"Fast-forward some 20 years, and we have soda-blasting equipment that's easily available to the hobbyist who wishes to strip paint from his ride without inflicting damage. In fact, a truck can be stripped of its paint, via soda blasting, without the need for time-consuming masking, due to the fact you can actually leave all trim, rubber, and glass in place with no harm coming to those components! Additionally, no panel-warping heat is generated, so the surface is left smooth and texture-free, even on aluminum and fiberglass! This is because the soda particles completely shatter into a dust after striking and removing the paint, inflicting no harm to the base metal or fiberglass. We recently stripped the paint on a vintage car using a soda blaster and discovered original factory sanding marks on the fender! They were left intact but the paint was gone!
"Another added bonus of soda is that it leaves a light, dusty protective film on panels, helping to prevent surface rust for up to several months, if kept in a covered dry area. When the time is right, the film is simply rinsed away with water prior to painting as you rinse out seams and crevices to remove any stray dust particles. Perhaps the best feature of soda is the fact that it is completely inert and water soluble, saving a great deal of cleanup time when the job is done. It's even completely 'green friendly' because it's just baking soda! Of course, the proper steps should be taken to recover removed paint particles before getting out the hose and washing the dust away.
"One additional use of soda as a blasting media is to clean and degrease complex mechanical assemblies, such as transmissions or rear axles, with no harm to internal moving parts. Many folks also use it to clean underhood areas, without removing or harming components or wiring."
Now, after retaining all that knowledge one might think that the Eastwood soda blaster would be a relatively complex and pricey machine-it's not. For starters, the machine is as simple to operate as plugging in an air line and aiming a gun. Loading the soda hopper is just like dumping oil in a motor-and it has a 100-pound loading capacity. Best of all: it only requires a minimum of 7 cfm at 80 psi, which makes the blaster very shop-friendly. As far as price goes, you can pick up one of these blasters for $250, not bad at all. Not to mention that the machine also pulls double-time as a standard abrasive blaster when removing rust or other heavy corrosion. Say goodbye to old-school methods of stripping. Say hello to Eastwood.
 10.Once suited up, it was...  10.Once suited up, it was time to start blasting. At first it may take a few pulls of the blast trigger to purge the line and get a steady flow of media. Depending on the conditions, a few adjustments of the air valve may need to take place in order to get ideal media flow. By the way, because the blaster features an 8-foot blast hose it's a cinch to move around and blast at all angles. |  11.Boom! As you can see, what...  11.Boom! As you can see, what once was coated in factory finish is now down to bare metal. It only took a matter of minutes. Once you optimize the cutting action of the media, the Eastwood blaster makes quick work of its target area. |  12.In the case of unused media,...  12.In the case of unused media, emptying the blaster is as easy as filling it. Simply insert the clear purge hose at the bottom of the blaster back into the media bag. From there, open the purge valve and the pressure within the hopper will force any unused media out and into the bag. Always clear the hopper when finished. Unused media can cake up over time and cause some serious headaches. |
 13.The hardest part about...  13.The hardest part about using the blaster is the cleanup afterwards! However, cleanup is simplified due to the fact that once you have swept up the majority of the mess, the rest of the media can be hosed away because it is completely biodegradable and environmentally friendly. What more could you ask for? | | |