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Stripping

Donny said:
Don't even try to blast it yourself. Media Blasting is not for the hobbyist. To do it right, you need some heavy duty expensive equipment and facility.
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Whats so difficult about it that a hobbyist can't blast a car? I only blasted one car in trade school. Not a pro by any stretch, but it was pretty easy I thought. We used plastic media.

Also we used the razor blades on doors and they actually worked quite well. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
 
i agree, i went to trade school as well, did a lot of blasting. It really shouldn't make too much of a difference
 
Ok. Have at it! The older I get, the more I want to put a square peg in the square hole, hire a plumber to fix my pipes, woodworker to fix/build my furniture, etc. There's so many variables to weigh when media blasting, anyone who thinks its an easy task, by all means, continue to think this way. I am always learning new ways, new techniques, procedures, and methods to make the end result better, faster, and using less material and electricity. But, I've re-done several amateur blasting jobs, and will do several more. For some visual proof, go to my site, and under Muscle Rod Shop tab, look for The Other Guy 73 Challenger file(s) and look at what was done by one of these so-called, and self labeled experts.
 
Donny, nobody has debated your ability. It's you who doubt everyone else's. There was a time when you knew not one damn thing about blasting. I certainly have learned a lot from your posts and I appreciate them very much, but there's no need to come off like you're the only one in the world who can do a good job at it. It's just not true. If that's the case, then I guess I better let somebody else build my next engine since I'm not a professional engine builder. Maybe I should hire out somebody to screw my wife since I'm not a professional gigolo. I've been building engines almost thirty years. As for my wife, we've been married over 18 years, so I must stroke that thang purdy good. See how stupid that sounds using your mentality?
 
Its tricky how appearances show up thru a keyboard and screen. Often, misunderstandings happen. I guess my attitude is a bit dismissive of the DIY'ers. But, its a long tenured attitude that the best way -- and only way is getting your stuff media blasted. Too often good paint is layed down on a poor surface, where its good enough in the eyes of the person who's doing a totally new adventure; thus, the hobbyist blaster. Its so easy to F up panels, doors, flat skinned surfaces, and there is really no voice out there to guide the guy diving in. I never saw anything as a judgement on me, just a lack of [I don't know, respect] towards the given pro in his/her field. But, as I said earlier, good luck.
 
fatecaptured said:
Whats so difficult about it that a hobbyist can't blast a car? I only blasted one car in trade school. Not a pro by any stretch, but it was pretty easy I thought. We used plastic media.

Also we used the razor blades on doors and they actually worked quite well. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
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Like I stated in my previous post "Not a pro by any stretch". That being said, I did get an A in autobody and a high B in refinishing. I'm not in the industry do to things not of my control. I do however weld and have built 100k farm machinery with tape measures, squares and simple jigging. Lots of C clamps. I've also programmed 100k robotic weld cells/ But i'm not gonna say yal can't weld patch panels on ur cars with a 110 mig even though I prefer a much larger machine.
 
...and please know I completely respect that you do it for a living. And I no doubt believe you are probably one of if not the best. I'ver looked at your site. Seen your work here. It's fantastic. But my guess is 75% or more of the people on this board cannot afford you. Not that you're too expensive. You're that good, I'm sure of it. But most people don't have two or three thousand dollars to plunk down all in one shot. Dismissive. That's a good word. I was gonna say condescending.......but I really don't think you mean it that way. It's what you do for a living. You're proud of it. You damn well should be. You're the best I've ever seen. And you sharing advice is doubly appreciated since you do it for a living. I wasn't trying to be disrespectful with my comments. Just trying to get you to see that having something professionally done is not in everybody's reach and it's not always necessary. If I was local to you, I would be recommending you right and left. Even though somebody could do it cheaper, it's a lot of trouble buyin all the stuff, gettin the car on a rotisserie or on sawhorses....or whatever. You have the equipment and knowhow all in one spot. That's certainly worth something.
 
Donny said:
Its tricky how appearances show up thru a keyboard and screen. Often, misunderstandings happen. I guess my attitude is a bit dismissive of the DIY'ers. But, its a long tenured attitude that the best way -- and only way is getting your stuff media blasted. Too often good paint is layed down on a poor surface, where its good enough in the eyes of the person who's doing a totally new adventure; thus, the hobbyist blaster. Its so easy to F up panels, doors, flat skinned surfaces, and there is really no voice out there to guide the guy diving in. I never saw anything as a judgement on me, just a lack of [I don't know, respect] towards the given pro in his/her field. But, as I said earlier, good luck.
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Well I was busy typing my 1WPM and did't see your comment back. No offense taken. And I agree, you do good work Donny.
 
I'd agree to a point on both sides....I have my own #100 blaster and have blasted plenty of stuff over the years...But, that's all limited to smaller stuff, not a whole car. Just to run what I have gives my 80GaL compressor one hell of a work out, and if I didn't have a decent air drying system and decent air/water/oil system before that (along with traps), no way would I even be able to do that. The last part I blasted was a K-Frame, took two hours, took up a 25' X 25' area of my drive way and created a BFMess. So.....$700 compressor, $400 Desiccant system, $250 air/oil/water system, $200 in copper lines, valves and fittings, $50 decent hose, over $100 in media, $350 dollar blaster, $100 respirator and all the labor and time on top of that. Boils down to having about $2000 invested to spend 2 hours to clean a K-Frame. Good thing I didn't put this system together to blast cars because I would have been wasting my money. It would take hours and hours and hours to do that. Honestly wire wheels or a sander would go a heck of a lot quicker.

