SandBlasting Equipments & Supplies

Pros and Cons of Sandblasting Cabinets, Cars, and Other Metal Items

Sandblasting is one of the most used processes when it comes to stripping large surfaces of their dull and aging external finish. This process appeals highly to metal furniture restorers and automobile modifiers, as sandblasting can easily expose metal furniture and car doors down to their barest essentials with excellent stripping results.

Aside from a better abrasive outcome, sandblasting cabinets, chairs, and other furniture and auto accessories to its naked details is much quicker than manually using sandpaper. Once the dull layers of paint, gloss, and rust are removed, a simple cabinet or a car roof can now be restored to its former glory.

The restoration process of a metal fixture, such as a shelf or a chair, lies partly on how the surface has been prepped for the repainting and finishing. Nothing prepares furniture’s surface for a total metamorphosis other then sandblasting. With a smoother bare surface, repainting and placing new details is already halfway done.

But with all that said, sandblasting is no easy matter. In fact, sandblasting cabinets, shelves, and other metal crafts requires a lot of skills as the process can also conjure undesired and adverse effects to the surface and generally to the item being sandblasted.

An overzealous amateur can do a lot of surface damage while sandblasting cabinets, chairs, and other pieces of furniture. Careless sandblasting can wreak more than just a dent on the surface. Most of the time, damages caused by reckless sand blasting can be so severe one might end up buying a new set of furniture because the one slated for restoration is ruined.

There is no doubt that stripping metal items such as steel cabinets, iron-wrought chairs, and tons of car chassis through sandblasting has better results and time-efficient than the physically demanding hand sanding route. But when opting to go with sandblasting, it is best that one should turn the reins to a pro for more desired sandblasting results.

Sandblasting or bead blasting is a generic term for the process of smoothing, shaping and cleaning a hard surface by forcing solid particles across that surface at high speeds; the effect is similar to that of using sandpaper, but provides a more even finish with no problems at corners or crannies.

Historically, the material used for artificial sandblasting was sand that had been sieved to a uniform size. Sand used to be the most commonly used material, but since silicosis (a lung disease) is caused by extended inhalation of the dust created by sand, other materials are now used in its place.

Other materials for sandblasting have been developed to be used instead of sand; for example, steel grit, steel shots, copper slag, glass beads (bead blasting), metal pellets, dry ice, garnet, powdered abrasives of various grades, powdered slag, and even ground coconut shells or corncobs, walnut shells, Baking Soda have been used for specific applications and can produce distinct surface finishes.

This is just a small introduction to the sandblasting process. If you want to explore more advanced information just click below for:

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  Sandblasting Equipment
   
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  Sandblast Materials
   
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  Sandblasting Tips
   
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  Questions About Sandblasting

Question: “We have just purchased a horse trailer. It is steel and has some rust on the roof and other parts of the trailer. We want to sand it down and repaint it and are looking at sandblasting. Ebay has a “sand blasting gun” that you hook to a 5HP compessor, would this work to lightly remove the paint and rust? We are then going to prime it and then put an enamal auto paint, probably white b/c we think it might be more forgiving then a darker color, my dad owns a spray gun.

The local body shops are charging $500, we don’t really care how long it takes, but cannot afford that…

Answer: I have done my fair share of sandblasting .. if the spots are really big .. i would say just talk the trailer to a company that sandblast large items . get them to blast the entire trailer .. the you can fix any holes , prime and repaint trailer will look good as new. when you use a portable baster you use a lot of sand and a 5 horse power compressor will not be able to keep up with the demand of air for more than 5 to 10 minutes at a time. unless it is a small area .. it will take you weeks and cost a lot ..
it also makes a big mess will sand flying everywhere. Also you have to have a proper clothes ..it can be a big problem. In most cases the money you think you will save by doing it yourself , will turn out to cost you twice as much as you think your saving.

If you can’t find some one in the yellow pages that blast large items, then contact your local auto body shops. They will know of someone for sure.

Concerning the color; yes the lighter the color the less it shows. Also white will be cooler for the horses. Dark colors draw and build a lot of heat.. If you want to add a little color do it on the sides if you must but paint the top white; the horses will be grateful…