Anyone here make money from sand blasting?

I probably just have too much time to think these days but it occurred to me that sand blasting could be a mildly profitable yet fairly simple side gig.  It seems like most, if not all, restoration projects would benefit from some amount of sand blasting and it's not like everyone has the equipment on hand.  A decent sized cabinet can be picked up used for not a lot of money.  Advertise online and word of mouth and there might just be a small business there.  Am I way off with this?  Anyone ever do this?

Renting a cabinet?  I haven't seen anything like that that wasn't part of a bigger community workspace.

I usually see mobile blasting businesses that have all the equipment on a big flatbed.

I talked to a guy selling dry ice blasting.  One of my rubber molders bought a small version and blasts their molds clean and when done - nothing to clean up.  

My thought is like above - a unit on a truck and you show up at the site.  

ALL facets of the car hobby can be a side gig. From a hard core business plan they don't really work, but if you have the equipment already, and  if you do 10 hours a month of work for others for $50/hour doing something that you almost kind enjoy, that is $500 worth of beer money that you don't take out of the family finances. Note that it is 10 hours of time that you took from the family if that matters.

Sandblasting combines well with an oven sized powder coating gig since the 220 volt in the shop and the industrial compressor with air dryer will serve both. Of course the CNC plasma cutting table is just a nice feature to close the loop and to offer clients while they are in the shop with their project needs.

Side gigs are hard on tools. I would expect a hobby compressor to not last too long if used extensively. Sand, electricity and clean-up/maintenance takes time that is not paid for.

Give some thought to your neighbors; both as a common courtesy and to think if they are the kind that is going to object to the coming and going once you open the doors. Sandblasting is noisy and dusty with health hazards to those downwind who might NOT be wearing PPE.

Datsun310Guy said:

I talked to a guy selling dry ice blasting.  One of my rubber molders bought a small version and blasts their molds clean and when done - nothing to clean up.  

My thought is like above - a unit on a truck and you show up at the site.  

I agree and do it for bodyshops that do not want the mess of sand blasting , 

I am just not sure how dry ice blasting is priced  and if it pays enough for the investment.

Even though we have a large professional 2 sided sandblast cabinet and a screw compressor that scoffs at the CFM requirements of the cabinet, I still pay someone else to do it most of the time.

The folks who I have do this have a shipping container converted to be their blast cabinet and go in with a hazmat looking rubber suit and a damn fire hose to blast with.  What takes my machine 30 minutes, they can do in under 5.  I can't compete on price or time so my guys don't get stuck with the mind numbing task of sandblasting for hours on end.

If you have never spent hours at a time using a blast cabinet it can be hard to convey just how boring, tiring, fatiguing and soul crushing it can be. Eyestrain, hands cramping, back aching, and then you think you are done and pull the part to find so much more work to do hidden in the shadows. 

Trent said:

 

The folks who I have do this have a shipping container converted to be their blast cabinet and go in with a hazmat looking rubber suit and a damn fire hose to blast with.  What takes my machine 30 minutes, they can do in under 5.  I can't compete on price or time so my guys don't get stuck with the mind numbing task of sandblasting for hours on end.

 

Got to agree the only way you are making cash in this endeavor is volume and speed. The guys that go into the container when they do stuff for me look miserable and most of the work is just blasting before powdercoating where they make the money as they get you in the door with that. 

There are more sand blasting companies than you think.  You just don't see them because they are on higher profit jobs that are not in the public eye.  Two of my buddies do this kind of work.  Both on mobile jobs, and jobs where people bring stuff to them.  They buy sand, and glass bead by the truck loads.  Most of their jobs are dustless blasting classic cars and truck frames, boat hulls, graffiti, elevator shafts, old historic homes, etc.  The work sucks.  Picture being in a rubber suit with limited ventilation, on a hot day, wrestling with a 2" hose.  Investment in equipment is high, and work is not steady.  It pays the bills, they are their own bosses, but that's about it.

