Hi folks, I've been cleaning scale off exterior work with an angle grinder wire wheel but now I'm looking into buying blasting gear or setting up some acid cleaning area.

 

I've done a bit of research on this site and others about the two different processes but I still don't have a sense of what's more convenient and better to live with.

 

Can anyone give me a comparison of the two process considering things like:

running costs

time efficiency

size of work suited to the processes

convenience of waste acid/blast media disposal

space needed

noise

 

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

1st;  Do you have space to make a dedicated area for blasting. It needs to be a confined area as the grit will travel to the places you didn't know you had places. If you don't, Don't start. Calculate extra in your estimate.

 

2nd; You will NEED A RESPIRATOR!!!!!!!!  An air fed helmut system is not a corner to cut, unless you wish to get LUNG CANCER!!!!!!

 

3rd; There is no perfect system. Acid, you have to deal with the environment problems, as you do with Blasting.

Acid also needs a dedicated space away from your other equipment as the fumes promote rusting like you would not believe!  Say a nice dedicated location two counties away...

Cheers for the pointers. I am looking into the possibility of clearing a space in a disused barn next to my workshop, this would serve as a space for either blasting or pickling.

This is a how long is a ball of string question?

I have both systems , they have upsides and downsides, both are health hazards and need to be taken seriously. How large an item do you want to process? Acids are more costly to set up, but cheaper to run. Acids are more hazardous in the short term, when you make a mistake you know immediately, however if you intend only to pickle in molasses or vinegar you need minimal kit, its cheap and safe, you can accelerate the process by combining it with electrolysis and then powerwashing(works a treat). Immersion tanks, acid heaters, ppe and fume extraction(with scrubbers) cost big time if you intend working with nitric, sulphuric and hydrochloric acids . Also be aware that the moment you buy 20L of nitric acid some of Mr. Plod's mates are going to add your name to the list of 'Persons of interest '. A lot of the hassles associated with sand blasting(large scale) can be negated by adding water and thus 'wet-blasting' just bear in mind that a 10Kw 380V 3ph compressor struggles to continuously feed a reasonable blasting pot. If you don't intend blasting anything bigger than say a 20L bucket then get/make a blasting booth and it gets simple.

When I worked for the swordmaker we blasted all blades after heat treat as we often used very high alloy steels indeed and removing the scale was easiest done with blasting in a cabinet---saved a ton of grinding belts!

When I worked for the swordmaker we blasted all blades after heat treat as we often used very high alloy steels indeed and removing the scale was easiest done with blasting in a cabinet---saved a ton of grinding belts!

 thanks for the tip Thomas

Your decision may also depend on what you primarily are producing. I used to make a lot of repetitive craft items (hooks and such) and I ran a homemade tumbler to clean small pieces. A few pounds of sand and a couple hundred parts tumbling against themselves and the media would clean up nicely. Now, tumbling would not work well with fence pickets unless the process was specifically designed for that purpose - but it's great for small stuff.

I have used acid but experienced occasional problems getting a good "kill" on the process and rust became an issue at a later date. A lot of people use acid successfully but it's more trouble than it's worth for my personal use.

One good solution to the safety questions surrounding sand/bead blasting is to use an enclosed cabinet with an exhaust/filtering system. Your hands are protected and no hazardous fines circulating to wind up in your lungs. I have one that's 30"x48" inside dimensions and it does a good job on anything I can get inside the box.

My concern when I had acid in the shop ,was children and ignorant adults I found not much difference  between the two groups.