I had a conversation with my blasting equipment supplier this morning

concerning Soda Blasting.

He was not very up beat about this process.

Every bit of the soda must be removed from the parts that are cleaned because
the soda is basically a salt.(SALT) If any remains on or in the part or
parts, when moisture contacts it, it becomes active and does what salt does
to steel.  A well established blasting company recently was forced out of
business because of damage claims from past customers of cars and engine
parts he had cleaned. Residual soda in seams and pockets etc. which wasn't
totally cleaned from the parts, picked up moisture before being primed and
painted or assembled. It attacked the metal causing damage to parts and
paint . The cost of repairing the damage became so great that the company was
forced to close.

Recommendation:  If you use it, be very very careful about cleaning the parts
after blasting and before using.

Hope this helps someone.

Wally--

Wally, et al, Just as HVLP changed painting, it has changed blasting.
There are alternatives to soda, including plastic media, ground walnut
shells, even talcum powder. Before my friend George sold his blasting
business, I was able to watch all of these media used on a variety of
auto and aircraft parts and furniture. Depending on the media used, you
can remove old paint from a car body, or in my case the tank from an old
Harley, without removing the bondo or filler, remove zinc chromate
primer without damaging the alclad coating on the sheet, or in the case
of fine wood furniture and talcum powder media, remove old varnish
without raising the grain of the wood. Don't let any problems with soda
turn you away from this technology, there's a whole world of blasting
media to explore for cleaning and surface preparation that has been made
possible by HVLP technology.

Rick Girard

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