Blasting cylinders

[Mark71gtx]

So, I have access to a blast cabinet at work. I was thinking about blasting some cylinders I have lying around. What are the do's and don'ts when blasting cylinders? I will be using size 10 glass beads, but they have been used a bit already, so they are likely less abrasive now.

 

[Redfin]

@Deets066

 

[Al Smith]

Why would you bead blast cylinders for ?

 

[Mark71gtx]

I have seen it mentioned on here before. I like clean parts. I have access. I want to see if I like it any better than the cleaning methods I have been using.

 

[srcarr52]

I do it all the time with glass beads. No problems unless you continuously blast the plating for minutes. Try not to blast too hard on threads as it can roll the first thread in and make it difficult to get a fastener started. Try not to blast the base gasket surface. If you really want to be safe you can make a card stock sleeve to protect the plating when blasting the carbon out of the chamber.

 

[Mark71gtx]

I have a few cylinders that are junk that I will try out first. I just wanted to get the info from those in the know first to avoid the troubles they may have had. Thank you for all if the info so far!

 

[Brush Ape]

Why would you bead blast cylinders for ?

To put a mirror-like finish in the exhaust port.

 

[ANewSawyer]

To put a mirror-like finish in the exhaust port.

And you put a mirror-like finish on the exhaust port so you get a 0.001 second faster cut time... Kidding! Maybe... I don't know what polish is supposed to do.

 

[Mark71gtx]

Half of the time we pick up saws that have been carboned to death. You can scrape and pick for a very long time trying to get that crap off. You can blast it off quickly, and smooth the surface making it harder for carbon to build up again. In my case, that is not a problem because WFO all the time, lol...

 

[ANewSawyer]

Ok makes sense.

 

[ny15]

I have soda blasted a couple of cylinders and they turned out nice

 

[drf256]

Cutting a beer can apart and using the center portion with a longitudinal cut makes an easy bore cover.

 

[Lee H]

I blast cylinders all the time. Stuff a rag in the bore and go.
Like Shaun stated, be careful of threads and gasket surfaces.

 

[Brush Ape]

Don't know where to get an empty beer can though....eeerrruuup..well maybe one.

 

[jb-chainsaws]

I've glass bead blasted cylinders with great success following the same protocols others have mentioned. Don't blast directly onto the plating if you can help it, if you're worried try dropping the pressure by 15psi on the blaster and just spend a bit longer cleaning that carbon off the combustion chamber.

Another thing to watch out for is be careful blasting the bevels on the exhaust port, whilst I've not done it on an OEM personally jug I've seen others that have done it where they ripped the plating away from the bevel into the bore, however they were most probably using the wrong blast media and too much pressure

 

[drf256]

I blast cylinders all the time. Stuff a rag in the bore and go.
Like Shaun stated, be careful of threads and gasket surfaces.

Makes sense Lee. Fast and easy. Can't get the chamber though.

Blasting the ports and transfers gives them a nice finish. The plating gets a nice dull finish even without a direct hit though. I'm concerned about the piston getting scratched by a glass beaded bore. One that I did seemed to do just that.

I'm gonna try this again, but with a brake hone plating resurfacing afterwards.

 

[Lee H]

Take a scotch brite pad and wet it with some kind of penetrating
oil and scuff the bore then clean with brake clean. When i do the
chamber i do it real quick. The bores are very hard so you would
really have to concentrate on an area to do any damage whether
it's chrome or nicasil.

 

[Deets066]

I blast the hell out of any cylinder I pull off. Getting all the old caked up chit off the outside lets it cool properly. I use a really fine glass bead, can't remember the number. But have never had a problem with the bore, I don't protect it in any way. I spend lots of time in the chamber and exhaust port to remove all of the carbon.

Afterwards I wash thouroughly with water then I usually hit the bore with scotch bright pad on a cordless drill

 

[Deets066]

Cylinder looks better than when it came out of the factory

 

[PA Dan]

I use Gorilla tape inside to mask off the ports. I then stuff the bore with a rag and Gorilla tape the base. Blast the heck out of it! You can see the camo Gorilla tape and zip tie on this 272xp cylinder.