NOHOME said:

Give some thought to your neighbors

My B-in-Law was a motorcycle mechanic and did side work in his garage.  Dedicated his entire garage to the business.   
 

He had motorcycles all spring and summer and snowmobiles the other two seasons.  The neighbors ended up complaining to the city he lived in.  It really was over the top but he made a ton of money.  

I have a friend who bought an industrial sand blasting business. He made a ton of money but closed it for the same reason the previous owner sold it, which was that it was impossible to find labor. 

I have a pot blaster for soda and one for sand, blast cabinet, big compressor, 120 gal tanks. I mostly use them for my personal projects but every once in a while I need something cleaned quick for a customer build and will do one or a few their parts. Using the pot blasters is crappy, dirty , nasty work without a full pressurized suit (and even with). The media gets everywhere in your pockets, shoes, etc. and the face shield lens in a hood gets foggy when it's cool out but that's preferable to the heat in the summer while also wearing an N 95 particle mask. Compressor runs a lot blasting so more wear than other uses and you wear out hoses, guns, tips, rubber stoppers, plus go through a lot of media outside. Lots of prep time draining tanks, getting equipment set up, and then the clean up. I have to wash the front of my house after sweeping, blowing off with a leaf blower etc.

I've tried a couple ways of retaining the media and found the best way for my use is to blow off the driveway before blasting then sweep and sift the media so I get several uses out of it. Buying quantities of media is a pain if you have to fetch it, storing it in a dry place takes up space. The pot blasters are awkward and also need dry storage. The pot blasters aren't as user friendly as we'd like requiring constant playing to get the pressures, media volume, and what not, set the way you want and then a slightly larger than average particle or a little moisture stops up the feed at the bottom of the pot so you have to mess with the adjustment valve to clear it and get it blasting again.

Was using the sand blaster yesterday & today, pic below. Even though I'm already set up for it, no way I'd do it as a side gig.

[URL=https://app.photobucket.com/u/NOTATA/a/4084bbc8-1e50-4486-872e-fbce3ed87549/p/1c4ec352-7a30-4f83-81b7-526decc9cf63][/URL]

It's a commodity business where it seems the value proposition is lowest price gets the business.   One man operation has low overhead but can you meet your customer requirements (part size, lead times, cost).  I've used a few places over the years that have gone belly up. 

There's a lot of knowledge and experience here. I appreciate all the input.  There are definitely some key issues I didn't think of or think about long enough. It's one of those ideas that keeps coming back to me saying, hey, why aren't you doing this...now I know why!

I build and sell industrial blast equipment and would rather suck dick for nickels than do blasting as side work.  

93gsxturbo said:

I build and sell industrial blast equipment and would rather suck dick for nickels than do blasting as side work.  

Strange, because I loved sandblasting car parts when I had enough air.  I sure wouldn't do that other thing.  

Canoes are bumping all the old threads today

Nope. There's no way I'd want a side business of sand blasting. All the worst nastiness, and constant tightening of the regulations and health risks. It's a E36 M3ty job. 
 

Not just nope. Hell nope. 

I will say I've been interested in wet blasting lately. Specifically the vapor hone stuff. More capabilities for delicate work and finishes.

93gsxturbo said:

I build and sell industrial blast equipment and would rather suck dick for nickels than do blasting as side work.  

I got a pocket full o'nickels for ya'

Apexcarver said:

I will say I've been interested in wet blasting lately. Specifically the vapor hone stuff. More capabilities for delicate work and finishes.

I have a decent size vapor honing setup that I recently bought. Maybe I should start doing it on the side. It makes my vintage Mercedes parts look amazing. 

In reply to yupididit :

And the forum information has you in Alexandria?

Hmmm, let me know, I might be interested

In reply to Apexcarver :

Yeah I'm in northern VA 

One of my buddies do this for living. But he doesn't earn much from it. So, I recommend you trying something else.

In reply to StevieMac :

Can you sand blast a canoe?