Walnut shell or soda blasting a wheel

[DonW]

Hi again,

Working on cleaning up these spare wheels for my GS. I'm thinking of media blasting them. They're too big to fit in my friend's glass bead blasting cabinet. So, I wonder about using either soda or walnut shells, blast outside and then just hose the mess off the driveway. Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks,

Don

[woodpile]

I've been kicking around the idea of soda blasting the wheels,carbs and other bits on my /5. Harbor Freight sells one for about $100 or you could make your own for a few bucks just to test it out.
http://www.aircooledtech.com/tools-on-t ... a_blaster/

[DonW]

Very cool, thanks. I've seen that before, but forgot. I actually have a blasting gun, I think from Harbor Freight. Just a trigger gun, a couple of different diameter nozzles, and a big siphon hose. My prob is too small a compressor.

The other big question for me is- Soda or walnut shells, or ??? You can buy both in bulk at Harbor Freight.

Don

[She'llbe]

Hi again,

Working on cleaning up these spare wheels for my GS. I'm thinking of media blasting them. They're too big to fit in my friend's glass bead blasting cabinet. So, I wonder about using either soda or walnut shells, blast outside and then just hose the mess off the driveway. Anyone have suggestions?

Thanks,

Don

I've seen the mess that soda blasting makes in the open. Plan on having the whole house block to hose down as well as the neighbors!

[daz]

DonW, I too would like some input on blasting your wheels with walnut shells OR soda. So she'llbe, any experience with walnut shells? All I know about Nimbin in NSW is what I get from google. So my imagination is running wild with the mess on the whole house block.

[esman100]

I soda blasted a set of snow flakes for my S bike and thought it worked great. A lot safer than bead blast and it didn't seem to hurt the lawn. Harbor freight sells bulk soda bags for cheap and Napa sells a nifty gun with a pot that looks like a paint gun for around $50US. The gun is more expensive than many, but is great for high pressure blasting with other media.

[jagarra]

I guess the question is do you want to take the painted finish off the wheel if it has one or just clean the surface a bit without damaging the finish. To remove paint I would recommend the shells, to brighten the metal a bit the soda.

gg

[montmil]

I put together the baking soda blaster from Nate's Air Cooled with materials in my shop. Used the mini-blaster to clean up the fork lowers on a recently acquired R65 that needed some serious cosmetic love. Total cash outlay was for three small boxes of baking soda @ fifty-cents/box. Ca-Ching... bargain!



Couple items of note:
Baking soda is much milder than the industrial cut of blasting soda. The baking soda shooter will not remove paint but will haze plastic if you really lay into it.

Compressor size and performance, like a few other things in life, does matter. Bigger is gooder.

Do not know about others, but my mess outside was small and contained to my side yard. Wear a dust mask! Baking soda dissolves in water so cleanup was easy. Don't know about the commercial stuff.