Topic: soda blasting

[manther]

Anyone ever had any soda blasting done? What are the benifits? A soda blasting company told me its totally safe on rubber, chrome, wires, etc... They made it sound as if you could plug up any openings and soda blast a fully assembled engine (minues the carbs of course). Any advantage to blasting the frame this way? The company I spoke to quoted the frame and engine for $125.00. Does that sound cheap?

[Steve F]

The price isn't bad, considering all the time it takes.  I personally have not had anything soda blasted, but have seen the end results, and I have to say that everything that was blasted got covered in white powder that has to be removed somehow, like washing with water to flush it all away.  This stuff is SOOOOOOO fine it gets into everything, even behind seals and such.

[bert96]

I did my carbs with soda with very good result.

[big blue]

I had my frame soda blasted and powder coated. I was impressed with the ability to control how much material you could remove. It doesn't do so well on mild to heavy rust, so I would make sure that is all clean. The gentleman who did it had a aluminum soda can on his desk that had no printing on it and was a smooth as if it was just sanded with 600 grit, just to demonstrate the control of the media. The price is stellar. I would jump on it.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

I also hear that soda blasting won't leave grit behind that could get into the engine and raise hell with oil passages and baring surfaces.

[Bob Wessner]

I also hear that soda blasting won't leave grit behind that could get into the engine and raise hell with oil passages and baring surfaces.

I'm not sure this is entirely true. The residue, though fine, is a, perhaps softer grit, but is soluble in water and can be washed away. I'm not sure the same is true in oil or other distillates, so some care might still be necessary about where it ends up.

[manther]

I know nothing. about it. I only got interested in it because of the idea of not having to tear down my engine. But if its so fine that its gonna get behind all the seals and tappetts and everything anyway... Then the point is lost I guess.

[mcuozzo]

Yes that is cheap.  I've been quoted $150 to blast my blast my frame with coal slag.  Soda is more expensive and time consuming.

I have a blasting cabinet myself and have done both coal slag blasting and soda blasting.  The soda will not take away any significant rust.  The slag will.  The soda won't damage delicate parts.  The slag will.  So if your bike has any rust or other stubborn stains\pitting the soda might not help.  Taking the paint off the aluminum can is like a parlor trick.  Its relatively fresh paint on a smooth non rusted surface.

That being said, if your frame/engine aren't too rusty or stained soda can work well.  Also if he's using soda at a higher pressure, he still might be able to get off some rust etc.  If the seals are all good, the soda shouldn't get past them, but you have to make sure that any possible hole is plugged. 

[manther]

The sprayer he will be using is probaby high pressue. Its a company that usually does industrial contracts for oil companies. Big tanks and stuff. He says they have done a few car restoration projects though. He acted like a bike frame and engine would be small potatoes. So I imagine he'd likely blast he heck out of it.

[Bodi]

I had some steel bike stuff (CB77 side panels and tool box) soda blasted. These had no rust but the paint was terrible, they came out looking new (except new ones are primed, not bare metal). The soda is completely water soluble so after a soak there's no grit left behind. You could maybe also get non-soluble stuff formerly coating the engine forced behind seals, but I dunno about that.
Someone with a mobile soda blasting rig was using a nearby parking lot to blast clean a corvette body and I just asked him to do my little parts, $10.00 I think.

The next level cleaner is dry ice blasting, leaving zero abrasive residue.

[Steve F]

I had my engine blasted with plastic media, and wrote about this in the past in this thread:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=3134.0

[manther]

I had my engine blasted with plastic media, and wrote about this in the past in this thread:
http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=3134.0

Hmm yeah plastic could work too. Probably not as fine as soda.