Vapor Blasting first impressions

[canuck750]

My Vapor Blast Cabinet arrived from Vapor Honing Technologies in North Carolina this week. Simple to set up, plug in the 110V outlet, fill the hopper with clean water then add 20 lbs of #7 glass bead, hook up the wash wand hose to a water connection and then plug the air line into an air compressor. Flip the switch for the LED light and then depress the foot pedal and I am in business.

This is the Weekend Warrior model, it retails for $2K plus a couple bucks more for a foot pedal and an interior rinse hose.





First impression.... this thing is amazing. 

Its quick and it leaves a very nice finish. The only thing I need to get set up a little better is the upper drain valve, the cabinet is designed to hold water only to the height of the drain valve but the interior wash wand dumps a lot of water into the cabinet during rinsing and the excess water needs to be drained off regularly. Its only a matter of setting a 5 gallon pail under the drain valve and opening the valve to drain off the excess water. I had to drain the water off every 10 minutes.

Before



After a couple minutes





these cylinders had ben previously acid washed, which got the parts pretty clean

On the left is the vapor blasted part, acid washed only on the right





Carb on the left was cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner with a specific carb cleaning solution, vapor blasted on the right, the vapor blasted part looks like new



It's not cheap but it spares me from using acid to clean engine parts and the cabinet is large enough to fit a wheel inside.

[Hymes Inc.]

  Always liked vapor blasting but alas I'm monetarily challenged.

[smdl]

Looks great, Jim!  Now you have me thinking about one of these...

Cheers,
Shaun

[canuck750]

Looks great, Jim!  Now you have me thinking about one of these...

Cheers,
Shaun

No one is offering this service in Alberta that I know of, the closest is in Chilliwack BC. there is the shipping back and forth and the costs quickly add up to clean an engine, transmission etc. I found a write up for this manufacturer on the Laverda Forum, same Weekend Warrior unit the guy bought at Barber's, it was a demo model and he really raved about it.

I sat on the fence for a year but after the last acid wash I think my respirator acid cartridges were getting weak and I got pretty sick from the fumes. Life's too short to risk another poisoning and I have a line up of bikes to restore and I will offer cleaning for the local vintage bike guys for a nominal fee to help soften the outlay.

Check out the Vapor Honing Technologies you tube videos, they clean carbs, crank shafts, pistons, blocks, etc... pretty amazing results.

[fotoguzzi]

that is cool, your in the business now! if I ever need a blast I'm sending parts to you..

[smdl]

No one is offering this service in Alberta that I know of, the closest is in Chilliwack BC. there is the shipping back and forth and the costs quickly add up to clean an engine, transmission etc. I found a write up for this manufacturer on the Laverda Forum, same Weekend Warrior unit the guy bought at Barber's, it was a demo model and he really raved about it.

I sat on the fence for a year but after the last acid wash I think my respirator acid cartridges were getting weak and I got pretty sick from the fumes. Life's too short to risk another poisoning and I have a line up of bikes to restore and I will offer cleaning for the local vintage bike guys for a nominal fee to help soften the outlay.

Check out the Vapor Honing Technologies you tube videos, they clean carbs, crank shafts, pistons, blocks, etc... pretty amazing results.

Makes sense, Jim.  Will consider for after I have moved.

Cheers,
Shaun

[tris]

Education please Chaps.

I thought that vapour blasting didn't have an abrasive media and the advantage was that you didn't have any bits of grit, glass to get out of the nooks and crannies of the blasted object

So, is the difference actually that glass bead blasting is done dry and this is done wet?

[Huzo]

Spectacular by the looks of things. I'm doing a Mk 2 and reckon I might pull the trigger based on what you've done.

[Matteo]

That's on my list, it was one of my jobs when I worked at a dealership. Always enjoyed the process and results.
Thanks for the report!

[canuck750]

Education please Chaps.

I thought that vapour blasting didn't have an abrasive media and the advantage was that you didn't have any bits of grit, glass to get out of the nooks and crannies of the blasted object

So, is the difference actually that glass bead blasting is done dry and this is done wet?

Vapor blast cabinets use any type of media that is used in a dry cabinet, a slurry pump sitting in the hopper under the perforated work surface mixes water with the media, in this case #7 glass bead.

The difference is the process is a scrubbing action, the bead does not smash into the part being cleaned and with the water suspension the media does not embed into the alloy.

