Pressure washer sand blasting

[Coyote machine]

Because of this thread, and me wanting to do some metal cleaning on my boxblade, palletforks, and older boat trailer, I went out and bought a Generac 3000psi, 2.8 gpm gas power washer and the following sandblasting kit.
The sandblasting kit I bought at powerwash.com. It is MTM Hydro Sandblasting Kit 4050 PSI, and they specked the chosen Orifice Size of 3.5 based on my specific pressure washer. I also bought the QCMP-14 quick attach male plug to make the kit connect to my wand.
I think this will work better than the ones from Northern Tool and other ones found elsewhere because the nozzle orifice is sized to the specific washer. They say to use medium sand or soda blast material and that medium sand blast sand will do a better job than play sand, etc.
Hope this helps others who may be interested in doing wetblasting.:thumbsup:

Oh yeah, thanks J_J for spending all my money on this project!

 

[LiveRoll]

I would be very interested to hear how your system works, I am considering getting a "set-up" that is similar and currently studying all the feedback on this thread. I think the system would be great as there are always small jobs around the place, and of course, the great thing about having your own blaster is once you have it nothing is safe!! The place becomes a rust free zone! and it is kind of a pain to gather everything up and take it all to a shop to get things done, along with the costs, cause with human nature, as soon as you get home with a load of freshly sandblasted items, you always find one or two things that you forgot.......

Cheers

Roger

 

[puckgrinder85]

Its nice for the guys with a pressure washer but don't have access or the need for a decent sized air compressor. If you have a industrial sized air compressor don't bother with this, but if you don't its a good alternative and a **** of a lot better than scraping the rust and painting over that.

 

[J_J]

Always let the sand come into the nozzle from the top, so water does not get in and wet the sand and block the nozzle.

I got mine to do a rusty boat trailer, and found out I needed to also do some welding. It found more damage than I expected.

I have done wheel rims, outdoor metal furniture, trailers, cars, etc.

If you don't get primer on it right away, you will soon start to see rust forming.

A pressurized sand tank might work even better.

Where does one get bulk soda and keep it loose in the container.

 

[puckgrinder85]

I have no idea as I've never used soda but have heard many people use it for delicate items. People are even building them out of old pressure tanks and a few valves/ hoses. There isn't much to it, a pressure vessel to hold the media, ball valves, blasting hose and nozzle. It is a little messy, and people have warned against using play sand because of silicosis but I've been using play sand from my local hardware store (8$ for 100lb bag) for a while now. I think the silicosis thing is a concern but not so much to a person doing it 2-3 times a year vs a sandblaster occupation. Usually if I'm doing dusty/ dirty work like grinding metal etc I can blow my nose and see it, with sandblasting the only time I get it is I've im blasting something extremely rusty. I do it in an open area and I like to do it when there is a little bit of wind just to carry it away from the work area.. The sand disappears into the ground in a few rainfalls for me.

 

[tcartwri]

There's a guy here who does it commercially and he is using crushed glass. Pretty sure that wouldn't clump like soda or sand.

 

[tcartwri]

 

[Coyote machine]

Always let the sand come into the nozzle from the top, so water does not get in and wet the sand and block the nozzle.

I got mine to do a rusty boat trailer, and found out I needed to also do some welding. It found more damage than I expected.

I have done wheel rims, outdoor metal furniture, trailers, cars, etc.

If you don't get primer on it right away, you will soon start to see rust forming.

A pressurized sand tank might work even better.

Where does one get bulk soda and keep it loose in the container.

Just one possibility found on Google engine:Soda Blasting Media - 50 Lbs. Medium Grade

 

[techwrtr2]

I used one of the northern tool attachments for the power washer when I was stripping my deuce and a half with CARC on it. The water kept the silica from the CARC at bay so it wasn't a hazardous material at that point. I found that using Black Diamond blasting media worked far quicker than play sand, and with the water it kept the sheet metal panels from over heating and warping.

My pressure washer blaster won't use the Black Diamond media. Just won't pull it. I've worked on the assumption it's to heavy or course. And that I need to buy a pressure pot at some point.

 

[Coyote machine]

My pressure washer blaster won't use the Black Diamond media. Just won't pull it. I've worked on the assumption it's to heavy or course. And that I need to buy a pressure pot at some point.

I think what the sandblaster attachment on a pressure washer will 'pull'/shoot is dependent on the nozzle orifice size. The one I just bought was specked as stated above in post #21. I just received the QC the other day, and have not yet had a chance to use the sandblaster.. Once I do I will make a report of it's pros/cons here to update the data. :thumbsup: