Media Blasting Equipment Problem

Someone previously asked about their media blasting equipment problem with it not being effective enough so I posted my response here and maybe it will help. Also leave a comment below.

Eric,
I’ve recently installed a Harbor Freight media blasting cabinet and also have an Eastwood Soda blaster. I’m running these off a new air system with 30cfm at 175 psi max regulated down to 90 PSI for running the media blasting equipment. I’ve installed a system to provide dry air. My expectations were that this equipment would take off old paint and rust quickly and efficiently and it’s been anything but that. This equipment has been good for clean up once I’ve taken a wire brush grinder to them, but little else.

Am I doing something wrong? The whole idea was to invest in equipment so I wouldn’t have to spend so much money taking my parts to the local dry stripper. Very frustrating.

I bought your sandblasting plans to understand in more detail the mechanics behind the process. I use 70 grit aluminum oxide in my cabinet and soda supplied by Eastwood. I am a car restorer and need to remove paint and rust (light to heavy).
Perhaps some advice on blasting media would be in order.
Thanks,

Soda blasting is typically used for lighter cleaning but should be able to clean some paint off. If the paint is durable or sprayed on thick, then it would take some time to clean which is why I don’t like use soda blast. The only other thing that I would try is to adjust the valve that I show on the sandblaster parts page to have a higher abrasive ratio or maybe more pressure (even thought 90 seems high enough).

The main reason people recommend soda blasting on cars is because the sheet metal on the body panels can warp or the surface gets roughened up if you used a more aggressive abrasive. I prefer to just use a fine harder abrasive such as aluminum oxide at about 100- 120 grit. You probably should be caution with that too by starting at a low pressure and turning it up until it just starts to clean somewhat efficiently.

Also, soda blasting shouldn’t be used for heavier rust.

Are you saying the 70 grit aluminum oxide abrasive didn’t work either? That should be able to clean stuff up.

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