If you compare a part that has been dry glass bead blasted the part will glisten from light refracting off the particles of fractured glass bead. With the vapor honing process there is no bead glistening on the surface, the alloy is honed (slightly polished).

Vapor Honing Technologies recommends a rinse with clean water and air blow gun drying.

For carburetors and the cylinder heads I will treat them in an ultrasonic cleaner to be sure I free up any particles that may remain in a tiny passage.

[Don G]

Jim: There is a company here in Lloyd. that offers ice blasting.  DonG

[Groover]

Very nice!

[PeteS]

This is tempting but I see they recommend a compressor capable of 15-20 CFM. Is this what you are using?

Pete

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

The difference is the process is a scrubbing action, the bead does not smash into the part being cleaned and with the water suspension the media does not embed into the alloy.

If you compare a part that has been dry glass bead blasted the part will glisten from light refracting off the particles of fractured glass bead. With the vapor honing process there is no bead glistening on the surface, the alloy is honed (slightly polished).

Vapor Honing Technologies recommends a rinse with clean water and air blow gun drying.

For carburetors and the cylinder heads I will treat them in an ultrasonic cleaner to be sure I free up any particles that may remain in a tiny passage.

I guess it depends on how the bead blasting is done - how much pressure is used. The machine shop that does my parts only uses 15 psi - high volume/low pressure - no beads are embedded into the alloy, no "glistening". The parts are nearly identical in look, texture and ease of cleaning to the Moto Morini cases I have here that have been vapor blasted. Most people use 90 psi to bead blast and that is the totally wrong way to do it.

No matter what Vapor Honing Technologies recommends, I would still meticulously clean all parts, not just rinse them and blow dry.

[canuck750]

This is tempting but I see they recommend a compressor capable of 15-20 CFM. Is this what you are using?

Pete

I have an Ingersol Rand 5 hhp, 220 volt single phase compressor rated at 18.1 cfm at 90 psi.

The running intake pressure of the machine is 60 psi. When the media is pumped up with the slurry mixture and air is added, the direct pressure on the part is not that high.

These machines do not rely on high direct pressure like a dry blast system.

Regardless of recommendation's from Vapor Honing Technologies I am going to clean the parts in a heated ultrasonic washer after blasting, Sharptek sells a purpose made ultrasonic detergent with a rust preventive additive that should work very well for this final process.

[canuck750]

Last night I took a pair of really corroded Benelli 650 Tornado heads and vapour blasted one, the head was cleaned in solvent prior to blasting the discolouration is oxidation on the aluminum and rust on the studs.

The surface is polished to the extent it looks like the aluminum has been painted, maybe not everyone's cup of tea but I like the finish.





The cleaned part looks NOS

Did I say I liked this machine?

[Groover]

Speaking of paint, does vapor blasting strip paint? Is in, can you safely clean a factory painted case without damaging the paint, or will it strip it?

[sidecarnutz]

I'm bummed. Not a single pic worked in the thread.

I have had a bead blasting cabinet for 20 years. But this sounds really interesting!

[Psychopasta]

Click on the picture links and you can see them in Photobucket.

The surface finish looks splendid. Those parts look brand new. We need an icon for green-eyed jealousy, to express how I feel.

- Pasta

[canuck750]

Speaking of paint, does vapor blasting strip paint? Is in, can you safely clean a factory painted case without damaging the paint, or will it strip it?

It stripped paint off decently, not as quick as it cleaned aluminum castings or stripped rust of carbon steel but it definitely takes the paint off.

I soaked rusted painted parts in a big 5 gallon pail of Evaporust for a couple days, rinsed  the rust removal solution off then cleaned the rest of the paint and rust off in the vapor blast cabinet. I ordered a gallon of chemical treatment to ad to the slurry solution to prevent flash rusting of steel parts. The chemical is called Hold Tight 102 and its recommended for vapor blast cabinet use.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/232231810809?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[twowings]

Those parts look superb!

Now, what am I to do with all this acid?

'Paging Dr. Bacon...Dr. Race Bacon!'

[sidecarnutz]

Odd. The pics all work today. I gotta say I am impressed. Too bad my shop has no plumbing. I settled for a shop with three different 220v outlets. That has been good enough for me for almost 30 years.

Thanks for posting!

[canuck750]

Odd. The pics all work today. I gotta say I am impressed. Too bad my shop has no plumbing. I settled for a shop with three different 220v outlets. That has been good enough for me for almost 30 years.

Thanks for posting!

