Which blasting media to use?

I need to finish stripping paint and primer off of my '62, but I'm not
sure which media to use at this point. Should I use walnut shells or
something else? I saw several websites that recommended plastic beads,
but there isn't anyplace nearby that does that so it looks like I'm on
my own with this. I did see that Eastwood carries something called
poly bead, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with that.


Five years after my project began, my car still looks like this:

http://www.reubenyau.com/images/62vert/62vert.jpg

"michelle" > wrote
> [...]

Michelle?
http://www.reubenyau.com/images/logo.gif

LOL... yes, Michelle. That's my husband's website. :-)

"michelle" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> I need to finish stripping paint and primer off of my '62, but I'm not
> sure which media to use at this point. Should I use walnut shells or
> something else? I saw several websites that recommended plastic beads,

Through a good friend of mine, I have after hour access to a blast shop --
they use wallnut shells. It does a great job, much better than the bead
stuff I've used.

> Five years after my project began, my car still looks like this:
>
> http://www.reubenyau.com/images/62vert/62vert.jpg
>
Looks good to me. Don't apologize for the time it has taken. The work is
half the fun

Remco

remco wrote:
> Through a good friend of mine, I have after hour access to a blast shop --
> they use wallnut shells. It does a great job, much better than the bead
> stuff I've used.

Michelle,
Although I'm sure you're aware of this, make double positive to wipe the
car with mineral spirits or some kind of cleaner (ask whoever sells you
the media or does the blasting what to use, or your paint shop you go
to) before painting it (after wallnut shell blasting). It leaves a
layer of oil on your metal, which will prevent paint from sticking to
it. You do NOT want that after spending however many grand on a paintjob.
Looks like its going to turn out very nice!
-Kevin

Okay, my next question is, if I go with walnut shells, what size grit
should I order?

8/12 COARSE
12/20 COARSE
20/30 MEDIUM
30/100 FINE

I'm assuming I don't want the coarse, but do I want medium or fine?
Also, any idea how many 50 lb bags I am going to need? I still need to
strip the hood, doors, fenders, and inside the trunk area. Most of the
main portion of the body is done, and of course, I don't have a roof I
need to strip :-)

"michelle" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> Okay, my next question is, if I go with walnut shells, what size grit
> should I order?
>
> 8/12 COARSE
> 12/20 COARSE
> 20/30 MEDIUM
> 30/100 FINE
>

{{{{ SNIP}}}}}}

Depends on what size squirrel you've got !!!!!

(I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist)

Susan S.

michelle wrote:
> Okay, my next question is, if I go with walnut shells, what size grit
> should I order?
>
> 8/12 COARSE
> 12/20 COARSE
> 20/30 MEDIUM
> 30/100 FINE
>
> I'm assuming I don't want the coarse, but do I want medium or fine?
> Also, any idea how many 50 lb bags I am going to need? I still need to
> strip the hood, doors, fenders, and inside the trunk area. Most of the
> main portion of the body is done, and of course, I don't have a roof I
> need to strip :-)
>


Put a tarp under the car, and make sure it's *clean* when you park the
car over it. Then blast away. When you have worked for a while, the tarp
will have collected most of the blasting media (and whatever other crud
came off the car). Now you can collect it, siphon it clean of debris and
reuse it. It loses it's effect after a while when the rough sharp edges
of teh particles wear and round off, but you'll see it losing the "edge"
and you will know when to dump it and load a new fresh batch of media in
the container.

Jan