Other: Has Anyone Tried The Dustless Blasting System Yet

[hausdok]

Saw this yesterday A.M. on one of the speed channel shows. Decided to check out the website.

Interesting concept. No blast booth needed. You can do it in your driveway and the media sweeps rightup without creating a mess.

http://dustlessblasting.com/

Has anyone tried this yet? If so, how were the results?

[prez55]

Talked to them a few months ago. In price range of soda blaster and requires at least that much air volume. Average body shop would require upgrade in air or portable rental. Have used a soda blaster and it appears to give same type results without need to neutralize the soda when finnished. Will not use soda again. David

[DEEPNHOCK]

Before investing/renting extra equipment, you might want to read up on some pro & con on the subject.

http://tinyurl.com/soda-blasting-pro-and-con

[Santosh]

Build your own soda blaster:

http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/

[hausdok]

Hi,

Yes, I'm familiar with the pros and cons of soda blasting. I actually see it in my business every once in a while. Some abatement companies use soda blasters to clean fungi off the underside of roofs and floors and framing. It makes quite the dusty mess in an attic or crawlspace.

This stuff is different. It's finely ground glass. They pour a 60 pound bag into the blaster, add about a gallon of water and some rust inhibitor, pressurize it and then start blasting. Apparently the water eliminates the dust and you end up with a surface that doesn't need neutralizing and is ready for primer. The blast residue ends up on the ground where it can be swept up and discarded.

The video shows a guy blasting a chassis inside a nice clean shop. No dust billowing around and his clothes stayed remarkably clean - unlike when I'm sandblasting. In another video they completely stripped a car on it's chassis in 53 minutes. When they were done the steel looked as clean as if it had just come from Redi-Strip. The only problem is I'm sure that car in the video will have as much rust on the inside of the body panels as the outside. Even after cutting and welding and priming and painting I can see the rust coming through under the paint. Still, there are some great applications I can think of - one being the ability to clean parts in the shop or driveway without making a mess. Costly apparatus though.

Was hoping someone here had tried it out.

[PackardV8]

If it is the same one I've investigated, it requires a minimum of a commercial 7hp compressor to deliver the air volume required. That is a huge high-dollar machine.

Slightly OT, but it is to laugh when one sees the "5hp" compressors at the FLAPS/big box stores with a motor the size of a loaf of bread which will run on 110v.

jack vines

[hausdok]

If it is the same one I've investigated, it requires a minimum of a commercial 7hp compressor to deliver the air volume required.

That sounds familiar. Back in the 60's my father used to build A.O. Smith Harvestors in the summer. They are built roof and top ring first, jacked up five feet and another ring is added and so on until you're done. The jacks were driven by a pneumatic motors driven by an air compressor and each jack was connected to the other, and to the compressor, with drive shafts. He had a big old Chicago Pneumatic compressor/generator on a trailer that was powered by a 4-cylinder engine. Loud as all get out but man did it have some pressure. If a hose popped loose it would fly around like a hugh unfriendly snake and if the end hit you it would do some damage.

That is a huge high-dollar machine.

The military sells them used. I'd guess that one can probably pick up 3 or 4 for a few hundred bucks at a local property disposal office sale, cannibalize them to get one GOOD ONE and then sell the rest for scrap or parts. Take it from a retired military guy who used to buy this stuff - there are lots of really good deals there - also some turds.

Here's a sample of what I'm talking about

Slightly OT, but it is to laugh when one sees the "5hp" compressors at the FLAPS/big box stores with a motor the size of a loaf of bread which will run on 110v.

jack vines

Big box I understand. What's FLAPS stand for?

[doublepaddle]

I contacted them for prices. The smallest and cheapest unit is $5,000. It goes up from there. Would be nice to own but would need to use on a lot of projects full time to pay for itself.

[studegary]

Big box I understand. What's FLAPS stand for?

FLAPS is an acronym for friendly local auto parts store. It is a generic name to cover AutoZone, Advance, NAPA, etc.

[hausdok]

I contacted them for prices. The smallest and cheapest unit is $5,000. It goes up from there. Would be nice to own but would need to use on a lot of projects full time to pay for itself.

Yep, that's a lot of moolah. You'd have to have a business; maybe something like cleaning parts and car bodies for folks to justify that kind of expense.

Gary, thanks I'll try and remember that.

[Ron M]

I own Ugly Blaster, Mobile Dustless Media Blasting. I blast cars and boats (mostly yachts) in Georgia. I'll share what I know on the subject.

My equipment is the "Dustless Blasting" system and I believe its the best for this type of blasting. I mix crushed glass (or any media) and water, along with a rust inhibitor to blast. I can stripp any paint off of most any surface. 4-6 hours is the average time for most vehicles. Blasting a car (especially large flat panels) requires the operator to implement certain techniques. Unlike Soda blasting the metal does not have to be neutralized after blasting. All the blasting residue falls to the ground and can easily be cleaned up.

Start up cost for this equipment on average runs from $50K-$60K (for the entire package) so its probably not for the weekend warrior. A large (usually diesel) compressor with a minimum cfm of 185 is needed to push this equipment. I carry a water tank, and water pump and all of this equipment is on a trailer.

Hope this helps. If someone needs any more information I'm accessible at Ron 770-276-0893 / www.uglyblaster.com / ron@uglyblaster.com

[bezhawk]

Be extremely careful. Crushed glass, or any sand can cause silicosis, if inhaled. It's all well and good when wet, but when cleaning it up, you need to take not breathing the dust, seriously.

[Ron M]

Agreed, even if it's dustless you should still take precautions. I wear face protection and a really good respirator. Because its mixed with water it is much safer but I'd rather not take any chances.

[jclary]

I own Ugly Blaster, Mobile Dustless Media Blasting. I blast cars and boats (mostly yachts) in Georgia. I'll share what I know on the subject.

Start up cost for this equipment on average runs from $50K-$60K (for the entire package) so its probably not for the weekend warrior. A large (usually diesel) compressor with a minimum cfm of 185 is needed to push this equipment. I carry a water tank, and water pump and all of this equipment is on a trailer.

Thanks for posting a voice of Reason (experience) Ron.
Even their smallest unit, according to their chart, requires 60 to 185 CFM. And...at least supplying that while maintaining 70 PSI. You ain't gonna get that with anybody's back yard compressor. The 60 CFM spec is probably using the smallest blast nozzle offered. The small nozzle would work you to death.

When I was doing my Coupe, a customer of mine volunteered to help me blast the body. His requirement was that I pay for the blast media, and operate the blast nozzle myself. He showed up on a Saturday morning driving his Blazer pulling a compressor about the same size as the Blazer. His son was driving a large box truck containing a huge Clemco blaster about the size of an agricultural silo (slight exaggeration). After the job was finished, I tried to pay him more than he had asked for because I thought he was undercharging me. He refused. He said it was worth the effort just to see a salesman sweat that hard!

You walk in any Harbor Freight, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. store and probably all their "in-stock" compressors combined wouldn't equal the CFM requirements to run one of these blasters properly.