As always, Eastwood offers...
As always, Eastwood offers the hobbyist the latest and best equipment and supplies to help make that precious garage time easier and much more satisfying. The company now offers several affordable soda-blasting units to choose from, (part numbers 12256, 50095, or the 50499 blaster & media combo) and soda media (part number 11807) available either online or in their catalog. For those who already own a pressurized sandblaster Eastwood offers (part number 51360) the soda-blasting conversion kit that’ll allow you to change over to soda in around 15 minutes. The soda blaster pictured here is a 100-pound capacity Clarke unit (with the Eastwood Soda Conversion) that’s now a part of my home shop tool arsenal. Eastwood has since begun to manufacture and sell pressurized units that work fantastically.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting requests for information regarding paint-stripping options. A couple years ago I was pondering the same question myself and contacted the folks at the Eastwood Company for some advice. It just so happened that the company was developing a modification that would transform a standard pressurized sandblaster to operate using soda rather than silica.
The advantage of soda is that it’s much less aggressive than silica and will remove paint without the surface suffering the damage that coarse abrasives often cause. At the time it was the perfect situation for me as I had some non-metal parts that I needed to strip, so I had them ship me one of the very first soda conversion kits (part number 51360) for testing.
The heart of the conversion from sandblaster to soda blaster is the specialized abrasive outlet manifold supplied with the soda-blasting conversion kit (part number 51360).
Since that time, Eastwood has refined its soda blasters and conversions, and they now work even better. That’s saying a lot since the early unit used in the following story worked great. So, take a look at my introduction to Eastwood’s soda blasters, and if you like what ya see, check out the Eastwood website and take a look at its selection of soda/abrasive blaster outfits and/or conversion kits. Take my word for it, either way, they’ll pay for themselves in labor savings as well as negating the use of caustic chemical strippers.
The conversion is a piece...
The conversion is a piece of cake and allows one to enjoy the benefits of soda blasting, while maintaining the ability to quickly convert the unit back to a traditional sandblasting unit for rust and scale removal. Here’s a shot of the soda outlet manifold (in hand) and the standard abrasive manifold still attached to the blaster.
Stripping paint from any surface is a pain in the butt to say the least. Over the years I’ve spent way more time, energy, burned skin, and probably a few hundred-thousand brain cells removing old layers of paint using chemical strippers. Then, a dozen years or so ago, I finally graduated to sandblasting as an option. Sandblasting definitely beat the heck out of caustic chemical stripping, but had its drawbacks – chiefly the dangers of silicosis caused by breathing the airborne silica dust, the detrimental effect of work-hardening sheetmetal, and the aggressive abrasion on non-metallic parts. In these cases my only options were to go back to the old chemical stripper route or farm out the job to a professional media-blasting outfit – a hassle at best.
Then recently I became aware that one of my favorite tool sources (The Eastwood Company) had made a leap in technology that allowed the home (or professional, for that matter) shop dweller to take advantage of an optional stripping media (baking soda) that has the ability to remove paint without harming the substrate. With my curiosity piqued I grabbed the phone and dialed up one of my tech sources for the lowdown.
I got an Eastwood product development engineer on the line and he was more than happy to clue me in on this new development. Here’s what he had to say:
The conversion process takes...
The conversion process takes just a few minutes and starts with removing the standard manifold from the unit.
“Abrasive blasting is an old and proven technology which uses silica sand as a blast media, hence the term ‘sandblasting.’ However, with the increased awareness of silicosis dangers since about 1973 or so, several modern alternative media have been in use.
“The most common alternate blasting media (aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, glass bead, coal slag, aluminum or steel pellets and more) are generally used for paint and coating removal, and in some cases, rust removal. All of these media are grains of hard, sharp material, which when propelled at high velocity with blasting equipment, are capable of generating a great deal of heat on the blasted surface resulting in warped panels and etched surfaces. Traditional abrasive blasting is still best for stripping and removing rust from castings or heavy steel parts, but not the best for stripping paint from autobody sheetmetal and certainly not fiberglass.
The soda outlet manifold is...
The soda outlet manifold is then installed in place of the original. This time the original manifold is in hand and the soda manifold installed.
With the soda manifold in...
With the soda manifold in place the next step is to reattach the air-supply hose into the angled section of the soda manifold (using a bit of thread-sealing tape to prevent any air leaks).
The blast nozzle hose is attached...
The blast nozzle hose is attached to the soda manifold and tightened in place with the existing hose clamp. That’s it, the conversion’s finished!
Eastwood also sells the soda...
