Sandblasters are handy to have available to remove paint, rust, surface pollutants from cars, houses, machinery and other surfaces. They’re perfect for cleaning household tools and highly effective for cleaning walkways and concrete surfaces. They can get a bit pricey though! Here’s a very simple way to repurpose a Gatorade bottle and an inexpensive $5 airgun kit into an effective homemade sandblaster.
I have some rust on my driveway and some old rusty tools I got from my grandfather years ago.
I have been looking at sand and soda blasters for about 6 months. They are either inexpensive and cheap or very well made and expensive!
So I decided let’s just make one.
Step 1: Get Crap
Go get some crap at Harbor Freight. This air gun kit ran $4.99.
Now find a bottle in the trash.
Step 2: Cut the Neck
Remove the locking neck for the cap.
Step 3: Drill
Grab a 3/16″ bit and drill the neck just under the cap.
Step 4: Test Fit
Push the air rod in. It should be very snug!
Step 5: Mark
Mark the bottom of the air tube. Spin the tube around so you can hold the handle while you file.
Step 6: File
File a hole through the tube to let your media in. When you’re done spin the tube back so the opening is at the bottom.
Step 7: Fit
Get the tube back into the hole.
Step 8: Seal
Not looking for the glue to actually stick here.
Just looking to prevent the hole from opening up too much while under pressure.
Step 9: Test Blast
Put your Saftey goggles and gloves on and give it a good blast. I shot at the rust on the driveway and removed a spot (the white part) in just a few seconds.
Step 10: Real Deal
An old set of needle nose (rusty as hell…)
Because everyone keeps asking this is my air compressor a California Air Tools 10020c running at about 40 PSI for blasting.
I also use 20/40 crushed walnut for my media.
For PPE I use gloves, a P-100 respirator, long sleeves and a face shield. No excuses! Do not mess with your Safety!
By Withered Perception
Photographer and Aerial Photographer. Proudly Collaborating With HISTORY COLORADO
Instagram: withered_perception
Source: instructables.com/id/DIY-500-Sandblaster
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Another option you can use for small rusty hand tools is to soak them in a mixture of water and citric acid. Citric acid is water soluble, safe to consume, non-toxic, and completely biodegradable. It does sting if you have small cuts on your hands though!
Place the tools you want to de-rust into a small plastic container. A bucket or plastic dishpan works quite well. Add enough hot water to completely cover the rusted tools. Sprinkle 1/2 to 1 cup of citric acid per gallon of water used. Stir until dissolved.
Let the parts soak about an hour, then use a scrub to wipe away the rust. Rinse the tools off, dry them, and then properly oil them with a 3-in-1 oil, which prevents further rust issues.
I was looking for a way to remove the rust from my tools, and I decided to try making my own homemade sandblaster. I found this tutorial online, and it looked pretty straightforward. I gathered the supplies I needed, which cost about $7, and set to work. The homemade sandblaster worked really well! It removed the rust from my tools quickly and easily. Plus, it was a lot of fun to use. I’m definitely going to use it again the next time I need to remove rust from my tools. Thanks for the great tutorial!