When I was a kid, I loved to play in the sand. The sand was soothing and compliant, almost therapeutic. After a day of sand blasting motorcycle parts, I’m starting to reconsider my feelings for sand. Unless you like the taste of industrial silica sand and the droning of an air compressor, sand blasting is no fun. Regardless, I had no choice. Before the paint shop can paint the parts, I needed to blast away the rust and spray them with primer.
The motorcycle frame is too large for a sand blasting cabinet, so I made a sand blasting “booth” by hanging a tarp under the deck. I simply sat inside the booth with the part, put on an old motorcycle helmet I got from a garage sale, and blasted away. After 15 to 20 minutes, I just lifted the tarp to pour the sand into a pile, scooped it up with a shovel and reloaded the blaster. Even with the helmet, the sand got in my hair, my ears, and places I’d rather not discuss.
I was hoping to finish this work in a single weekend, but I can see that it’ll take two weekends to sand blast all the parts. The pictures of the fuel tank below show the progress.
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- My make-shift sand blast booth
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- Fuel tank before sand blasting
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- Loose paint and rust have been removed
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- Primed and ready for wet sanding
