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Discussion DIY Wet Blaster

Discussion in 'Tech Tips' started by Andych, Oct 19, 2019.

  1. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    I cant remember the figure but its somewhere between 14 - 18 cfm.
    I gotta look it all up again.
    Was the largest i could get to run on a 4hp motor. Since i cant get 3 phase.
     
  2. beano

    beano Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    @Jethalter what nozzle did you end up buying in the end??

    Looking like work on my cabinet is going to be pushed back to the summer, but would like to have all the components sorted before i finish uni.
     
  3. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    just the one linked in this thread [​IMG]
     
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  4. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    Here's an update, a part thats going to be painted anyway, but it was filthy, covered in old paint, brake dust, and all kinda of surface rust. Still tinkering with it but its getting better.
    85170415_879614852472203_6212017156771545088_n.jpg
     
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  5. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Looks pretty good... based on the $$ spent vs a Commercial machine you have to be pretty happy.
     
  6. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, its a matter of working out the kinks. There are options and things to do too. But all trial and error.
    The nozzle helped the most i gotta say, getting rid of the spray gun and using that nozzle helps. Chews the air in comparison.

    I'm almost tempted to just leave this one as it is, swap the AC beads back for AD beads and setup a wet soda unit to use first.
    Use the wet soda for once over first, then clean/polish up with glass beads.

    Maybe if i could get it sorted even dry soda, but i did have issues with feed on that, got a few ideas to sort it tho.

    I do miss the soda's ability to just clean anything and everything off vs glass beads, it would clean super well and not damage a single bit no matter how you used it.
     
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  7. my67xr

    my67xr Bike Enthusiast Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member

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    I used my wet blaster the other day to clean up some door handle's.
    The hot weather here over the last couple of week's has evaporated most of the water away.
    So i filled the big bucket that the pump sit's in, but this time had the water up almost level with the top of the pump.
    That made a huge difference to how much the pump put's out, it's possibly doubled the amount coming out the nozzle, before i was only using it with the bucket half full

    @Jethalter you could try using half soda and half bead, i have been thinking about trying it out in mine
     
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  8. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    I thought about mixing, if it was easier to change the media in my tank i would consider it, but at the moment its a pain.

    The other thing i'm thought of to is a second tank for diff media, but in the end it mixes anyway.
     
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  9. maelstrom

    maelstrom LiteTek Staff Member Premium Member 250cc Vendor Contributing Member

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    I'm joining the party too. Question for @kiffsta and everyone else. I am thinking to use brown aluminium oxide to clean the engine first then glass beads for the nice finish. Any suggestions on what size to use?
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2020
  10. kiffsta

    kiffsta Senior Member

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    I have not used the aluminum oxide, I recently swapped out my sand blast media for glass bead and it is quite good on really poor condition alloy, then I finish it off in the vapour blaster.
     
  11. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    I'm finding for my setup, i'm using a mix of ac/ad glass beads for a nice finish.
    I still want to setup another cabinet, if i can get a wet soda mix working it would be nice, but i'm thinking dry soda for simplicity, soda works well to get lots of gunk off quickly. just being so dusty in the cabinet makes it difficult.
     
  12. maelstrom

    maelstrom LiteTek Staff Member Premium Member 250cc Vendor Contributing Member

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    Thanks, so I will go with the AD size for the glass and keep poking around before making a decision on the aluminium oxide.
     
  13. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Finally got around to converting my Sand Blast cabinet to a wet blast... finished off roughing in the wiring today for my pedal and Air solenoid... filled her up with water and some of my very well used Glass bead blast media and had a bit of a play...

    I have to say that the foot pedal is brilliant.. starts the pump and the air. I need to fiddle around with the air pressure a bit and probably the ratio of media but the quick play I had showed lots of promise...
    I now need to sort out my LED lighting (I need a decent power source for it) and get some good rubber to seal the lid so I dont get wet plus tidy up the wiring seal it all up to make it waterproof..

    A few pics of the setup and some results...
    UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1b6a.jpg
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  14. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    not sure what cabinet setup you got, but a wiper, you def need a wiper.
     
  15. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Mine is a little cabinet with the lid that opens up from the top... I will look at that.. but I will need a bigger 12v supply for that too.. lol
    I wonder if a wiper motor from a headlight wiper is easy to find?
    What amazed me was how quick it is to clean up the alloy.. much faster than when I ran the bead blast only..
    I want to get out there and do the head for the SL125 so I can paint the complete engine but I am away with work most of this week commissioning more Solar Pumps so it will have to wait for next weekend.
     
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  16. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    yeah its addictive, i gotta clean out my tank soon, its looks like a septic tank.
    i've gone with a mix of ac/ad beads, that works for me. aluminum i generally go at about 30psi, steel items at 60psi.
    i've just gotten a wiper from an old honda tn360, and cut the wiper arm down. works great. but any wiper will do. its a god send.
     
  17. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    What sort of power supply are you using for the wiper motor?
     
  18. Jethalter

    Jethalter Well-Known Member

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    just a chinesium 12v 18a unit
     
  19. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Trying to find some AC media but there doesnt seem to be much online I can find right now... Grrr
    The stuff I am using now is the Supercheap Glass beads which has a micron size of 710 vs AC micron size of 150 to 250 microns...
    I am looking at putting on an overflow pipe and a clean water rinse gun (reduced flow from garden hose) so I can rinse off inside the cabinet... that way any floating crud should go out the overflow line and I can dispose of it environmentally :thumb_ups:
     
  20. Andych

    Andych Moderator Staff Member Premium Member Contributing Member Dirty Wheel Club

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    Played around with it all a bit more today... trialled some cheap LED lights... they should work out ok.. I just need to position them better... I also need to get much finer glass bead... my stuff is just way too course and is not really staying in solution.. so it is all a bit variable. You can see in the pics how big the grit size is... having said that.. It is giving me a reasonable finish.
    UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1b7d.jpg
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    Interesting find is that if you dont have the pump going and you run the air you will mostly get clean water (relatively speaking) out of the nozzle... I was turning the pump on and off with the float to help clean the screen. Might have to get a second pedal just for the air.
    I did half of this SL125 top bridge... hadnt been cleaned at all prior to blasting it..

    UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1b86.jpg
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    And I started to clean up the head... I only need it suitable for painting so it wont take much more time to sort that out..
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    I do need to also get a smaller nozzle... mine is 8mm and it uses a ton of air... so I will look at going down to 4mm and see what difference that makes... when they eventually get here... has to come from China..

    UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_1b79.jpg
     

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