soda blasting

[gbf03]

Can anyone explain to me the process of soda blasting. I know that it is blasting particles onto a surface. But what kind of machine do you have to have? Can you rent one? Is it like a high powered pressure cleaner with a particle tank hooked up?
Thanks,
George

[David Bienvenu]

George,
I'm familuar with 2 different processes.

One is with regular sand blast equipment and soda beads used as a media. I have also saw soda beads attached to plastic (Looked like small fly bait). It is used around here to sand blast diesel engines that have been offshore in the oil field.

The second is used with a waterblaster. The soda solution is in a drum, has a hi-pressure injector pump that injects the media into the water stream. I watched this being done to an aluminum hull house boat barge at a local dry dock. It really worked well. The whole rental set up was on a trailer that could be towed with a P/U and rented by the day. They also load as many drums of media as needed on the trailer and you just swap the injector pump.

[Ikan Besar]

To sidestep your how-to question just slightly, I've seen good and bad results from soda blasting. It all seems to depend on who is pulling the trigger. The examples I've seen that were less than perfect were scary at best - very deep pits where the person hesitated for a brief second or two (much deeper than a few coats of paint would fill). If you are planning on doing this yourself, be very very careful not to go too deep.

[Scott]

Originally posted by Ikan Besar:
The examples I've seen that were less than perfect were scary at best - very deep pits where the person hesitated for a brief second or two (much deeper than a few coats of paint would fill).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ikan .... this wasn't just a result of osmotic blistering on an old hull ... was it ??

[Ikan Besar]

Sadly, no. It was on a '79 SeaCraft 23' CC that the owner was trying to save a few pennies by renting the equipment and doing the job themselves. I saw the boat after they brought it to a professional boat yard to cover up the damage [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Ikan Besar]

Sadly, no. It was on a '79 SeaCraft 23' CC that the owner was trying to save a few pennies by renting the equipment and doing the job themselves. I saw the boat after they brought it to a professional boat yard to cover up the damage [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[FELLOW-SHIP]

HA GEORGE
YOU WILL LIKE THESE SITES.
http://www.jacksonmarine.com/jackson...nmarine_6.html
http://www.enviro-strip.com/index.htm

I HAD JACKSON DO MY 23 COST ME 600 AND FOR ME IT WAS WELL WORTH IT. THE SECOND SITE TALKS ABOUT HOW TO DO IT YOURSELF.

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