Soda Blaster

[nohandels]

I got my Soda blaster yesteday....... I really could not be happy with the engine unless it was pristine when I finished. I am keeping the bike as origonal as possible but the engine is a major part of the beauty of bMW'S. How have you guys restore your engines? I did not find a good way to clean this engine after it sat since 1981?

[dlearl476]

Nothing compares to soda blasting.

[bobh41]

Please tell me more about soda blasting. I am considering buying a bead blasting station to clean my R90. It's a little expensive considering the potential life-time usage.

[crazydrummerdude]

On my list of things to do is to convert a power-washer wand into a soda-blasting wand. All one needs is a hopper to hold the "soda," which can be purchased in bulk on the magical internet. I think it's called "armex," but I can't remember.

Soda blasting is preferred because it isn't as harsh as bead-blasting, and cleans as it blasts.

[bobh41]

I was thinking of bead blasting the cases "off the bike". Is your soda "wet"? (I can't imagine sucking it up with a power washer unless it is). Do you do this on the bike as regular maintenance? How much soda?

Thanks for the info.

[HODAG]

as someone that looks at printing presses and years of flinging inks I am amazed at what a soda cleaner/blaster does

[nohandels]

I was thinking of bead blasting the cases "off the bike". Is your soda "wet"? (I can't imagine sucking it up with a power washer unless it is). Do you do this on the bike as regular maintenance? How much soda?

Thanks for the info.

http://www.ace-sandblasting.com/soda-blasting.html
Here is the link to the soda blaster I bought. I tried it last night and WOW! did the casting ever look nice.
Can't wait to get the whole engine and trans finished.
It's very easy to use, the soda is dry and granular in form. Once it hits the surface it becomes very fine powder. ( A little messy in the work shop) I will put up a containment curtain before I finish and put my power vent in the basement window to pick up the free floating dust.
All and all I can't imagine how many hours I would have spent cleaning up the castings if I had finished it with the process I started with.
One more thing they say to just wash off the residue with water but I think I would rather just blow it off with an air hose. I tried both way and found them to be equally effective. I believe this is the bast way to clean up your bike since there is no alreration to the surface like bead blasting does'
For the record my bike is torn down to the bear frame and I am doing a complete restoration, with acception I am leaving the paint origonal . As far as using it for regular maintainance I would mask off and plug anything I didn't want to hit with the soda.
I have one other question? Do any of you use any kind of a silicone product to help keep the casting looking good?

[PAULBACH]

If you want a raft of new friends and love from the old ones

1. Buy a pick-up truck

2. Buy a soda blaster.

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthre...light=blasting

[crazydrummerdude]

I was thinking of bead blasting the cases "off the bike". Is your soda "wet"? (I can't imagine sucking it up with a power washer unless it is). Do you do this on the bike as regular maintenance? How much soda?

Thanks for the info.

From what I remember, it can be used wet or dry. You just want to watch out for your paint (like with any blasting).

[dlearl476]

From what I remember, it can be used wet or dry. You just want to watch out for your paint (like with any blasting).

It depends on your blaster. The ace is dry. AFAIK, you can add soda to certain pressure washers, but that's half-way between plain pressure washing and soda blasting. I'm sure you'd have to buy a special tip for the blaster, a normal pressure washer one would clog, I think. The soda blaster tips are ceramic, so they don't "erode." Well, they do anyway over time.

FWIW, I bought a Harbor Freight sand blast cabinet that I'm going to use, as most of the things I'll soda blast will be small enough to fit inside. (carb parts, wheel hubs, engine cases, etc) For lager stuff, I'll just haul the blaster out to my back yard and have at it. One of the plusses of soda is it's water soluble, non-toxic, and bio-degradable.

[dlearl476]

If you want a raft of new friends and love from the old ones

1. Buy a pick-up truck

2. Buy a soda blaster.

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthre...light=blasting

I'm waiting for my electrician friend to install 240V in my garage. When I do, I'm bringing my big compressor* home from work and installing the HF cabinet, soda blaster, etc. in my garage.

THEN, I'm hanging out my shingle.

*The one drawback to the blasting is you need a pretty sizable compressor to use it effectively.

[ISAMEMON]

for us small folks, the harbor freight one does great, 50 bucks
look here in the search forums, and yull find out tons of info and suppliers on soda blasting

[nohandels]

for us small folks, the harbor freight one does great, 50 bucks
look here in the search forums, and yull find out tons of info and suppliers on soda blasting

Are you saying that you can use soda in a sand blaster? If so then I could have save 200 bucks. Oh well, if so I guess I should have asked first.