You can run a closed loop system if you don't have plumbing. The Vapor Honing Web site goes into some detail explain ing this.

[Northern Bill]

I am so jealous!!!!

[jbell]

That really looks terrific, even the stud threads look clean.  Do the glass beads get recycled a few times or are they a total loss?  Ya got me thinking but it would also cost me a new compressor.

[canuck750]

That really looks terrific, even the stud threads look clean.  Do the glass beads get recycled a few times or are they a total loss?  Ya got me thinking but it would also cost me a new compressor.

The glass beads (or any other media you choose to use) drops through the perforated plastic floor of the cabinet and drop into the base of the hopper. The media settles quickly from the water and sits in the very bottom of the hopper, the slurry pump then sucks the media / water back up through the blast hose. Vapor Honing Technologies claim the media will last much, much longer in a vapor blaster than it will in a dry blast cabinet.

Today I made up a bracket to support a flat sided pail (mop pail) that sits on the left hand side of the machine and a hose connection that allows the overflow valve to be left open so that the cleaning spray (fresh water connection) can be used liberally, the additional water spilling out into the catch pail. I then added a hose out of the side of the mop pail (connection up near the rim) to drain into a second pail. The mop pail catches any glass bead sediment, the second pail collects clean water. Sorta a DIY 2 compartment sump for under $20. As the second bucket fills I close the overflow valve on the cabinet and dump the clean waste pail down the drain. Using lost of clean rinse water keeps the slurry pretty clean as well.





I need to fit some O rings around the hose fittings where they pass through the bucket, slow leak needs mending

I am experimenting with various operating pressures, Vapor Honing recommends about 60 psi flowing air, I find this to be pretty weak and find 75 ~ 90 psi  much better. I may have an inaccurate pressure gauge, cheap Chinese regulator.

Vapor Honing recommends a 5 hp compressor, size of tank at your discretion. I have a small 5 hp 220 volt single phase compressor that probably would have worked fine but the tank is only 20 gallons and its pretty old and very noisy.  I went for the 5 hp Ingersol Rand 60 gallon unit, its still pretty noisy.

[Rick4003]

Hi Jim, I have completely missed this thread! I really really like this vapour honing thing. The parts looks spectacular!

If you're ever happen to have a view into the tank or to the slurry pump at some time I would love to see a picture of it. I have to confess that there is not a big chance that I justify spending the 35000dkr (roughly 5500USD) on a brand name vapour blasting cabinet, but I am certain that I could build one with 90% of the functionallity for much less. So I should be very much interested in seeing how they have set up the slurry pump system.

-Ulrik

[canuck750]

Hi Jim, I have completely missed this thread! I really really like this vapour honing thing. The parts looks spectacular!

If you're ever happen to have a view into the tank or to the slurry pump at some time I would love to see a picture of it. I have to confess that there is not a big chance that I justify spending the 35000dkr (roughly 5500USD) on a brand name vapour blasting cabinet, but I am certain that I could build one with 90% of the functionallity for much less. So I should be very much interested in seeing how they have set up the slurry pump system.

-Ulrik

This is what it looks like, not too much to it really

The two rigid pipes on each side of the main pump outlet are open ended and pick up the slurry off the bottom of the hopper





Back of the cabinet with air and power connections



The light switch and main power switch



Inside looking at the window



The 75mm diameter flange is an open vent pipe



The perforated plastic floor lifts up and out to access the pump



High level drain that skims off excess water from rinse, the bucket on the side of the cabinet is a sump to catch most of the stray media that passes through the skimmer drain, the water then goes into a floor drain to a basement but another sump bucket catches any residue media before the waste water enters the drain. Glass bead will quickly plug a sewer so a sump catch is important



Mid and lower drain, mid level drain skims off most water when changing media, lower big drain is for emptying the used media. The media lasts much longer than when used in a dry cabinet

[Chesterfield]

That looks great!

[Rick4003]

Hi Jim, that is a most excellent post. Answers a lot of my questions about the system. The pump looks very much like a submersible drain water pump which was the type that I had been thinking about using. They are very cheap and are meant for slightly dirty water so the impeller is often made of stainless steel if you find a decent one.
As far as I can tell the pump isn't in the bottom of the sump, but a bit above and mixes up the slurry with the two fixed pipes? Is that correct?

Is the cabinet itself made of plastic or steel?

I was thinking of using stainless sheet metal if the price is not too high. Maybe af windshield wiper on the inside too.

Thanks again for posting.
-Ulrik

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