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Wayne
02-14-2004 17:29:55
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Re: Sand blasting VS. Air Sanding in reply to Joe , 02-13-2004 14:25:48
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Hey Joe, I can tell you that sand blasting is the best way to go for just about any part, be it a casting, or the sheet metal. Rusty is correct saying that blasting can cause the sheet metal to warp. This is caused by a combination of the actual blasting pressure and the heat generated by the media hitting the panel. Most of the smaller hobby type blasters are gonna have a hard time ever putting out enough pressure or media to cause a panel to warp, so that wouldn't be a problem most do-it-yourselfers would ever run into. If you have them professionally done then the person doing the blasting should know how to do the panel without warping it, and if not should tell you they can't do it. I'm no professional blaster by any means, but I've got a big 350lb pressurized pot settup that I use for side work on occasion. Over the years I've done the sheetmetal for at least a dozen or more antique gas pumps, a 52 Ford truck cab, a set of truck fenders, the complete service bed on my first truck, a complete 405 Koering crane, etc etc. All were made out of sheet metal, and the only time I ever had anything warp was one of the gas pump pieces that lost a little of it's origional arc. Thing is it was so badly rusted that I had warned the guy in advance about the possibility of it warping due to it being rusted out so bad. But it was too far gone to really get the rust off any other way so he said to take a chance. Like I said it warped a little, but he was still able to have the paint and body guy tweek it back out for him. Sanding is good if you have a flat panel withoug alot of nooks and crannies, but for those odd shaped pieces, some form of media blasting is the way to go because it will get into all the places the sander can't even find. If you do blast always get the piece inside where it is dry as soon as possible and spray it with a good coat of primer otherwise you can almost bet it will have a patina of rust on it come morning. Just my .02
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