Soda Blaster

[Jeekinz]

Here's my (somewhat) self-contained soda blaster. Made from a Rubbermaid type storage box. I still need to seal the access holes a little better, probobly with an old innertube or something.

Still has some leaks and the top on this particular brand doesn't seal good. Trial and error.

Here's my first subject. The carb was a little dirty so I cleaned it in the parts wash. During the blasting process I had to scrape in the corners with a pick to clean them out.

Cleaned off all the soda in the parts wash, then brake clean. Still going to replace the cap, plastic idle screw and the choke with NOS parts.

Cleaned the tarnish on the brass too.

[traileater]

Good stuff. Cheap, simple,effective and easy clean up. Be sure to wear a dust mask, its non toxic but not fun to breathe in If using outdoors be prepared to get covered in white.

Use baking soda. Do not subsitute cornstarch, flour or others as these can create static electricity.

A buddy made a "cabinet" out of a cardboard box which works well.

B/S does not etch metals and is perfect for clean up and restoring to original finish.

[traileater]

Gave mine a test run.

Caliper off an 89 kx, soda doesnt get into the deep oxidizing, might need to add some fine glass media to remove it. Looks 10x better then before.

[Jeekinz]

Hmmmm. How much air pressure are you using? I'm at full 120psi but I'm metering it manually with the trigger. There's a coupla spots on the choke side of my carb that didn't clean up like I wanted it to. Maybe a wire wheel or brush then try to blend in with the soda?

I'm trying for a factory look, not polished or anything.

[traileater]

Im going to try it at work where I can use up to 145 psi That should make a big diff.

[Jeekinz]

I was reading that 20 Mule Team Borax is slightly coarser, might work better on those rough areas like that caliper. You can get it in the laundry isle for like $4 for 5 pound box. I'm going to pick some of that up this weekend. The soda does good as far as giving a factory finish, but since the parts are so old certain areas need a little more.

[Smacaroni]

have you tried a heavy latex (or other stretchable material) for the holes you put your hands in? Should make the seal better.

Looks good, but what a mess.

[Jeekinz]

Naa. Only the drawer liner. I'm going to look in Lowes for some gloves I can fasten to the container like a real blast cabinet. I also have a huuuge container I'm going to use instead. I used to use it for all my MX gear, could easily fit a whole engine in it. The mess wasn't too bad considering. It was confined to the benchtop for the most part, but I really need to get a good seal on the lid too.

?.....the old lady just asked if I needed anything from the store.

[ozjock]

Hey thanks for sharing... You have inspired me to get creative now and do my own. if i fail then ill have to pay some one to get it done right, thanks heaps man.

[Smacaroni]

Naa. Only the drawer liner. I'm going to look in Lowes for some gloves I can fasten to the container like a real blast cabinet. I also have a huuuge container I'm going to use instead. I used to use it for all my MX gear, could easily fit a whole engine in it. The mess wasn't too bad considering. It was confined to the benchtop for the most part, but I really need to get a good seal on the lid too.

?.....the old lady just asked if I needed anything from the store.

In that case, dish washing gauntlets. If they're too short, cut off the hand part and use regular blasting gloves. Cheap, durable and leaves your hands silky smooth instead of all pruned and wrinkly. Only thing is I'm not sure if they make them any more.

Oh, you probably didn't realize, but at 3CFM, you're replacing the volume of that container at the rate of about twice a minute. Look into either a filter screen or reclamation set up instead of trying to make it seal better. Things I can think of are a pipe exiting into a wide funnel to slow air speed and drop the soda, a pipe into a sock, that large cell foam they use on some computer fans, or just pipe it out to a garbage bag - but that would be noisy.

What ever you do, it needs some sort of exhaust or the air will find it's own way out.

Edited November 1, 2010 by Smacaroni

[Rd540]

Inspired me to get my crusty K5 carb and give it a blast.

[Jeekinz]

That carb looks great! Did you refinish the cap? The anno on mine is all worn I need to get a replacement.

[Jeekinz]

Well I tried the Borax today on a bottom clamp. What happened was I bought a replacement clamp and there was some tool marks or gouging in one spot on the bottom clamp. So I sanded it a little with 400 grit to smooth it out, then figured I'd blend it in using the blaster. I tried Borax first and it really didn't do anything. So I went back to the soda which seemed to work alot better. IDK if it's because of the chemical or the shape/grit of the granules, but the soda definately works better than the borax. I'll post a pic tomorrow.

[Rd540]

That carb looks great! Did you refinish the cap?

No But it looks OK. I was thinking about powdercoating it. Might just let it be. Thanks for the tip on the soda blasting.

Here is my high tech setup:D

[MotoGuido]

my friend bought one of those harbor freight media blasters. can you run soda through that?

[Smacaroni]

I was wondering the same thing, for $27 I'd invest in that if you can do fine grit like soda and bigger stuff like walnut shells too.

Not sure about the HF air gun, but those alone are around $15 for most brands.

[Jeekinz]

No But it looks OK. I was thinking about powdercoating it. Might just let it be. Thanks for the tip on the soda blasting.

Here is my high tech setup:D

Dood...details on that gun! You ran the pickup tube into the gun itself? Looks nice and compact!

my friend bought one of those harbor freight media blasters. can you run soda through that?

Yeah, you can run it through that. You can buy the actual blasting soda through HF or Eastwood. I read it's a little coarser than the food grade stuff.

[skypig]

Excuse my ignorance (once again)

Does the soda get vacuumed up the red hose? (how far away can the Soda supply be?)

The results look great!!

[Jeekinz]

It has pretty good suction, I'd say you could have the soda 4-5' away if you sifted it....maybe more.

Here's my replacement clamp, you can see where I sanded, then hit it with the soda. It's clean but it doesn't look "factory".

Even the soda still left some staining.

I could easily polish this to a mirror finish but it wouldn't look correct. After playing with a few things I found grade 0 steel wool cleaned it up and gave it a decent amount of luster not to be overpowering.

[traileater]

Looking good jeekins. The true blasting soda may be what you need to get rid of the shine.

I read somewhere that baking soda works so well because the grains/particles burst on impact, thus taking away any gunk away with it.

Mine is working really good at work where theres a constant 120psi, I just go through the media really quick now! It cleaned up the caliper I posted earlier.