Prep for bead blasting

One of the claims is that once the surface is blasted it's easy to keep clean. I think due to the pours of the metal getting peened during the process. I am thinking the hubs might be a good candidate as the ribbed surface looks like a PITA to keep clean. So any other testimonials out there?

Vapor blasting requires no special preparation. From the operators' point-of-view, that is the prime advantage. Just degrease and disassemble your aluminum parts so that they can go in through the 12 X 12 cabinet door.

Since vaporblast media is so soft it can not damage the machined surfaces and since it is done in cold water, there is no friction, no heat. The water and detergent that carries the glass bead forms a cushion between the impact of the bead and the soft aluminum surface so the beads don't fracture into microscopic glass shards. Bead blasting, on the other hand, is much too aggressive for soft aluminum alloys. Its causes heat, dust, static electricity, and fractured particles which impregnate the metal skin. So not only do you add cost by needing to mask and plug oilways and bearing surfaces, the bead blaster has to spend even more time trying to clean up the glass afterward.

Add up all those savings vaporblasting gives you: less preparation, less clean-up, less material used, and those should offset the cost of transportation to vaporblasting in Willamina Oregon. Now you have a superior process which is cost-competitive with inferior bead blasting. As my ads read: "Vaporblasting is so far superior to any other method, that you can see the difference from thirty feet away!"

I hope this clears up some of the confusion and misinformation about vapor blasting. I'm Jeff at Vaporblasting by Bikesalot

jeffg5485 said:

and those should offset the cost of transportation to vaporblasting in Willamina Oregon.

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Hmmm, 60 miles one way, if I can haul the parts on the bike... :mrgreen:

I don't have the room for a bead blaster so I went out and bought one of Harbor Freight's soda blaster's (under $60.00 on sale). It was the 15 pound one and blasted my cylinder head which the DPO had painted black. It came out great. I put a tarp down on the driveway, put the head in a cardboard box and went to town. Then I put the head in the dishwasher and turned it on with no soap. No residue, no worry about remaining grit. The only thing is I got coated, the driveway got coated, what a mess. I did it on a day when the weather forecasters were calling for rain the next day so 24 hours later no sign. Wear a facemask, gloves and a dust mask though! Didn't mask anything!

Dave

Well, here is my take on blasting.
As far as I am concerned, bead blasting leaves no particles in the metal. Anyone finding bits of bead in their motor ain't cleaned it out properly. You shouldn't need to mask machined areas unless the bead size is too big.
Vapour blasting looks more or less the same as bead blasting.
Anodising or Nickel plating takes nicely on bead blasted al. & copper, so can't be too bad.
I personally don't like the look of blasted cases & prefer to wire brush. Once blasted, the original finish is lost forever.
I only blast any motorcycle part if it is too far gone.
Deglazed a 2 stroke barrel with bead blasting the other day, seemed to have worked well.

There's always caustic soda :shock:

Rich_j said:

There's always caustic soda :shock:

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Is that the new lightweight head for hobot's supercharged project?

How much do you want for it? It's art. Guy must have S%#T when he removed it from the tank, LOL.