As my main winter avoidance activity, I took a '65 Chevy apart. The present project is to sandblast the frame, bottom of the underbody (on a rotisserie), and miscellaneous suspension parts. I'm using a 5 gal. pressure blaster and a 5 h.p. single stage compressor. The compressor seems to supply enough air - it even shuts off now and then while sandblasting is going on - it seems to maintain about 100 psi without trouble.

But I'm finding the job is really slow. It took about six hours to maybe ten percent of the frame. I'm using regular sand from a gravel pit that I screened and dried. The sand is quite fine. It also makes a lot of dust, although I'm using a supplied air system for breathing.

To speed things up, I want to buy some abrasive. Aluminum Oxide is really expensive (about $1.00 per pound) and it would take a lot to do the frame and underbody, even if I recycled it.

Has anyone tried Kleen Blast (a copper slag type of abrasive) or Star Blast? The Kleen Blast is relatively cheap at about 15 cents a pound, not much more than buying bagged sand. The Star Blast is about twice the price.

Does the Kleen Blast work well, is it reusable numerous times, etc.?

One more question - is it necessary to get every rust pit or speck off the parts. Will leaving a few small specks cause rust to show through the paint?

As always, thanks for the benefit of your experience.

David

I used to use sand. Now i use Black Beauty.About $15-$20 for 100lbs.I found it at a local lumber yard. Ask around youd be surprised who carries it.Flows through the blaster(Harbor Frieght 40lb model)like water! much less dust too. I use it in my garage, makes a mess but i can sweep it up off the floor,screen it and reuse it 2 or 3 times.

I have had great luck with the Kleenblast (same as black beauty) just get the 30/60 grit. I would screen it first or it may clog your blaster, about 1% of it is too big. I have reclamed and reused it 5-6 times at work :D You may need a bigger blaster and compressor Harbor has a decent 40LB pressure blaster for about $70 And compressors are like guns "it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it" ;)

Black Beauty works great but leaves a VERY rough finish. Glass bead will work for a very fine finish but takes a little longer. I have the Alum oxide and need the finer finish of glass bead.

One additional tip is to make sure you keep checking the tip in your gun. When it starts to wear, replace it. It is amazing how much even what appears to be "slight" wear can affect the velocity and power of your gun.

I used black beauty on the 66. I think it was 60/40. It seems as though I paid less than 10.00 a bag. Maybe I am not seeing this, but are you using a pressure blaster or gravity fed? It took me about 3 hours to blast my frame completely and this was with a TIP pressurized blaster at about 80 psi constant. As for the rust, my body man told me when you see black, you have rust and if you do not get rid of it, you might a swell not be stripping it at all.

Hope this helps,
John Weaver

Thanks for the advice. This sandblasting is testing my patience. As a part time job when I was in college a long time ago, I worked as a sandblaster. I guess we had good equipment because the unit always worked well.

I picked up some Kleen Blast #35. It cuts well when things are going well, but the sandblaster screws up more than it works. It's a pressure blaster, with the usual four valves. With the valve at the bottom of the tank half or three-quarters open, no sand flows. If I open it a little more, the unit usually clogs, either just below the tank or at the nozzle. The sand is nice and dry.

I bought the piece of junk at Princess Auto, a Canadian company that brings in cheap stuff from China. I feel sorry for the Chinese if they don't have better stuff than this to work with.

A web search on Harbor Freight sandblasters turned up this link: http://www.chevytalk.org/threads/showflat.php?Number=461330
One guy hated his Harbor Freight unit so much that he cut it up and made a barbecue out of it. It sounds similar to my unit, but I don't need a barbecue.

A seller on eBay is selling Texas Blasters for $299. Any experience with them?

David