always put large tarps under and around my work area about 10-15 ft out and swept up and reused the media that way.  I could reuse it 3-4 times usually before it became too contaminated that it wasn't worth fighting to get through the nozzle.

[jpage]

The real pros treat their water supply with a rust inhibitor to prevent flash rusting. I think, conventional blasting works just as well and is usually less money! 

[Skvitt]

My problem with conventional blasting is the air supply.

[trini]

My observation with media blasting is there are still tiny pockets of rust left over, depends on the depth of rust. Try this experiment. After sandblasting wash subject clean with water and then wash with some muriatic acid. The acid will then remove the rust in the tiny pockets. It is possible to do the same with vaporust which is safe. The downside with sandblasting is the lost of metal not to mention making a small hole larger. After using any method to remove heavy rust it makes sense to rinse with vaporrust. Ever tried lemon juice ?

[Restorer32]

We used to sandblast outside 48 hrs /week so In think I know a bit about blasting.  Sandblasting does not remove metal.  We have been using a blasting booth in the shop at least 8 hrs/week for 40 plus years and have seen no metal removed from the walls of the cabinet.  If blasting makes a small hole larger it is because the hole was rusted.  We have sandblasted about everything you can imagine including Duesenberg sheet metal without removing metal.  Warpage is the enemy, not metal removal.

[chistech]

That is the benefit of the dustless blasting technique, there is no warpage because the water keeps the surface temperature down. Straight sandblasting with just a pressurized system creates a lot of surface temperature from the friction of the sand striking the metal surface. My entire 32’ Olds body was dustless blasted and was straight as a pin when done, even on the large flat areas. 

[Borough Essex]

What did your granddaughter say about the missing sand?:) In return you had better promise she can use it on her wedding day after you have restored it.

[Restorer32]

Actually it is not the heat that can potentially warp sheet metal when sand blasting.  It is the peening effect of the sand grains hitting the metal.

[airoshotblast]

I think use of wet sand blasting machine was a wise decision

Been a enviormentalist I always prefer that industry and industrial machines should co-op with nature for a sustainable development