My Abrasive Blasting Experiment

[Gav 616]

Hi Y'all

 

 

Firstly...don't you hate how one project leads to another? I'm about to start restoring my XA Falcon.Here she is:

 

 

One thing your seventies model Falcon are good at..apart from stunning good looks and the creation of vast clouds of greenhouse gas..is the creation of rust. How to remove it? Well obviously you can cut it out and weld in new bits. I anticipate a bit of that. Then there's surface corrosion or cleaning up the bits you wanna weld. There's a number of methods. I happen to like abrasive blasting. I used to work for a long departed airline and used to regularly avail myself of their abrasive blasting facilities. I liked how this method cleans up metal and keys the substrate nicely for whatever you want to do later. it's my method of choice for removing a lotta different things.

 

I coulda outsourced the work, but ain't DIY a bitch? I can't bring myself to pay a guy to do it. There's paying the guy...and then there's the quality control issues. Am I going to like the job he does? Often enough I'm happy with the stuff people do when I outsource (anything) but there's also the flipside...when you feel as though you've been screwed by the guy you've paid.

 

So in anticipation of my project I bought this :

 

 

170 odd bucks off Ebay...along with a bag of garnet to spray around with it.

 

I ran it off my 12 cfm McMillan compressor...which upon calculation was putting out about 8.2cfm of free air. Did a passable job, but I could see it being good for only small jobs. Abrasive blasting is an intensive consumer of air. I'd have a bit of a squirt and the blasting tank would be exhausted of air pressure...I'd wait a number of minutes for the tank to recharge and have another squirt. It'd take ages to to do a panel for example...let alone a floor pan which is my ultimate goal.

 

I thought I'd hitch a number of compressors to the blasting pot. You can get one big motherfucker Chinese compressor pumping (apparently) 30 cfm FAD for arounf $1400 on Ebay. But then, it's Chinese and while their stuff is usually passable...you really don't know what you're buying. Or...you can string a bunch of smaller compressors together to achieve a similar outcome.

 

This is what I'm doing.

 

 

I''ve got the 8.2 cfm FAD compressor running off the 10 amp household circuit....I bought a bigger 17cfm (calculated 11.2 cfm FAD) compressor for the 15amp circuit I have off Ebay...and the results are fucking great. I'll post a video if possible. Tonight, I'm picking up a petrol driven compressor (again, off Ebay) that pumps a claimed 10.2 cfm FAD. All bases covered..I'll have that bitch (XA) naked in no time!

 

The beauty of the set-up is I can off load compressors when they're no longer required. Quality Australian made ones..not Chinese-made landfill. I wont be stuck with a 42cfm beast with little guarantee of serviceability or reliability.

 

So...this has become a project within a project. And I will  probably spend more than what it costs for someone else to do it. At least I can do it when I want...at a quality level I'm happy with...I'll update on my findings as time goes on...

 

 

 

 

 

[revhead 1,392]

nice job,bloke love the XA

[bear351c 10,271]

Makes me want to get off my arse and start mine.

 

Nah.......rather go to work.

 

 

Watching with interest to see the results. My XA has 35 years of crud, and its "babyshit brown"

[Crazy2287 1,886]

OMFG thats my compressor! Well its not mine but it's the same!

That one at the back in the pick. Exact tank mine has. Although looking at it more i have a twin piston compressor on that tank. Okay, i think i just got over excited.

 

 

Moving on, Hell yeah! I agree, Garnet blasting is fking awesome! The best method for cleaning up a lot of different things. Big fan of the cabinets, not too sure about the external ones, shit goes everywhere.

 

 

Good luck!

[Campo 869]

How you planning on keeping the sand/garnet clean and under control? Planning on recycling it like in an abrasive blasting cabinet?

[hendrixhc 10,921]

Thats a nice looking XA Gav!

[Gav 616]

How you planning on keeping the sand/garnet clean and under control? Planning on recycling it like in an abrasive blasting cabinet?

 

Very good question...the shit does get everywhere...but I have given it some thought. You have to recycle...the blast media costs around $30 a bag. Two approaches : Firstly, for bits I can remove from the car (say about as big as a bonnet) I thought I might create a box-frame-thing that I can line with plastic and walk into. Theoretically you'd just sweep up the media as it would be contained within the plasticated frame. Ya just run it through a kitchen sieve into a bucket and that removes the chunks of crap from the media - ready for re-use. Secondly - for the chassis I'd simply drop sheet plastic around the car to prevent its escape - like a shower curtain but weighted at the bottom.  Start with a clean floor and then sweep the stuff up after blasting and filter with the sieve.

 

Funny story...I'm always finding innovative new functions for kitchen objects outside the kitchen...in my lab. The missus loves finding her stuff gooped up with some form of car muck. Why...just today she found a sieve of hers buried in a mix of garnet abrasive, dirt and crusted off body deadener. I knew it was wrong to use it...but I couldn't help myself

[Gav 616]

Thats a nice looking XA Gav!

 

Thanks man! I'm hoping it'll look a whole lot nicer after I'm done with it. She's not a bad barge - but the photos do make her look better than reality.

[bear351c 10,271]

Any updates, Gav.??

[Gav 616]

Updates regarding my sandblast experiment or the XA?..well I have both. The sandblasting is one of those spin-off projects - I've built stuff and experimented with my set-up and am happy for the moment  - I've been meaning to post pictures and video for a while. Once I've got the abrasive blasting sorted I might begin a thread on my XA resto. Have to extend my shed first in order to gain space for parts storage. Strip a car down...the bits gotta go somewhere! So the project has spun off...you guessed it....another project...stay tuned.

[bear351c 10,271]

Awesome. Updates for both. Restoring my own XA, and looking at blasting equipment.

 

When you get the time...........

[Gav 616]

I've been busy with my "project-within-a-project" - actually that's plural - projects. For those that aren't aware - probably all of you  - I'm looking to restore my XA Falcon. I'm aiming to do it all myself so I've had to involve myself in a few side projects. I've been piecing together the equipment for a DIY abrasive blasting rig. I've also had to house a the shit that comes with a full resto - so :

 

I've extended the carport to house the compressors that drive my abrasive blaster. This will also be enclosed - and used to store the parts that come off the XA. I'm a pathological builder...this is the forth shed I've built on my property. Fifth...if you include the carport. Not payin' cunts to build stuff for me! Should be part of the DIY thread...my entire back yard!

 

Structure up :

 

 

Roof and floor in :

 

 

Still have to enclose it to make it weather proof.

 

I've built an enclosure that contains the abrasive shot. A wooden frame with builders film attached to it. The whole affair sits on a tarp..making sweeping the garnet media up that much easier. The builder's film is enough to contain the mess - unless you direct a stream of blast media directly at it. It's 2 metres square so it'll fit all panels, chassis and drive train components I chosse to blast :

 

 

The frame is fold-able so it stores away flat. Take around 5 minutes to deploy.

 

Since my setup can create around 30 cfm free air (theoretically) I've decide to upgrade my blast nozzle to a 3mm tungsten carbide jobbie :

 

 

Cost $150 - but it'll probably never wear out. Beats the feck out of the ceramic numbers which have a smaller aperture and last round five minutes.

 

Update photo's will be posted when I've fully organized everything to my liking. Video of my rig in action will be posted at a later date. - prolly when the shitty Melbourne weather has passed.

[n00bus m@x1mus 465]

Good job mate, one question though... why didnt you build that extension out to the same size as the shed and build a permanent blast room in one end? Could double as a storage room when not in use.