Soda Blasting

some interest in my other post so I thought this would be a better place for a quick report on Soda Blasting.

:insert shameless plug: Mr. Rob May of Tidewater Sodablast provided the service at his facility. due to the fact that I am between him and his blast site, he picked up and delivered the parts at no additional charge.

Soda Blast is just that, blasting the surface with good old baking soda. I can tell because all of the parts have a dusting of it all over them. it works incredibly well at removing all types of paint including powder coating without changing the surface of the metal. it does not remove rust very well. the dark areas on some of my parts is where rust had already formed and did not entirely come off. Rob said he hit a good sized patch of bondo on the front of my hood, it's not there anymore so I assume he was able to remove it with the soda.

there are some brake backing plates in the pics. those were heavily rusted so he sand blasted them.

what is amazing is the surface of untouched body panels such as the grill and the tailgate. it looks like the metal was just stamped. if you are working on a relatively rust free panel to begin with, this will make it like new.

the soda adhears to the surface of the metal and if kept dry should not rust for up to several weeks.

after prep instructions:

- use compressed air to blow all loose soda from the surface.
- use a dry rag to thoroughly wipe off all visible residue.
- mix a solution of 1 part white vinagar to 3 parts water in a bucket
- soak a rag in the solution then ring out thoroughly.
- wipe the part with the vinagar solution rag and immediatly follow up with a dry rag to prevent rust
- to test the clean surface, try to stick a piece of painter's tape to it. if it adheres well, you are done. if not repeat the last step until the tape will stick.
- prime and paint

 

that turned out better than i would have thought looks good man

 

Does it take a different setup to use soda over sand? Came out real nice. Almost look like new parts............

 

I was wondering how easy it would be to rig up a unit to do this at home. Anyone know? Probably need a very powerful pump and sprayer.

 

Was he resonable? I need to do my grill and that might be an option.

 

$150/hr. what you see in the pics is 2 hours worth.

BTW, that's an M38A1 hood that had several coats of paint on top of the origina US issue... took him about half the time just to clean the hood completely

 

soda is very popular over here.
the plusses i know of is it doesnt distort the panels, because there is no heat like sand (because the soda is mixed with water) it doesnt remove the coating on the metal, it doesn't leave sand EVERYWHERE, the soda washes of with water.
the only real disavantage is on really rusty parts, it doesnt remove rust like sand.
but is better than sand by a long way

 

It looks pretty nice. I've been interested in one sold by Eastwood for awhile now.

 

I have been thinking about buying this soda blast attachment for my Skat Blast cabinet http://www.tptools.com/p/2898,363_Skat-Blast-Soda-Master™-Attachment.html it would be good for small parts. I think I could fit a fender in my cabinet.

 

This is really an eye opener for me. I somehow thought the soda was blasted wet. Guess not. I like the Skat Blast attachment and can probably fit one on my box, which is too small for a fender. It also looks like it won't be that difficult to do an outside setup with the proper nozzle.

 

The only disadvantage I see is the soda does break up and would need to be changed out after a short time in a cabnet. I use a similar product cleaning pool tile.

 

I work for a soda blasting company. HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU WANT TO KNOW? Been doing it for over a year now.

 

hey truck guy- how hard would it be to adapt my sandblaster to use soda? i have a 300lb pot. where do i buy supplies like soda in my area? i live in mid ms. thanks!
andy

 

what happened to the photos?

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=66742
Harbor Freight has one but look at the air requirements, 12.5 CFM at 90 psi. Thats HUGE.

 

The company I'm going to use to blast my parts uses soda too, in big indoor blast rooms. AFAIK, it's the best way to clean automotive sheet metal.

 

not hard, you will need more pressure, and a water source to keep the dust down., also a way to keep water out of the pressure line....umm thats about it. later I will post a pic of the soda blaster I use at work.

our soda comes from some baking soda plant in PA.

 

The wife just told me that baking soda is an alkali (base) and vinegar is a weak acid. So there is a chemical reaction.

She has a degree in chemistry....