Whaler Central - Boston Whaler Boat Information and Photos

Posted by Karlow on 08/26/10 - 3:03 PM

Have any of you guys tried the Harbor freight soda blaster?
http://www.harborfreight.com/40-lb-portable-soda-blaster-67625.html?utm_term=67625&utm_medium=cse&utm_source=googlebase
I found one at there local store a few days ago. They sell the soda online as well, it might be available at there shops.
If it works you might be able to strip the paint off your hull for about $200. They have them in two sizes too.

Let me know, I might have to pick one up.
Even better, you buy it first and sell it to me when you are done.
I think I will check to see if anyone rents one.

Large area? We are talking about part of the bottom of a 17ft boat. It's maybe 80sqft.

Karl

Edited by Karlow on 08/27/10 - 2:58 PM

Posted by Meridian on 08/26/10 - 7:47 PM

find an old bottom painted piece of junk for practice. It is very easy to get too close or use too much power and put a lot of pin holes in the gel coat.

Posted by dmortimore on 08/27/10 - 10:19 AM

My experience with soda blasting. Three years ago, I wanted the bottom of my Outrage cleaned down to hull - after 9 yrs of painting. A friend had his 'soda blasted' and was horrified with all the 'pit marks;' that were left so I searched and found someone who used 'crushed walnut shells' for blasting. Cost was about 10% more but well worth it - no pitting and no gel-coat damage. I now add a new 'light' coat of paint each year and no problem with it sticking and the hull looks like new.

Posted by Blackduck on 08/27/10 - 10:42 AM

I stripped a Montauk with a small soda blaster in less than a day with one of these small units. It worked just fine, however, air volume is needed. I think 10cfm is a more realistic minimum. There was No damage to the gel coat.

Posted by Karlow on 08/27/10 - 2:55 PM

Did you use one of the harbor Freight units?
How much soda did you need?
The air capacity is a real issue my compressor it will only crank out about half that volume.
How much of a mess did it make? Maybe I can go to a friends house with a better compressor.

Karl

Posted by DWinter on 08/27/10 - 4:03 PM

It makes a mess. Definately do it at a friends house. (smile)I'd put down a tarp at a minimum to catch the soda. You're better off with some type of enclosure. If you have a portable covered canopy, you could enclose that with some blue tarps rather easily. I've seen it done professionally at my local boatyard and was impressed with the results. It wasn't exactly cheap though.

Posted by JohnnyCW on 08/27/10 - 4:12 PM

Media blasting is all about the air compressor. If the compressor doesn't at least meet the blaster's minimum recommendations, your in for a frustrating or at least long experience.

Media blasting requires a lot of air volume. More than most folk's home shop compressors. If you've got a marginally adequate compressor and have a good friend with his own compressor, you can run two compressors connecting their air line to a T fitting then to the blaster. Just make sure to run each compressor on a separate breaker circuit.

Posted by Blackduck on 08/28/10 - 10:33 AM

No, it wasn't a Harbor Freight unit, but one of the same size. It took a couple of bags to do the bottom. It did make a mess, and it kills grass and shrubs. You will need a compressor larger than 6 CFM, that is what I tried first, you will spend a lot of time waiting for the pressure to rebuild.