So if you wanted to blast a car yourself as a hobbyist...It's definitely possible. You will definitely need a system a lot bigger than mine to actually be efficient, more space than me, and the skills to properly blast automotive sheetmetal to go along with it. Blasting creates heat, different media's create different friction thus variables between them in heat, different pressures create a difference in heat, distance creates a difference in friction/heat...even the angle of the gun changes it all up. Main thing to worry about here.....Heat! It warps...and if you don't know how to balance all of that skill/knowledge together, you will end up with warped panels, guaranteed!(hoods, decklids and roofs especially). Seen it happen many times.

I guess the meat and potato's of my Paul Harvey Story is.....I think the hobbyist can do it, but by the time he spends all the money on buying the equipment and consumables, finding the space and takes all the time and effort to learn, well......I think you would have graduated from being a hobbyist in media blasting to more semi-pro. If it's something you're looking to invest a bunch of money and time in because down the road there's more cars to come, go for it! If you're thinking of your one car, does it really make a whole lot of sense to blow a ton of lute, try to find the space, deal with the friggin mess and possibly jack up the good OEM metal on your car? Probably not. In real life, if your restoring a car, needing a real resurrection....you're going to spend a ton to do it right..Not half-assing it is going to cost you around 20-30K just to do it yourself, and thats on a good day. Does it make sense to spend another 5-10K for a halfway decent media system that could possibly get you by, when if you took the car to a media blaster, you'd spend 1.5-2K for a professional job?

I honestly don't think Donny see's himself on some high cloud or it's literally impossible for anyone else to do, I think the guys just being realistic. Sure he can be a bit stout on things...Maybe some of that is from being prior Army (sorry-had to), but I think the main reason is he's dealt with a lot of hobbyists that thought their 60 gallon Lowe's compressor along with their cobble job plumbing and lack of skill could wip out a blasted car on a lazy Sunday. Now the cars in his shop, the customers already pissed because he torched half the metal on his car and spent three days doing it. On top of that, the guys broke from trying to patch together a sub-standard system and he's even more pissed because Donny doesn't want anything to do with his low ball offers.

You want to buy something useful for restoring your car that blasts.....Go buy a decent booth/cabinet blaster. Don't take half the equipment to run or the skill and you will use it a Tooooooooonnnnn more than any large media blasting equipment.
 
Good points ya'll, yeah, I was in the Army Prop, haha, good one! I wish I could get 3k per car, but, that's not realistic. The costs for set up and equipment; try these numbers vs. the ones you indicated:

"$700 compressor, $400 Desiccant system, $250 air/oil/water system, $200 in copper lines, valves and fittings, $50 decent hose, over $100 in media, $350 dollar blaster, $100 respirator and all the labor and time on top of that."

$17,000.00 compressor, $400 Desiccant system (not needed when you've got a screw air compressor) $250 air/oil/water system, (Same) $2000 in copper (rubber and plastic) lines, valves and fittings, $11.00 per foot for a decent hose, over $1300 in media, $13,500.00 dollar blaster, $15,000 for a dust collector, $750.00 respirator and all the labor and time on top of that (about 8 hrs for a complete car shell -- blasting time)

See where doing it right is not a hobbyist venture? If anyone wants to come and get their hobbyist 'fix', bring your stuff to blast, I'll charge you $75.00 an hour to blast your own stuff (I pay for supplies and electricity), you sign away an indemnity form removing me from any liabilities whereas you may try to hold me responsible for damages, or injuries to yourself while getting your fix on...do this for about 2-3 cycles of blasting (emptying the pot) and filling it back up again, while slinging a 20 lb hose in an environment that is prone to hurt you if you're not deliberate in every move you make as you're all bundled up in a space suit with a helmet on, dusty, hoses everywhere on the floor, you never have enough light, every move you make is deliberate, lest you fall and really get hurt. Come on down, really, I don't say this smugly or snidely, or with a passive aggressive tone...I think I may be onto something here...See, another idea just got hatched by talking to you all! I think I'm going to run with this idea...and make something of it. Gotta get back to work, cheers!
 
All this over how to strip paint ....

i'm editing this post because it just wasn't worth the hot air.
 
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I'd go with what Donny says. He does it all day long, all year long.
Many have opinions, rarely is opinion based in experiance and totally factual. I have and use a home blaster and use it for small parts. Never would I try to do a complete car with a home set up.
Look at it like this It is like puff can paint VS a spray rig in a booth.
Yes there are some things anyone can do with enough deterimanation, patience and a bit of skill. There are other things that take more than that.
Your first question probably should be do you want a home job or a professional job.
If good enough is... good enough and if that will do ...will do.
Go for it
BUT
If good enough...is'nt and that will do...won't
Go with a pro
You have the pros and cons.
 
Its all about trade-offs. Do I want to post some piss language and piss someone off, nah, good luck on it though! Don't shy away from posting pics!
 
I was hoping we could all get back to the original post.............Stripping


elite-daily-stripper-pole-girl.jpg
 
I wasn't trying to get in a pissing match with anyone either. Just saying you don't have to invest in a body shop to get a professional looking body and paint job. Guys have painted cars with oxygen bottles and just a regulator. Hell that sounds expensive, but not really. Nice clean dry air.No $400 driers and water separators or 13k compressors. Now if he painted several cars, then an air compressor is a no brainer.

Also for stripping, a razor blade can do a good job stripping paint. If its pitted or rusted it'll have to be replaced anyway. So why spend the money to have it blasted?

Hell most repaints can be done over the original paint. Nothing is a better protectant than the original barrier anyways. Why expose the metal to the elements if you don't need to? But repaints are looked at like some evil design by the devil.

People think they have to spend 30k on a resto or its not worthy. Well I guess I should get out of the hobby if thats the case.
 
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