Eastwood also sells the soda abrasive needed. Here you see a 50-pound bag ready for loading into the pressurized hopper.
“There are some less aggressive media including poly, walnut shell, corn husk and others available for the purpose of stripping paint from auto bodies, however, they can require a great deal of work to clean up from the area when the job is done and will leave residual particles in the car body’s seams and crevices. Another alternative, rapidly increasing in popularity, is bicarbonate of soda, more commonly known as ‘soda blasting.’ The technology is fairly recent, having been developed in the mid ’80s primarily for the purpose of cleaning the Statue of Liberty inside and out – a delicate task requiring effectiveness without damage.
Heck, Eastwood even supplies a handy funnel for filling the tank.
The smaller of the units (the...
The smaller of the units (the 10-gallon version shown here) fits one full 50-pound bag of soda. Once full, the pressurized tank’s threaded cap is reinstalled.
“Fast forward some 20 years and we now have the benefit of equipment easily obtainable to the average hobbyist who wishes to strip paint from his pride and joy without inflicting damage. In fact, a car can be stripped of its paint while leaving all trim, rubber, and glass IN PLACE with no harm to those components! Additionally, no panel-damaging heat is generated, and the surface is left smooth and texture free, even on aluminum and fiberglass. This occurs because the soda particles completely shatter into dust after striking and removing the paint without harming the base metal or fiberglass. We recently stripped the paint on a classic Chevy pickup using Eastwood’s soda blaster and discovered original factory sanding marks on the fender. These were actually left intact, but the paint was gone!
Since soda is so fine and...
Since soda is so fine and susceptible to clumping from water contamination, a dry source is a must. I installed one of those disposable water traps as added insurance. Clumping of the soda caused by moisture is a pain in the butt as it’ll clog up the works and prevent an even flow of soda through the blast nozzle.
“The soda will also leave a light, dusty protective film on panels helping to prevent surface rust for up to several months. This is simply rinsed away with water prior to painting and you only need to rinse out seams and crevices to remove stray dust particles. Perhaps the best feature of soda is the fact that it is completely inert and water soluble, saving a great deal of cleanup time when the job is done. Of course the proper steps should be taken to recover removed paint particles before getting out the hose and washing the dust away.
“An additional use for soda as a blasting media is the ability to clean and degrease complex mechanical assemblies such as transmissions or rear axles with no harm to internal moving parts. Many folks also use it to clean underhood areas with no removal of or harm to components or wiring.”
As is the case with any type...
As is the case with any type of shop equipment, the proper use of safety gear is a must. A pair of heavy gloves, a hood to keep the media out of your eyes, ears, and hair, and a good quality dust respirator (not a cheapo dust mask) is the way to go. These items are available from Eastwood, as well.
With this newfound bit of information, and a perfect candidate for a paint-stripping job waiting patiently in my garage, I had Joe ship me one of their soda conversion kits to see just how well it worked. Well, as is always the case with a new piece of Eastwood equipment, I was pleased with just how well it worked. So, with this in mind, I chronicled my Saturday afternoon paint-stripping job so I could share my experience. Take a look and see for yourself how another Eastwood product is making my home shop chores easier, less dangerous, and far less expensive than farming out to a professional shop.
With the conversion completed...
With the conversion completed and the hopper full of soda, next came the moment of truth. I’d recently painted a steering wheel to match the interior color of a friend’s car only to find that the wheel didn’t fit the car’s steering shaft – yet one more example of my lack of forethought. So I wanted to remove the paint and clear to ready it for its next home, and this was a perfect opportunity to see the result and ease of soda blasting.
After spreading out a large...
After spreading out a large tarp to capture the majority of the expended soda and to ease in cleanup I proceeded to try out my new soda blaster. Well, it worked just as advertised! A bit slower than sandblasting, as soda is much less aggressive than coarser media, the soda removed the paint without harm to the semi-soft surface of the plastic (?) steering wheel just as well as I’d hoped.
Another cool thing about the...
Another cool thing about the Eastwood soda blaster is the ability to empty the hopper of unused media. To drain the unused media from the hopper all you do is place the end of the clear purge hose back into a suitable container and open the purge valve under the blaster hopper. The pressure in the hopper forces the leftover media and keeps the soda from caking up in the bottom of the hopper when not in use. And there you have it – another pleasurable experience with an Eastwood product. No more chemical stripper or trips to the local stripper for me! The Eastwood soda blaster is already making my home shop life easier and more productive, but then again, I’ve never expected or received anything other than success with Eastwood products…and you won’t either.