I took your advice and bought a Harbor Freight sandblasting cabinet

With our ongoing series restoring mountain bikes, repainting and finishing individual parts has been a time consuming process. With a sandblasting cabinet, we can totally rip the paint off of whatever we want in minutes! It was in the last bike hacks video that some commenters suggested this product, and you can't beat it for the cost.

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[ke]

For anyone who does DIY projects, I couldn't help but smile when the cabinet hit the bench top. I can relate. All you can do is laugh and figure out a hack to make it work.

[FixMyElement]

I relate so hard when you said “I’ve owned this for 24 hours so naturally I’ve sandblasted everything i own” 😂

[micmclane]

For soft metals, instead of sand, use Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate, you know, baking soda). Can buy "industrial grade" bags of it darn cheap, and it won't roughen up your finish so bad

[elitheguy]

As an individual who basically sandblasts everyday (part of the job) I recommend a few upgrades to the harbor freight cabinet.

First, silicone all the seams
Second a steel pickup tube
Third a gun with a tungsten carbide nozzle
Check out McMaster Carr or a local abrasives distributor.

Get rid of that 80g aluminum oxide in favor of 120g or finer. (Especially for bike parts)
“Glass bead #8” will give a bright satin surface finish

And ground cherry pits can remove paint from carbon fiber without damaging the carbon. 🤔🤯

Enjoy your new toy.

[crt]

I can totally picture seth becoming a hermit in his garage and all he does is sandblast obscure bike parts

[themechanicaladvantage]

[Mechanical Design Engineer] Most chainrings are a 6061-T6 Aluminum, which are Type II sealed anodized after machining. Anodization is a plating process to prevent surface oxidation (corrosion) of the Aluminum. Most common color for anodization is black, but you can anodize in a huge variety of colors. When you blast the parts you are both removing this surface plating and changing the surface roughness of the part to varying extents depending on your blasting medium. Most bicycle chains are a carbon steel (much harder than aluminum). So the new aluminum surface will wear down to a smooth interface over time, but for a short time will add slightly more wear to the new chain during the break-in period - after installing the new chainring, clean the chain and sprockets excessively to remove the aluminum particulate being created to minimize wear. During blasting take caution not to excessively wear the teeth - they will be interfacing with the chain anyway and you want maximum engagement between the teeth on the sprocket and the chain to reduce uneven loading (which could lead to breakage in the chain). After blasting you will need a new surface treatment to prevent surface oxidation. Common "at home" methods might be powder coating or painting, However neither of these are a chemical bond, to they will be more prone to chipping/flaking during use. A very mild surface texture will actually help the powdercoating/painting from chip-out. Hope that helps. - J.

[thumpthedump]

Pro tip: line the inside of the viewing window with plastic wrap to keep it from abrading.

[t.s.racing]

PRO TIP : when you're finished blasting, pull the gloves inside out and let them hang down on the outside of the cabinet. They will last twice as long and it's kinda gross sticking your hands back into soggy rotting gloves. You're welcome 😊

[MS-bwyt]

As an engineer I wouldn't recommend sand blasting structural parts or hardened surfaces. Sand blasting is great for insensitive parts for quick and visually pleasing results. But especially on soft metals like aluminium you can remove a non insignificant amount of material quite quickly. Additionally, the rough surface weakens the corrosions resistance and mechanical properties further. In rebuilds and restoration off high end cars and chassis we use dry ice blasting or professional chemical paint stripping. That being sad, you can get softer sodium bicarbonate or nutshell particles which are great for cleaning parts without being too harsh even on softer surfaces.

[mp__media]

Hi, Seth, here is a tip for you: If you are sandblasting a metal part and you want to make it black/matte black you can use bluing liquid and it works flawlessly. It also saves weight, because you are not really painting, but you are oxidizing (not rusting) the metal, and it also prevents rusting :)

[LegaultSimon]

Hey Seth, try GLASS BEADS if you can get some. For restoring, deep cleaning and restoring parts. Won’t etch the metal like sandblast with coarse grit. I am a dental technician and we use both for different purposes in the lab. You would have to clean the bin each time though, or buy a second blaster. The other option, poor man’s cleaning medium is baking soda!

[athom]

4:50 Toolmaker here. Ideally after a sanding like that we usually put parts in a wet deburr machine, that's basically just a tumbler that cycles your parts in wet and soapy small stones, for a few hours to both soften the finish from the sanding and to give it a final clean. After that they're given a quick dip in regular water, to clean off the soaps, and an anti-rust mixture to keep the parts nice for longer.

[pyrobabyyoda]

Not exactly what I thought I would be watching today, but as always you have your way of making it entertaining!

[BigDanSubaru]

Most people answered this already but here are two tips.
1. Use walnut shell media to strip surface rust without damaging more delicate metals.
2. Get a dust-buster cyclone attachment that fits on a 5 gallon bucket. They sell them at home depot and it will save your shop vac from being clogged up with sand blasting media. It acts as a dust separator and it makes a big difference.

[MrSevinator]

Hi Seth, try to hit the surface in an angle of 45° instead of 90°. It’ll take of the paint better without damaging the surface underneath it. If you want a (kind of) shiny finish you can use glas beads. At least that’s what I use as a dental technician and dentist for cleaning up different alloys. Cheers from Germany!

[growlith]

Different blast media is as varied as the tools on your wall. You can use different sands, glass beads, walnut shell, baking soda, etc etc etc. Blasting is really well known for creating heat and extreme warping in thin metals. You by mistake used the perfect test for that which is the soda can test. These days wet blasting (called dustless blasting) is used a lot for car sheet metal so that it doesn't ruin the sheet metal. It's a mixture of crushed glass (Not much different than sand) and water shot from a special machine. If you want to get really crazy you can remove rust and corrosion with a special laser, very fun videos to watch.

[stevencase]

note to self never sandblast your nuts unless you plan on spending alot of time polishing them after

[michaelvilogi]

We had a sandblaster in my highschool metal shop class. I used to use it to sandblast parts all the time. I sandblaster my FBM sprocket and it came out just like yours. And yes, the teeth smoothed out from the chain in no time. Worked great, looked swift. Enjoy!

[InformatrIIcks]

The raceface chainrings are made out of aluminium, which is a soft metal.
In order to not wear out, they are "Hard anodized", which gives them a metallic look as well as a very hard and durable surface.
By sandblasting it, you've just removed that hard anodized layer, making that chainring completely useless.

I would not recommend sandblasting parts that have functionnal surfaces. If a surface has a mechanical use, it is probably the way it is for a reason.
You can mask off the part you don't want to touch with tape, that works pretty well.
Exemples of functionnal surfaces : bearing seats, threads, the parts that touch the chain of the chainrings, precise holes (through axles, pivot bolts etc) ...

[jackkielty]

I too have a HF sandblasting cabinet that I have found to be indispensable for cleaning up small parts and here's a few observations: 1. The HF sandblasting cabinet that I bought fits perfectly on top of a Craftsman rollaway tool box bottom- no need to build a separate stand for it or take up valuable bench space with it. 2. Dust collection is a must- I use a smallish barrel top dust collector which not only evacuates the cabinet from the blast dust for both health and visibility issues but also eliminates the need for periodically replacing the clear plastic window shield. 3. While there is a provision for lighting the inside of the cabinet I found it a whole lot easier to rig a two bulb halogen shop light on the top of the cabinet; having a bright light makes it easier to see all the parts of the work piece that you missed!