I've about concluded that play sand does as good a job on light rust as something costing many times more. But what about heavier rust, like where sheet metal has gone clear through under a carpet. Would steel sand be good there?

Be careful on the media you use to sandblast. Years ago I blasted some fenders from a 53 Chevy pickup, being careful to move the stream as soon as the paint etc. was removed. Because I used the wrong media I damn near rendered the sheetmetal superhardened and it was extremely difficult to work. Most shop now use a mixture of plastic and walnut shells.

Play sand is mainly silica, you really shouldn't use it because it does really nasty things to your lungs. If you do use it you should be sure to use an effective breathing system to filter out the silica dust.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

LOL! I once had a guy who was blasting construction steel, clean up some rusty tractor fenders for me. He knew what he was dealing with. Connected to the compressor (big even for an Ingersol Rand) by a 2.5 inch line, and standing about 20 feet away, he opened his 1 inch nozzle to one side of a fender, swept across the length of it in about a second and closed it. I picked up the clean fender which was now another 10 or 15 feet away, and put the other one in place. Same procedure.

What I didn't include in my question was the fact that with my Sears blaster connected to my ancient Devilbis one lunger I'd probably have trouble moving a model car fender 10 or 15 millimeters!

Prepping the steel for paint, he kept 2 guys and a fork lift busy opening 60 pound bags of blasting sand. When he was done an area about 60 feet by 120 feet was 6 inches deep in sand. I guess everything's relative.

Thanks

Right you are. My breathing system consists of holding my breath while blasting some, then running a ways off while my compressor catches up Cheap but effective.

Thanks

Cheap I'll grant you... effective? I'm not so sure.

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David Kight
'62 Valiant Signet, White
'98 Dodge Dakota
'06 Jeep Liberty

Growing older is unavoidable but growing up is strictly optional.

Eh, the way I understand it, it depends on how much you do it... If you only sandblast once a year, silicosis isn't really going to be that big of an issue and holding your breath and running away will (probably) keep you safe (enough). If you do it even as often as once a month, I would definetly invest in some good protective equipment.

(Of course the house I grew up in still has asbestos covered heating ducts...)

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Used to own:
'82 Dodge D150
Erson 270 Cam, O/S valves, mild port work, ~9.5:1 compression

Currently fighting with an '85 VW Cabriolet

My other passion