I can has mini blaster!

I setup my own personal blasting space!  Read on to find out more!

While the cost of having the body blasted down to bare metal was cheaper than I initially planned, I still didn't want to pay for them to blast everything.  I have several smaller parts that still need to have paint removed so they can be redone.

Harbor freight to the rescue.  I didn't want to opt for the super-giant blast cabinet due to cost and just overall real-estate in my little corner of the world.  Most of what I had to clean were smaller parts anyway, so I went with the bench top blasting cabinet.

Bench top!

Reading reviews online about these things, it seems like they can leak quite a bit and make a dusty mess everywhere.  Once I got it back to the shop I tore it apart and added extra weather stripping as well as sealed everything that would come apart with some caulk that was included with it.

Apparently I did my job too well.  When I initially connected my shop vac to it (to reduce dust), it actually started to bow the glass window in the cabinet. I had to open a vent up more in the back so air would flow properly.

Once I got it going, I blasted a few different parts.  The thing worked better than I anticipated it would, and using a glass abrasive media did an impressive job removing paint and rust.  The only downside is the metal is left a bit rough and will require a bit of work to get it back to a paintable state.

Soda vs. sand/glass media

For some of the less rusty parts I tried out a lighter soda media to see how it would work.  It only removed the worst of the paint, and left the parts with a much smoother surface that was ready to paint with minimal work.  I just had to clean the parts, tape where needed and I was ready to go.

Soda on the left, prior to blasting on the right

Soda on the left, prior to blasting on the right

All in all, it seems to work really well and is going to really help me keep this project moving forward.