Simon Hawthorne Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 I am looking to strip paint and rust from a 55ft narrowboat and the dry dock won't allow sand blasting due to the mess. I don't blame them. Has anyone experience of water blasting as an alternative and an idea of comparative costs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cuthound Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 No experience of water blasting, but CO2 blasting (beads of dry ice) works well as the beads melt and evaporate, leaving only the paint residue behind. No idea of cost though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchcrawler Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 27 minutes ago, cuthound said: No experience of water blasting, but CO2 blasting (beads of dry ice) works well as the beads melt and evaporate, leaving only the paint residue behind. No idea of cost though. If you have enough pressure it will clean it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Mack Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 A previous thread on the subject: and a recommendation from that thread: http://marinerepairs.co.uk/UHPBlasting.html Maybe some others too at http://www.canaljunction.com/boat/cleaning.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Hawthorne Posted June 22, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Thanks David. Very helpful. Just need to find someone a bit nearer to do the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
howardang Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 On 21 June 2018 at 15:13, cuthound said: No experience of water blasting, but CO2 blasting (beads of dry ice) works well as the beads melt and evaporate, leaving only the paint residue behind. No idea of cost though. I have used pressure washing to remove layers of paint/rust from the hulls of ocean going tugs, prior to painting. It worked very well down to shiny steel, but the equipment used was very much higher pressure than a domestic washer, and needed fully trained operators in appropriate PPI. The pressure was such that it was capable of cutting a breeze block in half, as they demonstrated for a party piece! We also used a water based primer coat to speed up the process. It was done in a large dock at a time when concerns about pollution were not as strict as nowadays and if carried out on, say, a narrow boat on hard standing ashore, would require shielding to contain the rust/ paint flakes, and to keep spray water from contaminating any watercourse, including the canal. I am not sure if it would be worth the bother. Howard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Bob Posted June 22, 2018 Report Share Posted June 22, 2018 Grit blasting, if done right, gets you to a set standard used in the paint industry...i.e. SA2.5 which is then fine to apply paint to. This standard though assumes a roughness to the surface which you get with grit blasting. Normal water jetting will not prepare the surface well enough to achieve SA2.5 or anywhere near it. Ultra high pressure jetting will get back to bare steel but not the roughness. Make sure you prepare the surface to the standard that the paint manufacturers state. This is one case where you do read the instructions carefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jddevel Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 On 22/06/2018 at 23:01, Dr Bob said: Make sure you prepare the surface to the standard that the paint manufacturers state I seem to remember when painting a aluminium car that self etching paint was available to allow adhesion to the metal. Is it possible that this may be available as a primer for steel? Besides CO2 Soda blasting is also available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Bob Posted June 25, 2018 Report Share Posted June 25, 2018 6 hours ago, jddevel said: I seem to remember when painting a aluminium car that self etching paint was available to allow adhesion to the metal. Is it possible that this may be available as a primer for steel? Besides CO2 Soda blasting is also available. I have not heard of any 'self etching' coatings for steel but if its a chemical reaction you are after then Red Lead paint is by far the best. I mean Red Lead not red oxide. Someone gave a link to someone in Bristol who sell it but it is expensive - £120 for 5Litres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Featured Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now