Sandblasting wanted for rust removal

[Rhythm House Drums]

I picked up a cheap but heavy built 5x10 flat bed trailer. It's built with 4" c channel iron and steel sheet bed, some sort of heavy axle, not a trailer axel. Leaf springs, coil springs, and shock absorbers. 15" tires. Anyhow, it needs some work. I've put new tires on, repacked the bearings, going to build up some side walls and put some exterior carpet over the bed, add lights, etc.

The frame is rusted and paint coming off. I'm looking for someone with a sandblaster to help me clean it up so I can repaint / refinish. Possibly on the wheels as well. If not, I may just take a wire wheel to it and see what happens . I'm in indian trail, but can take the trailer wherever. Let me know if you can help out and an estimated cost.
Thanks!

 

[TracyP]

There is a company in Salisbury "Blast It All" that may be able to help. Don't know if this is the avenue you want to go, just a company with a good reputation.

 

[JackLeg]

Check with NuFinish in Norwood, NC. Good people, reasonable prices. Talk to Steve Bailey, the owner. Mention my name.

 

[cpw]

If you already have a compressor, it may be more cost effective to buy a sandblasting rig, especially if you think it might come up again. It doesn't have to be fancy to be effective. When I was in school we used to buy used grit from a local monument company for a couple of bucks for a 5-gal. bucket. I've even used play sand. As long as it's dry it will work.

http://www.harborfreight.com/portable-abrasive-blaster-kit-37025.html

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_33184_33184

 

[ashley_phil]

Has anyone use that harbor freight model?

 

[DaveD]

BTDT. One thing I learned 40 years ago was if you had something to sandblast that is bigger than your hand then take it to a commercial sandblaster.

Doing your own sandblasting, with a typical home rig, is dirty, slow, expensive and doesn't work very well. You need LOTS of air and blast media. Then you will be forever cleaning up the used media if you don't have a enclosed blast cabinet/area. Picture yourself being in one of those desert dust storms you see in the movies.

A commercial blast place might charge you $75-100 to do that trailer and probably get it done in an hour.
Check with a powdercoater too. They typically blast a lot of the stuff they paint.

 

[Mark Gottesman]

a big +1 for everything DaveD said.
The best decision I ever made when I started refurbing old tools was to locate a couple of local sandblasters and a a powder coat shop.
It probably takes me less time and money to farm it out vs attacking something with a wire wheel. And no noise, breathing grit/rust or crawling around a frame.

Check CraigsList for a mobile sand or soda blaster.

 

[cpw]

Good info Dave & Mark. I had no idea that it would be that cheap. A that price it would be worth it just to avoid the extra shower afterward.

 

[HMH]

I have a great guy here in Raleigh, but that may be a bit of a haul for you. For ball-park price point feedback, my guy recently sandblasted the cabinet of on old (and abused) Powermatic PM65 cabinet saw I re-built, (inside and out), for less than $60.

In my mind, well worth the convenience and mess/health issues generated from DIY.

Also, just a heads up - while sandblasting is a great way to remove rust and paint on metal surfaces, it will also eat into machined surfaces like jointer ways, table tops, and drill press columns. I've had good luck covering the areas I didn't want blasted w/ a few layers of duct tape.

Good luck!

 

[Gofor]

Having done a lot of sandblasting in my past life, something as large as a 5 x 10 trailer will take a ton of sand (literally) to blast off all the old paint and rust. Not something I would try to do at home with a small blaster. A commercial facility will probably have a large dry space where they can recapture most of the abrasive and reuse it. Definitely recommend going to a commercial place. If you can also get it coated, that would be a big plus.

Go

 

[JackLeg]

​That's exactly what Nu Finish does.

BTDT. One thing I learned 40 years ago was if you had something to sandblast that is bigger than your hand then take it to a commercial sandblaster.

Doing your own sandblasting, with a typical home rig, is dirty, slow, expensive and doesn't work very well. You need LOTS of air and blast media. Then you will be forever cleaning up the used media if you don't have a enclosed blast cabinet/area. Picture yourself being in one of those desert dust storms you see in the movies.

A commercial blast place might charge you $75-100 to do that trailer and probably get it done in an hour.
Check with a powdercoater too. They typically blast a lot of the stuff they paint.