New Princess Auto Location in Whitby!!!

[SeanMatteson]

A friend of mine who belongs to a motorcycle club sent me a message today suggesting I pass this information along to you guys. The Princess Auto flyer that I received in the local newspaper yesterday morning confirms it.

A new Princess Auto location has opened in Whitby Ontario. The address is 1550 Victoria St. Their phone number is (905)665-8581.

Apparently, they have a great sale going on for the opening. I heard that they've slashed prices on just about everything in the store between 22% and 44%.

Those of you who live in that area might want to go and check it out!

...And for those of you who don't know what kind of stuff PA sells, I suggest you take a few minutes to check out their website at http://www.princessauto.com .

Cheers,

Sean

[T1Bird]

PA is like a toys r us for men
PA was a gold mine when i built my yahama 750cc go-kart
smoked alot of clutchs on that lol
could pick up a new clutch for 34 bucks at PA

[SeanMatteson]

I went to my local PA store at lunch today and picked up a benchtop sandblast cabinet for $134. It's about 25" wide by 22" deep by 19" tall. It has a flourescent light inside, the nozzle which can be used for sand, glass beads, etc., and everything.

I'll need to pick up some abrassive though. Anyone know where I can get a bag or two of glass beads?

Cheers,

Sean

[T1Bird]

i know the co-op here in milton sells sand, ill ask my mom shes got 3 sandblasters at work shes got to know where to get it

[SeanMatteson]

Bruce,

I think I'd prefer to use the glass bead and bead-blast the stuff that I want to clean up. Does that co-op sell glass beads by the bag?

Thanks,

Sean

[Jason Wild]

Sean I think PA has glass bead thats where I got mine for my sand blaster I have just some times there out of stock or you have to ask for it

[Ryan A Harris]

Well why do all you guys have a media blaster?? I want of those. I'm looking to sell my parts washer for a media blaster. Sean the glass from what I've heard is big $$, but it's much easier on the softer materials. I also say to ONLY spray the unit with your Bay door open, and no cars in the garage. The "dust" is terrible.

[tbirdsc357]

Originally posted by Ryan A Harris
Well why do all you guys have a media blaster??

What is a media blaster?

[SeanMatteson]

Ryan,

This thing is an enclosed unit, with a filter for the outlet air. I would hope that it doesn't allow dust to leave the enclosure. It has one of those windows on top to view the work-piece, and those glove things so that you can reach inside and handle the work-piece and nozzle to blast the part.

Like I said earlier, this thing is on sale right now for only $134, so go on down and buy yourself one!

Cheers,

Sean

[Paddy]

In my travels to collision shops throughout North America I have seen baking soda used quite frequently as the blasting media of choice. It will remove paint and rust and grime but it will not damage the surface metal. The problem with sand is it takes little chunks of metal with it and leaves a more porous surface. The more porous the surface the greater the chance the metal will oxidize before it is treated or primed and then the dreaded rust will be back. It's ironic that sandblasting can be a breeding ground for future corrosion. The shops that I have seen using baking soda or plastic media have a much easier time stripping the parts and prepping them for refinishing.

Just my 2 cents...

Paddy..

[sabbySC]

you better wear a mask when using the blaster as there is a chance of silicosis with prolonged exposure.

Silicosis is when you inhale the blasting media (san, glass, etc) into your lungs, you body cannot expels the fine particals and you loose the use of the affected area of the lungs. Just a warning for those of you who didn't know this. Oh yeah a paper mask will suffice.

[Ryan A Harris]

Steve the term "sand blaster" is used to descirbe what is most commonly used in these units. When I said media blaster, I was refering to the abrasive in the unit, which is whyit's called A media blaster.


Sean, you bought it from PA, it will leak! I'm not saying that the unit is junk, but some of their products are of lesser quality. I have bought alot of stuff from them over the years, most of which fail somewhere down the road. Saying that I hope my engine stands hold up.

[Jason Wild]

Sean if it's any think like the one I have from PA it will leak around the opening after a little because the filter gets dirty vary fast as well all kinds of the media gets in there not alowing air out. I was going to make something so you can use a larger filter so it would let more air out.
glass beads is 29.99 for 44lb at PA all you need is one bag
hope that helps

[T1Bird]

of course for 134 bucks it isnt going to be like gold
my mom works for snap-on and the blaster she bought recently was $2300
i have access to this anytime i want if someone wants something done..

[SeanMatteson]

This isn't the first thing I've purchased from PA, and I'm sure it won't be the last. I acknowledge that the quality of the tools sold at PA can be questionable at times. I've had them fail on me. However, I'm not kidding myself that some $134 benchtop sandblasting cabinet is going to last forever. I've already had to replace the little plastic switch in my parts washer once. Most of the stuff is imported cheap from China (not meant to be a slight on products from China). There's no way I'd be buying a big SnapOn unit for something like $2300 for the 'once in a blue moon' that mine will get used. In the event I need to modify mine slightly to prolong its life, then so be it. It wouldn't be the first tool or part that I've made adjustments to in order to extend its lifespan.

Jason,

In its current form, will dust outside the unit be a problem? Do I need to ventilate the garage and/or wear a dust mask to protect myself when I'm using it? I would have thought that the filter would be sufficient to prevent dust from escaping the cabinet.

Cheers,

Sean

[T1Bird]

sean the one thing i would suggest is take a piece of clear plastic and tape it tight against the viewing area on the inside, ive worked with many sandblasters and i always find the viewing glass gets pitted or "smoked" to the point where you cant see what your doing that well

[Jason Wild]

Yes sean in it's current form it might be a problem for you all depends on what you are cleaning wether there is a lost of rust because it makes more dust then if not and I would wear a mask better to be safe. As well I would not have your cars in there at the time you do this you don't want the vary fine dust that gets out of the unit on them. try and see what happenes with it maybe they have fixed it now

[SeanMatteson]

Mine came complete with about a half-dozen sheets of clear plastic with adhesive around the perimeter to be stuck to the inside of the viewing area to protect the glass. I also noticed that replacement films can be bought from PA cheap (a whole roll of the same films).

Now I'm wondering if I can't rig up some kind of dust collection system using my ShopVac with an extra fine dust filter installed. I really don't want to have dust floating all over the garage that I just cleaned up.

Thanks,

Sean

[Jason Wild]

yes Sean i'm sure that might be the best way to stop the dust