I found sand blasting aluminum prior to powder coating is a big no-no.

[jimcarry]

Originally Posted by Banditperformance

So, you can't post a link to a product that Caswell doesn't sell, yet will greatly help out someone in the PC world

A product and a Company name are two different things. There are sections in this forum to request Caswells to sell something we could all use and this is the proper way to do things.
A forum owned by any other Company would not want Caswells name posted all over there forum.

[mtumbleson]

Originally Posted by tnc

Man, and here I thought every powder coater knew you are not supposed to use glass beads on items you want to powder. Glass beads do not even create a good profile so why use them? This kind of stuff should be explained to you when you purchase you first powder gun. Just because someone else lived when they jumped off that bridge don`t mean you will! RESEARCH!

Perhaps your just smarter than everyone else here.

How about you provide links to this information that you say is readily available...

[tnc]

Originally Posted by mtumbleson

Perhaps your just smarter than everyone else here.

How about you provide links to this information that you say is readily available...

Sorry if I came off the wrong way when writing that. It was more having a go at the sellers of the equipment than the coater. To get the best adhersion you want some type of profile which glass beads will not give you. They smooth out the surface instead of dig into it. Glass bead also tends to embed it self on the substrate and that is why even though you have used shop air on the part to clean after blasting it still has glass on the part causing the imperfections in the powder. As I wrote earlier this should be explained to people when they purchase powder equipment. Good Luck to ya!

[ninjinja]

Just wondering if anyone has ever tried sodium blasting... this was suggested to me by an autobody teacher that I know

[fastopel]

Thanks guys and gals for all the info on blasting aluminum. I just started in the PC process and this fourm is GREAT! Now on to the point of Blasting aluminum products. I build very high horsepower small block chevys ie.2.5 hp per cid at 10,000rpm and I use crushed walnut shells on the pistons then bake them in the oven to burn off any residue left then rinse with min spirits. The shells are less intrusive to the aluminum especially in the ring lan area and remove the carbon fast and easy. The other medias will get imbeded in the pistons and cause friction and particals in the oil thus reducing the life of the engine. So I believe the same process for PC will work. Thanks for letting me put my two cents worth in and hope it helps someone else. fastopel

[corecoatings]

I had some similar results when I put 125 psi black beauty to some aluminum pieces pits pops. This clears up the mystery.

[uricad]

Originally Posted by mtumbleson

The angle of the gun does make sense. I do hold the gun mostly at 90* when blasting, which could have been the problem. But, I never new any better until now.

I am curious about using other media, it would be interesting to see if the same thing happened with other media using the same technique.

As I mentioned earlier most of what I PC comes off my mill, so really what I'm doing is de-burring and cleaning up the machining marks, so there isn't any heavy deposits to remove. I do have a process down that gives me acceptable finishes but I would like to cut down on the time spent cleaning up the parts, as it's my least favorite thing to do.

I also usually blast at 45deg. It seems to work much better then 90, -Seems to "slice" through stuff.

[MattSTi]

Originally Posted by ninjinja

Just wondering if anyone has ever tried sodium blasting... this was suggested to me by an autobody teacher that I know

It's not what everyone says... We feel that Aluminum oxide works much better.

A guy brought down an older corvette frame swearing by baking soda as it won't warp the fiberglass body. After he saw the different in AO and BS, he took his baking soda back home haha

[MattSTi]

Originally Posted by corecoatings

I had some similar results when I put 125 psi black beauty to some aluminum pieces pits pops. This clears up the mystery.

125 PSI?

[MattSTi]

double post..