Soda Blaster

Hey, y'all! I am a long-time lurker, and have learned much from the postings here. Anyway, I was perusing the Harbor Freight flyer (I know, I know, cheap foreign imports, ...get over it...) and saw a "soda blaster". "Uses safe, harmless dry baking soda... 35 - 90 psi". This seems like it may be a very useful and green tool for mineral cleaning. Does anyone have any experience with such a device? Thanks, -Tom

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Hey Tom, i don't know anyting about the soda blaster, just wanted to say hi.
Hope you had a wonderful summer.
AK

Dentists used to and perhaps some of them still do use a device that used bicarbonate of soda and water under pressure to clean teeth. I knew a guy in Tucson who used to claim that it was very good for cleaning soft minerals, like galena and chalcopyrite. I don't know anything about the Harbor Freight device. Does it use air or water to carry the abrasive? You could probably also use it for glass beads though it might wear out the parts fast if you tried to use anything harder. 90 psi with glass beads will clean a lot of stuff, but sometimes if you are cleaning the pocket crap of tourmalines and pegmatite minerals you might find it slow going with only 90 pounds psi.

Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.

It uses air. Seems like it would be better to get a blasting gun and use the bicarbonate abrasive, allowing other possible abrasives, too.

Hi Tom,

At the Harbor Freight website, it looks like you can get their "20 Lb. Pressurized Abrasive Blaster" for a lower price than the soda blaster. At the bottom end they have a "Gravity Feed Blaster Gun".

In any case, keep me posted on your results. I have been thinking about getting one of these too.

Winter came to Colorado a few weeks early this year, didn't it.

-Dean Allum

I will get one someday, but it's not high on the priority list. Been busy with work lately. Go figure.

Yep, it's been a might chili. Maded my first batch of the season a couple weeks ago!

Tom -

If you are thinking of using an air blaster, you might consider going to a full-sized blast cabinet (I've seen them at Harbor Freight, on sale, for as little as $69). That includes an air gun and spare nozzles, but of course than doesn't include the compressor, and you will need a decent sized one to maintain adequate air flow. These units include an exhaust fan and an air filter, so they do significantly reduce (but not eliminate) the dust cloud.

Rock's point is well taken that, at 90 PSI, such a gun won't rip and tear like an industrial unit, but I find it works OK for hand-sized specimens or for cleaning metal parts that are not too deeply rust-pitted. Any less-powerful unit would, I think, be a waste of money.

It is, of course, important to match the hardness of the abrasive to the project at hand. The hardness of sodium bi-carb, for instance, is just below that of feldspar, so it is useful for cleaning soft stuff off of silicates. Collectors' Edge also recommended plastic abrasive pellets (actually the drillings from the mfg of circuit boards), which are about the same hardness as the bi-carb, and less dusty. They are hard to find, though. I can give you the name of a supplier in SE Denver, if you decide to go that route.

Regards,

Richard

If you buy a blasting cabinet with a siphon gun make sure that you use a fine screen over the expanded metal coarse screen inside the cabinet. I use a fine fiberglass screen and a soft rubber bar mat over that. Harder mineral pieces can be accidentally recycled through and cause damage.

I've used baking soda and salt in a sand blaster at 110psi and it works for some things. Messy though and uses up abrasive like crazy. I would recommend a microblaster, uses less air, less abrasive and is more accurate. They are used in wood working. The advantage to water soluble abrasives is that the sample can be easily cleaned afterward, other stuff gets stuck in the cracks and crevasses.