Soda Blaster

Hey all,

I just picked up a soda blaster from Harbor Freight... has anyone used one and have any tips on usage and soda media? Does it work well in confined spaces?

Thanks!

Soda blaster? Is that like those guys on YouTube with the diet coke bottles and the Mentos?

Yes I have used them. Have a very good air compressor.

For its intent of useage on a specific project they are great. Hope this info helps a a source:

Soda Blasting FAQ

They do a great job. However, I know a guy that soda blasts exotic cars for repainting and he told me that there is one drawback to painting a soda blasted vehicle. He said the metal is so slick that paint sometimes has a hard time adhering to the metal. He also said a common problem was making certain that a thin film of sodium bicarbonate wasn't left on the metal as this can also impact paint adhesion. He said that using a good two-part primer was almost a must on bare steel. For fiberglass he said they are perfect and he does a lot of Corvettes. He travels throughout the southeast and will sodablast at your location or you can come to him in North Georgia.

Be sure you have a water free tank in your compressor and a water filter. I heard they are great. Let me know how satisfied you are, because I have been researching and wanting to buy one for months now, but never know what to believe on the internet. I've heard about it being slick though. Don't recall the spirits, but it was said a petro based spirit should be used immediately after blasting, then wiped dry and primed right away to prevent rust. I want to repaint my hood on my M35A3. They are notorious for developing a bit of rust on the rivits and I wanted to blast it away first.
Please give us all some feedback on your personal experience.

Angus - run down and borrow my 80# pressure tank sand blaster and use black diamond in it - almost as sweet as soda. PM me is it suits you.

Soda: Soda Blasting pros/cons - THE H.A.M.B.



I am not keen on soda. I have done a couple of my mopars with plastic media and some more agressive stuff (plastic won't remove rust) and I would not do soda.

These pictures are of a friend's business right up the street. He is a mechanical engineer and extremely intelligent.

Plastic Media Blasting pictures by clinto1 - Photobucket

He also told me about the pH issue that is acknowledged on the jalopy journal link I posted above.



Let's face it: The primary reason people are using soda is to avoid warping panels due to the heat created from the blasting. Alternative medias or operator skill both negate that, without the downsides of soda (lack of adhesion, lack of rust cutting capability).

I have never used it but unerstand it is good for soft metal. I also understand charcol is good.

Thanks!

Thanks for the info guys... Yep plan on using Acetone for wipe down before an etching primer...

While I have heard that Soda was originally used to avoid the issues with heat, another reason is soda washes away and doesn't become gritty like sand. This makes issues with seals and invasion of media in bearings etc. a non-issue.

I'm hoping to give it a try next week... I'll keep you all posted.

Thanks! Forum is great!

I have had the HF unit for some time. It works fine but, as a cheap unit, has drawbacks. First of all, it is a pain to load. It will take a while. (I buy soda in bulk bags from a swimming pool supply store.) The drier the air, the better. There seemingly is always some clumping at the bottom of the tank, so every so often you have to shake it up.

The good news is that it works great for removing paint and crud from soft metal parts. Wnything die cast, like a carburator or a filter, brass fittings, etc. It will clean all the crud off a carb without hurting the delicate, cast-in lettering.

The HF unit is also really only good for small parts. So forget about sheet metal. Anything the size of a carb or master cylinder is perfect.

I had heard a rinse after soda blasting with water and a bit of vinegar could neutralize the residue for paint. Any recommendations for the ratio, or effectiveness?

Uhhhh... to late. Got my 40 pound soda blaster, 4 different size nozzles to try, a dead mans gun (switch), and a bag of soda. Gonna try it this weekend on some M105 saddle bag style toolboxes. I'll give another opinion when finished. Price was $149 on sale, normally $249, then I had a 20% coupon that they honored, made it about $120. Deadman switch, which is a gun with a different nozzle, $19.95. Bag of soda about $34. Person who purchased it, not so smart, but priceless. Now I know why the Northern tool ones went up to $1200. Carburator huh? And I thought I would do a M109 with it.

If this doesn't do the hardtop on a M109A3, then I'll go buy me a new carburator and do that.

Vinegar will neutralize rust. It is a great rust remover, but you have to rinse, dry, and prime within 24 hours or it will start right back. I have used it a lot on my green stuff, and experimented with it for months over a broad range of time for different materials. One-two cups white vinegar per five gallons. Keep the surface wet for 10-15 minutes, the entire time if you cannot submerge. Wear some gloves and wet, wet, wet, and wipe. After 15 minutes, brush off rust and/or debris. If necessary, repeat. With rust, two cycles will do it. Rinse, dry, prime. The worst of the rust conditions will start to appear orangy within 24-48 hours. The light rust areas being worked will start to oxidize once again in 48-72 hours. It not only eats the rust, but eats into the metal or metal surfact coating if left on over 15 minutes. I tried it on some shackles leaving it in the bucket overnight and it ate all the maker's coating off. Powerful stuff on metal.

So what's the verdict? It's been a few months. Has anyone used a soda blaster that ISN'T from Harbor Frieght? Like an Eastmman?

Verdict

I used my Harbor Freight soda blaster on the BMP-1 fender I had to repair... the unit is not ready to use out of the box. I had to drastically open the end of the feed rod (inside the soda blaster) with about 2x the original size. It just took constant shaking to make it work. Ran it at over 100 lbs. and did well... not as effective as sandblaster but would be awesome if working around parts with bearings etc.