Soda blasting Questions

[akcender]

What should be avoided when soda blasting? Will the soda eat away any of the machined surfaces?

 

[socalmike_cb72]

What should be avoided when soda blasting? Will the soda eat away any of the machined surfaces?

That's the beauty with soda, it doesn't eat away at the metal and is safe to use on an engine. It also dissolves in water if you wash it off after. (I just use compressed air)

Also I think it's not as harmful as other blasting media out there.

 

[akcender]

That's the beauty with soda, it doesn't eat away at the metal and is safe to use on an engine. It also dissolves in water if you wash it off after. (I just use compressed air)

Also I think it's not as harmful as other blasting media out there.

So theres no need to mask off mating surfaces and bearing races and stuff like that, it wont hurt them at all?

 

[Bert Jan]

nope, you're good to go soda is softer then metals.

 

[o1marc]

It's not the best media for removing rust though.

 

[mydlyfkryzis]

Just rinse well when done. Soda is alkaline and will corrode aluminum over time.....but not erode it...

 

[akcender]

Just rinse well when done. Soda is alkaline and will corrode aluminum over time.....but not erode it...

Will the rinsing start rust on needle bearings, theyre in fine condition and i dont want to take them out. I suppose i could just take extra care drying them off afterwards.

 

[mydlyfkryzis]

I am not sure why you would be blasting needle bearings. Being greased, they would cause the soda to stick to it and not be very washable.

I would not recommend any "washing" around needle bearings.

Which ones are you talking about?

If possible, tape them off, get no media or dirt on them anyway...

 

[akcender]

I am not sure why you would be blasting needle bearings. Being greased, they would cause the soda to stick to it and not be very washable.

I would not recommend any "washing" around needle bearings.

Which ones are you talking about?

If possible, tape them off, get no media or dirt on them anyway...

Theyre the balancer mechanism needle bearings, i dont have a tool to remove them cleanly so i dont want to try taking them out. I will tape them off as you suggest. Now that i think about it, i could just mask off that whole side of the case and avoid any of the internal parts. Yeah, i think ill do that...