Vapor Blasting Prices

[halfmile]

I got a quote from a vapor blasting shop to do the XS650 cases, cyl, head and valve cover. $700 That`s not going to happen. I might have been born at night but it wasn`t last night. I know others have had this done and just curious what other rates are out there. I mean $700 is a healthy down payment on a vapor blasting set up itself. m Your thoughts please.

 

[Ratranger]

If you have a compressor already you can get a HF blast cabinet and convert it for that.

 

[halfmile]

Got both. I`ve been watching youtube about the conversion. Doesn`t look all that hard to me. Maybe a project for next spring. No heat in shop.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I got a quote from a vapor blasting shop to do the XS650 cases, cyl, head and valve cover. $700

$700 buys a lot of elbow grease.

 

[SomervilleXS650]

I built my own unit, and was pretty happy with the outcome. That being said - depending on what I was starting with for equipment, I would just keep an eye on what is available from somewhere like VHT. I could see how the DIY prices could creep up to where it may just be worth your while to buy a unit.

Little bit of info in my build thread post here (post #8), but glad to share tips, lessons learned, etc if you have questions. Couple useful links in my post for the gun and media if you want to take advantage of some of the searching around I did.

 

[halfmile]

Thanks Somerville. I read your entire thread. Inspiring for sure. Looks like I need to get started on a conversion.

 

[JRay77]

Converting my cabinet to vapor hone has been on my list for a few years now. I ran across your post Somer. Good stuff. I just recently went to glass bead on my cabinet. I have been using gloss clear VHT paint over the glass bead finish and I'm loving it. I won't powder coat engine parts anymore. My only issues with vapor honing is the slurry. Pretty much need all the parts ready and do a long run so the slurry doesn't go bad. I like the freedom to walk away from a project months at a time. Especially during riding/girlfriend season.

 

[Signal]

Here is a thread on my conversion to water, Crazy 1 also chimes in with some good info on steel shot blasting.http://www.xs650.com/threads/bead-to-vapour-blast-conversion.56401/

 

[willis]

I was going to mention Craz1 and his stainless media he uses. His engine parts look phenomenal!

 

[SomervilleXS650]

Here is a thread on my conversion to water,

Hey Signal, really cool stuff, I had found those same YouTube videos you had linked, but never saw your vapor blaster build thread (Truth be told, I used to mostly use these forums to search for specific answers to questions). Have to say one area you were really smart on is the lighting in there....I used more of a spot lamp from the outside, and it was not real easy going. Your lighting is awesome!

Crazy 1 also chimes in with some good info on steel shot blasting

I'm not an expert on media blasting but I wonder about the size of the stainless media and the risk of impregnating in the aluminum? Read about that in the past and wondered how much of a risk that was. I think any larger, dense media carries a (relatively) high amount of inertia relative to something smaller, with less mass, and just has a lot more force. The reasons that vapor blasting was attractive to me was 1) I loved the look, but probably just as importantly 2) it sounded like it was a gentle enough process that the risk of me screwing parts up by doing it wrong seemed pretty low.

Pretty much need all the parts ready and do a long run so the slurry doesn't go bad

JRay - wondering what you mean w/ slurry going bad? One thing I would do, is I bought a large nylon fine-mesh bag that I would discharge my slurry into when I was done and/or when the slurry got too disgusting to use. It would capture the media and then I could soak the bag in a bucket of SimpleGreen and rinse it out, skim out the broken 'scummy' bits floating on the top and get some additional use out of it. It wasn't an optimized process by any means, but I got it to work OK. Lots of little tips and tricks like that helped it.

 

[cra-z1]

The SS media I use is .014 cut wire and .014 conditioned wire. I use only 50-60 psi. When dry blasting with glass beads you run a high risk of impregnating to aluminum as the beads shatter. Then as the engine warms and expands they release into the oil. When using the vapor blast you get less of the shattering but you still get breakage. You still need to clean, clean ,clean when you get the parts back. I do not blast the inside of the engine and would advise the blasters to avoid the inside as much as possible. I plan on using a local vapor blaster who just set up shop for the CB550 I'm working on since I do not have blanking covers made for that engine. It really is a good finish and he only is charging $60 per hour which is very reasonable but I would expect him to raise the price because it is labor intensive and the beads are getting expensive. I still recommend the SS media if your tired of the dust and mess in your shop. With a modified cabinet I only use a cup of media at the bottom pick up. I can also clean it, let it dry and reuse it with very little waste.

 

[SomervilleXS650]

Thanks @cra-z1 appreciate the reply and info. All that makes sense. The impregnation and subsequent release is what I was thinking of (I probably read this from you in another post actually).

I wish I took the time in my own engine blast to block off the internals. I had to wash/rinse about a million times to make sure I got the media out, and even then I wasn't as confident as I would have liked. I haven't seen anything in the filters so I assume it wasn't so bad, but your wire approach is an interesting one. Thanks for sharing

 

[Pipes]

Probably not of much use being over the pond but I just received my engine back from the vapour blasters costing me £150 which equates to $200....a considerable difference!!

 

[Ratranger]

I followed this guys conversion. He did a simpler one and lays out the parts. He's a little out there, but the info is there.

 

[RustiePyles]

@halfmile for what its worth, I've got at least 3 motors/bike projects that I need some vapor blasting done. If you get set up I'll gladly help you recover some of the cost.

 

[Ipa62]

Seems this post has gone the way of “build your own”, for what it’s worth I paid $160 for vapor blasting the cylinder, head and cover, Cash, seemed like a good deal to me.

 

[Ratranger]

Most vapor blasting sercives I've found near me average 60/hr. So a full engine gets pretty pricey, and the dirtier/more corroded the more time it takes. The reason conversion is popular is that an actual professional vapor blast cabinet last I looked was up around $10k for a small one.

 

[JRay77]

With shipping cost, almost need someone local to stay ahead of the game. Again, I'm a fan of vapor blasting. Just keeping that slurry agitated. Need long runs. Price out glass bead cost (if that's the media). A lot to think about. Wet blasting has been around for decades. I know strut mounts for Honda, Toyota, etc were all wet blasted. Last stage of that washer coated them gray. Phosphorus maybe? Rust preventative. After assembly, gloss black paint. These hold up well. It's the rubber and springs that go. I worked in Japanese manufacturing, back in 2000. I have an 01 Toyota and just replaced the strut assemblies.

 

[hooser]

Blasting is the easy part, making sure every passage is clean is the time consuming hard part. I sell a lot of parts due to not getting all the media out. Scores the pistons skirts, crank bearings, rocker arm shafts on and on. Here is a link to a couple videos and a picture or 2 on the oil passages in the crankcase.Just scroll down as i was not able to post here. https://www.facebook.com/Hoos-Racing-Specialties-121869435129906

 

[cra-z1]

Blasting is the easy part, making sure every passage is clean is the time consuming hard part. I sell a lot of parts due to not getting all the media out. Scores the pistons skirts, crank bearings, rocker arm shafts on and on. Here is a link to a couple videos and a picture or 2 on the oil passages in the crankcase.Just scroll down as i was not able to post here. https://www.facebook.com/Hoos-Racing-Specialties-121869435129906

I agree with the above. I go to great length to plug every oil passage and threaded hole in a critical case or part before I blast or send it off to have blasting done. Its really up to the person who owns the parts to clean every bit out. If you send your parts out ask if they protect the oil passages. On some engines it's difficult. Even if they do you need to clean ,clean , clean.