Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

[Bob B.]

Hi all,

I'd like to buy a good soda blaster that I could use for an entire car if I wanted. Thankfully, my '57 is entirely stripped, but I want to clean the bottom and also some parts like the transmission that I don't want filled with abrasive grit.

I see several Eastwood models that look similar except the size of the soda container. Which do you think would be the best size for me? Are there other brands more highly recommended?

Thanks,

Bob

[Dick W.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

Hi all,

I'd like to buy a good soda blaster that I could use for an entire car if I wanted. Thankfully, my '57 is entirely stripped, but I want to clean the bottom and also some parts like the transmission that I don't want filled with abrasive grit.

I see several Eastwood models that look similar except the size of the soda container. Which do you think would be the best size for me? Are there other brands more highly recommended?

Thanks,

Bob

Bob, I think you will be limited by your air compressor. For instance a top of the line 5 HP compressor will give you about 17 cfm of air. Check the specs of the units you are looking at and go from there

[Glen C.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

Maybe not exactly what you are asking, but, if you are looking for a soda blaster for small jobs, don't overlook the two Harbor freight portable models. I purchased the smaller (15LB) of the two for about $100 on sale, the larger (40LB) model is about $160 on sale. I haven't used it for any thing real big yet. My compressor is a 5hp two stage with an 80gal tank, but these units will run on much less air. The larger blaster is listed 8cfm at 90psi. There are customer reviews on both models on the HF web site.

[William C.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

I was also wondering the same. will either of the harbor freights be good enough to strip a metal wheel ?
Thanks

[Bob B.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

William,

I'll defer to others on the HF question, but anything that is steel or iron goes into my regular blaster with glass beads. In fact, I bead-blasted all my small fiberglass parts, package tray, etc. and it didn't do anything to the fiberglass. For fiberglass, it just depends on whether the fiberglass is already compromised.

Bob

[Glen C.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

I recently stripped some Rally ll wheels for my SD Formula but I put them in my cabinet and used abrasive. I needed to remove rust as well as paint and soda doesn't remove rust very well, or at all. I was getting them ready for powder coat. My neighbor used his soda blaster to remove dirt, grime, patina, on the chrome channels on his Mustang side glass, with the glass still in place. Soda especially at low pressure is very mild.

[William C.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

Thanks so what would you reccomend from harborfreight or eastwood for do it your self blasting parts no larger then wheels . I have a bunch of wheels to do or am i just better off finding a shop that can do it
Thanks

[Dale M.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

A lot of our members have blasting cabineets for smaller parts. The cabinet really helps contain the media and protects the operator. But, the cabinets are more expensive. Ihave a realitive with a HF cabinet and I know that he has had issues with clogging. This may be his fault because the parts were not clean enough. If you blast parts with lots of greese, it gets into the media and can clog the blaster. I am getting ready to take my side pipes to a company since they are too large for a cabinet. I have not spend the bucks for a blaster myslef. I am concerned of the Harbor Freight quality but then look at places like TP Tolls and Equipment (tptools.com), or Northern Tool (northlandtoold.com) and your looking at $500 to $1000 for a cabinet. A long time club member has the TP tools Build-Your_Own Kit for less that $200 and his cabinet is out of wood. Maybe you can check out some of these options. Hope this helps, maybe I just made more confusion, thats where I am.

[Dick W.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

A lot of our members have blasting cabineets for smaller parts. The cabinet really helps contain the media and protects the operator. But, the cabinets are more expensive. Ihave a realitive with a HF cabinet and I know that he has had issues with clogging. This may be his fault because the parts were not clean enough. If you blast parts with lots of greese, it gets into the media and can clog the blaster. I am getting ready to take my side pipes to a company since they are too large for a cabinet. I have not spend the bucks for a blaster myslef. I am concerned of the Harbor Freight quality but then look at places like TP Tolls and Equipment (tptools.com), or Northern Tool (northlandtoold.com) and your looking at $500 to $1000 for a cabinet. A long time club member has the TP tools Build-Your_Own Kit for less that $200 and his cabinet is out of wood. Maybe you can check out some of these options. Hope this helps, maybe I just made more confusion, thats where I am.

Dale, I bought the soda attachment for my TO cabinet. I have two 5 hp commercial air compressors running in tandem when I blast any length of time. A large cabinet and big nozzle will consume copious quantities of air.

DO NOT try to reuse the soda. It is designed for one time use only, and for large parts, the pounds consumed can get rather expensive.

[Dale M.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

Dick, thanks. I did get off the subject, whent from soda to just blasting.

[Glen C.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

Most of the powder coating I have had done, & it is quite a bit, sub-frames, rad supports, inner fenders, bumpers brackets, pulleys, air cleaners, on & on. In all cases my powder coater will sand blast the part before he coats it. This has worked in most cases, however, on two piece steel wheels (Pontiac rally II's & similar wheels) be sure that the separation between the inner hub and the outer rim is very clean. I mean blasted & scraped & blasted again, if there is any rust down in the crack the powder will bridge the gap and really look really stringy & crappy. I had to take two of my wheels back for a re-do. Also, on rims, I try to blast them first and look for any defects such as wheel weight damage or slight rim edge damage that can be hammered or filed out. On another subject, blast cabinets, I have a small inexpensive HF cabinet for bead blasting, and an old refrigerator cabinet that I converted to a sand blast cabinet over 30 years ago. Turned on its side it is over 4 ft horizontal & has more room than some of the $1000 plus cabinets. I use it at relatively high pressure with siphon tube arrangement to recycle the sand, It's all contained within the cabinet.

[Justin B.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

I bought a massive, professional grade sandblasting pot, and a professional soda blasting pot so i feel like you get what you pay for.You really need a massive compressor to operate this equipment. Soda blasting will not remove rust but it will leave fiberglass looking and feeling like new. Although this is a little extreme, I had an Ingersol-Rand diesel compressor to do my car and it ran constantly (so i guess it most have not been too extreme afterall). I don't have any experience with the inexpesive equipment and smaller equipment but I would highly recommend doing a little research before investing any money. Plus, be careful, the demand for a high quantity of air will overwork your current compressor. Plus, you really need to make sure that you have a filter from your compressor to keep your air dry. Good luckb

[Justin B.]

Re: Which Soda Blaster to Buy?

If anyone is interested in a truly, high quality blast bead cabinet in different sizes and with multiple options, call Blast-It-All in Salisbury, N.C. They are worth their weight in gold. I have owned mine for nine years and have put a huge amount of time on it with not one single issue. Their customer service is second to none they offer every type of blasting materials (walnut, powder, and about twenty different other types). These guys are first class and have been in the business for decades. Contact me if you need a little help and guidance.