DIY Soda Blasting

[Destroyer]

Originally Posted by garbubba

Thanks for all the info.

Destroyer what size tank does your blaster have?

I see adapter kits to use a regular sand blaster, not much cost difference.

They have the media in big sacks & it's definitely not arm & hammer.

I saw one online that adds a jet of water to eliminate the dust.

I have plenty of room to make a mess but I still need to rig a way to lift the boat.

I have the 40 lb unit. My biggest problem was supplying 80 lbs constant pressure to the air line... I solved it by running both of my compressors and manifolding them together. I use the Armex media that Harbor Freight sells. It's made by Arm & Hammer. Never saw the water jet type. Seems reasonable, but talk about a mess...You'd have a white soup everywhere.... UGh! At least with the dry you can just sweep it up afterward. The big trick is to make sure you tent under the boat as well as all the sides... I used Visqueen from Graingers ... a 2o x 100 foot roll and duct tape to seal the seams.

[smokeonthewater]

IMHO
don't lift the boat off the trailer... If it's a bunk trailer jack up the boat and place a couple double stacked 8x8 blocks between the bunk (directly over a bracket) and the hull in two places.... blast and then reposition the blocks to blast where they were... then repeat the process on the other side....

If it's a roller trailer then simply blast in place and then roll the boat back to get the spots where the rollers were.

a Tyvek suit and a forced air (from outside) hood are your friends.... The job gets easier when you can just lay in the mess without worrying.

You can make your own air supply with a small blower and a length of flexible hose BUT make sure you put a filter on the intake.... you don't want to have a very pissed off yellow jacket blown into your hood!

[garbubba]

Thanks smoke that sounds much less scary than hanging it or using boat jacks!

Been planting & tilling around the house, next I have to finish a shed & a porch on my shop, THEN, I'll get to boats.

[cfelton]

Thanks Destroyer, didnt know there was any difference! It will be a while before I get to it. It will be done outside and got to wait till the weather breaks.