What have you done in your garage in the `last several weeks

Bert Poliakoff

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I rebuilt my Harbor Freight bead blast cabinet by going to the best supplier in town and buying a high end gun with a carbide tip sized to my compressor along with some quality medium. The medium was twice as much in quantity and the same price as HF. I also built a more intensive dust collection system. It works so well I am finding anything I have squirreled away to blast It is finally doing what it supposed to
 

JFENG

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Bert,
what medium did you buy? The Harbor freight glass bead is a bit on the aggressive side most of the time.
 

adawil2002

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I have detailed all 8 of my BMWs twice.

Refinished 3 tables, built a base for a set of "Barrister" style book cases. Cleaned & recleaned the floor. Repaired signs, drilled signs, mounted signs on the wall. Thinking of removing all the art, pictures, signs, steering wheels then tape, mud, sand & paint. Lastly trim out the windows. It's only been 13 years.
 

Bert Poliakoff

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Bert,
what medium did you buy? The Harbor freight glass bead is a bit on the aggressive side most of the time.
I am using #80 garnet and am very happy with it. Reason being is it pretty much gives the same finish as glass but doesn't break down as fast
 

JayWltrs

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I have detailed all 8 of my BMWs twice.

Refinished 3 tables, built a base for a set of "Barrister" style book cases. Cleaned & recleaned the floor. Repaired signs, drilled signs, mounted signs on the wall. Thinking of removing all the art, pictures, signs, steering wheels then tape, mud, sand & paint. Lastly trim out the windows. It's only been 13 years.

I've done loads of this type of "thinking," so I'm glad that counts.
 

JFENG

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I am using #80 garnet and am very happy with it. Reason being is it pretty much gives the same finish as glass but doesn't break down as fast
Great, I found garnet to be just a tad harsh vs glass bead when cleaning aluminum parts but it is great on steel. I’ve heard I should follow up with soft walnut shells or plastic media (on aluminum) to smooth out the rough surface which remains after blasting with hard mineral media. Apparently wet slurry blasting is the best for cast aluminum, but the systems are too much $$$ for a hobbyist like me.
 

HB Chris

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I think the wet slurry is what we call vapor honing as it is a mix of water and media. I did this on the e12 intake manifolds and it came out brighter than media tumbling which I prefer but the finish is excellent. I shot matte clear ceramic to bring the shine back to original in appearance. I had removed all of the engine components when I got hit with the Covid so the e12 sat in the driveway for two weeks but it was excellent therapy when I got better and I was able to put it all back together.
 

dang

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Although I have plans to rebuild the whole building, in the meantime I added some extra lights to one of the garages and outfit it so my son can work on his project car. A Jr Man cave if you will. I'm moving a bunch of my cars down to the yard soon and his will finally get worked on. 1969 2002 with an M20/5spd, turbo flares and air dam. It's been sitting way too long.

IMG_20200518_185329271.jpg
 

Markos

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I think the wet slurry is what we call vapor honing as it is a mix of water and media. I did this on the e12 intake manifolds and it came out brighter than media tumbling which I prefer but the finish is excellent. I shot matte clear ceramic to bring the shine back to original in appearance. I had removed all of the engine components when I got hit with the Covid so the e12 sat in the driveway for two weeks but it was excellent therapy when I got better and I was able to put it all back together.

I sold a vapor honed valve cover to @Luis A. My findings on that were that it wasn’t quite aggressive enough to get a few deep pitting areas. It could have been lack oversight by the operator though. Agreed with @HB Chris that it does look much less cloudy than any type of dry media.

I mentioned Luis because he noted that there was some glass residue on the underside of the cover. Not something you want in your drivetrain. Thankfully Luis knows what he is doing, expected it, and is taking care of it.
 

HB Chris

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I don’t think it deals with deep scratches, just leaves a nice natural surface, just a bit bright. When I tumbled the b35 oil pan I had to get it ultrasonically cleaned or I could have had issues. With the valve cover it’s pretty easy to clean out that breather cover with carb cleaner, skinny brushes and compressed air.
 
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