We love a “hack” here at Garage Night, as demonstrated by our project to put KTM forks on Richard’s BMW F650.
So when Trent found out about a way of using baking soda gun to clean up bike parts we were dead keen to give it a go. All you need is an air compressor with a duster gun, some plastic line, insulation or gaffer tape and a supply of bicarbonate of soda. And you can see the results in this episode of Garage Night TV.
Soda blasting is a great alternative to sand or shot blasting, because the blasting medium doesn’t damage the underlying metal. It uses the explosive force of the tiny soda particles as they shatter on impact to knock the dirt, grease, paint etc off the surface.
So it’s perfect for cleaning, for example, the alloy parts on motorcycles. It takes you back to the original metal finish - and it leaves hard anodizing intact. I think my brake caliper bracket, as shown in the video, is the perfect example. You can strip paint from metal parts too.
Carburettors are another candidate, especially since the soda simply washes away after the job is done.
Be a bit careful though - it will remove paint. I was just about to soda blast my gold Brembo brake calipers, which look anodized but I found out are actually painted.
There are various industrial versions of soda blasting, so it is possible to get it done professionally. And you can buy home kits, but they are not particularly cheap. And anyway, where’s the fun in paying someone to do it, or buying an off-the-shelf solution? The parts we bought to make our system only ran to about US$15 at the most - that included a 5kg (12lb) bucket of baking soda, best purchased from an oriental foods supermarket.
The soda is food grade and therefore non-toxic, though eye protection is a good idea, and a face mask wouldn’t hurt either. Keep water away from your work - the baking soda is soluble so once you get it wet, it’s ruined.
We’re sure our set-up could be refined to recapture the soda and also control the flow. But for now we’re pretty happy with how it works.
A final word of credit to Air Cooled Tech, which is where Trent found the idea. Lots of useful stuff there, though I am left wondering what biker Trent is doing looking around a website for Volkswagen enthusiasts … is he thinking of building one of those trikes with a flat four hanging out the back?
- Waz
Replacing swingarm bearings: rear suspension overhaul part 2
Ep 14, Dremel on a lathe: Rear suspension overhaul part 1
Ep 13: Mountain Madness 2009
Ep 12: KTM forks on a BMW part 2
Ep 11: KTM forks on a BMW F650
Ep 10: Replacing rear wheel bearings
Ep 9: New spokes on an old wheel
Ep 8: Chain and sprockets part 2
Ep 7: Changing a chain and sprockets
Ep 6: Mountain Madness
Ep 5: Replacing steering head bearings
Ep 4: Wires, shocks and smoke
Ep 3: Sand, heat and nipples
Ep 2: Beads and bearings
Ep 1: Bikes, Blokes and Beer
Nice one lads, great idea and looks easy enough to knock up quickly.
Thanks for the demo guys.
I think I’ll give it a go on my front hub first to check it out.
excelent idea, and page!!
very very nice!
it’s very important help for me!
excelent!!
v’s
nelson
venezuela
a bit late, but, its called a nozzle.
Note: I see you have taped over the slit where the probe enters. If you tape behind the slit so that air can also be sucked in at that location you will find the performance jumps somewhat. Also keeping the feed hose within 2 to 2-1/2 feet helps in the soda flow. Just some experience after dickering around a bit. Jim A. Tucson, AZ 89° and sunny. Been 105° the last 4 or 5 days. Good riding weather for my Velo.
guys, well done.
I’m restoring my yamaha xv750 and wondered what other areas this would bring up - forks? cylinder fins? springs? swingarm? yolks? any ideas?
oh, and how would you refine this to reclaim the soda and to concentrate on those ingrained area?
cheers guys
D.
Darren, basically anything you’d otherwise sandblast to clean or remove paint. It doesn’t remove anodising, apparently, and I doubt it would remove chrome etc, but as you can see it does a hell of a job of removing general grime and taking cast aluminium back to that fresh-out-of-the-mould effect.
A note of caution, if you’re thinking of soda blasting something that’s anodised, do make sure it’s actually anodised and not painted. For example the gold Brembo calipers on my bike and many others look anodised but it’s actually paint.
Yes I think you could definitely recapture and reuse the soda. The key is to keep moisture out. I think we’ll be refining this apparatus - I’m soon to test it out on a Ducati side case that’s got badly flaked paint.
Perfect timing for my T160 amals I am about to restore. Many thsnks
Baz
have read that soda particles breakdown on impact (like powder snow crystals after an avalanche, resulting in much smaller ice crystals and snow as dense as cement), leaving them unusable for repeat use. That said, try it and let us know how it works.
Has anyone tried this mini-blaster with other blasting media (coal slag, glass etc) ?
What size compressor did they use in the video…will it work with a small consumer compressor that holds just a few liters in the tank ?
Finally,a question for Jim Abbott of Tuscon…when you say, “If you tape behind the slit so that air can also be sucked in at that location you will find the performance jumps somewhat won’t that close off the air supply.” Jim, won’t this stop air from being sucked in at this location? please claify, and keep cool in that AZ sun. Zup
Please continue disussion on the forum: link