Has anyone toyed around with making a homemade soda blaster? The old man made a siphon feed sand blaster, so what's going to be different with soda? Thanks guys!
nothing, you need to control how much soda gets pulled into the gun just like any other kind of media.
Wowzers! As resourceful as we are, no one out there has built one of these? I find that hard to believe! From my research on the internet over the weekend, people have done this using power washers, air compressors and soda...I just need to figure out how to make them all work together....
I've done a little research myself, and found that although the pressure washer meathod does work, It's not advised to use it on an assembled car do to the fact that the soda/water mix will get into all of the small nooks and crannies, and you won't be able to get it all out without hours of rinsing. Now I've been told that the soda will eventually end up corroding the metal, but common sense tells me that soda has been used to neutralize acids in many different applications. Why would it corrode metal??? My coworker and I were pondering the idea of running soda through a pressurized sand blaster, and ran across the question of what kind of velocity does the soda need to be effective? And, could a standard compressor put out enough CFMs @ enough PSI to do the job? If we could find someone that has used or repaired these larger machines, they might know what the drawbacks, or secrets of a smaller version would be.
From what I gather, the worst thing about running soda through the sand blaster is the mess that it makes. However, since the soda is enviromentally friendly, I guess it doesn't matter if you're doing it outside. I like the pressure washer idea, because I am going to be doing seperate panels as I take them off of the car. Surely someone out there has come up with an adapter for doing this. We've just gotta find it!
PM Screwtheman he's a HAMB'r He's got a soda-blast business and knows a ton about the process...all the ins & outs
Soda will corrode due to its basicity. Water begins the oxidation process of metal because it has a slightly negative bias. And as such gives it certain "basic" properties. Soda as well is a base, and stronger, thus as well contributing to the oxidation process. Homework will tell you that acids are often used to control and inhibit "corrosion". This is the counter-action to the basic corrosion. The biggest reason it seems metal corrodes under acids is only because the acid "consumes" the metals protective coating, exposing to the possibility of corrosion. As far as soda blasting - for a cheaper alternative, and for the less finicky, but will work fine type - good cheap laundry detergent. Cheaper laundry det. has larger tougher particles, and easier to come by. Any kind of blast contraption will work.
They don't come any more homemade than this : http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-the-cheap/soda_blaster/
after seeing the one with the air gun and clear tube stuck in a box of arm&hammer, i made my own for under $20 picked up one of these $10 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=96972 and some $0.40/ft hose, and a bucket of laundry detergent $17/40lbs here it is, theres plenty of suction when i tested it, but then the weather got shitty so i never got to blast anything yet. http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/3498/p1000682o.jpg *note: i found a clarke brand gun and hose made for sticking into a bucket or coantainer of blast media, and it was only $19. it had a small long metal tube paralel to the larger sucking tube at the media intake end of the hose, i would assume to keep an open air passage down to the end so it doesnt get burried and stop sucking. easy to copy, but i probly would of just bought that had i seen it first.
i work at an auto shop and peiced one of these together today to blast an intake manifold for my car.. i used a tube deflator a quick air fitting 2x chrome inner mount valvestems and some 3/8 rubber hose i didnt bother putting any kind of trigger on it, but i also only used it for 5 minutes heres the finished product... 80 grit - soda blast - polished...
Why is this so expensive http://www.eastwood.com/soda-blasting-retro-fit-kit.html Thought I would turn my Harbor Freight sand blaster into a soda blaster. Trying to figure out what the hell is the defference between the two types of blaster. ????
Looks to me as they are converting from pressure to vacume feed when used with soda which means you would have to empty tank to use soda. Poor plumbing! Bill.
there adding a little air at the bottom where the soda comes out, its just to keep the soda from compacting and not flowing properly, i have done pretty much the same thing to Cement silos and flyash silos.
Thats how the PA Blaster we mentioned works. I actually thought about using one of aireator pads from a pnuematic in mine........we haul, cement,lime,flyash
I made one of the soda blasters off the air cooled site, mine wouldn't go through the grime on the carb but it was amazing how well it worked on the oxidized parts. I'm going to spray the carb down with degreaser then hit it again with the soda and see how that works. Ryland
I'm thinking there is something really different in the Eastwoods sand vs soda unit. The conversion part (one to the other) is $130. If it was only a brass T with a couple fittings on it, it might cost only $30. The 50# unit bottom feed costs $240. and the top feed 10# unit is $400. Something is different. I guess there could be a problem with impactact fusion or packing of the soda with a bottom feed. Some 50# units I've seen take soda from the top and I think there might be a way to fluidize (introduce air into the soda) the soda enableing it to be moved through the intake pipe and untimately to the hose / nozzle. I know the only way to really find out is to build one but I'm trying to go a few short cuts. Comments?
The clear hose is a purge hose...You use it to drain unused media from the tank.....It's worth it to get another blaster so you can have one for sand and the other for soda...
I made this setup a while ago. It works great,cleans carbs and aluminium parts like new. I did some 40 year old motorcycle carbs,they looked like they just came out of the box. Buy your soda at the feed store-$12.00 for 50 pounds.This setup wont cut rust,but I use it in combination with electrolisis for steel parts with rust.
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