I knew this was a dusty operation, but I have had good luck doing my own spray painting (also a "dusty" operation) by building a plastic tent in the garage and using box fans to move fresh air though the tent. I figured I could just apply the same system to sandblasting. Boy, was I wrong!

The sandblaster worked VERY WELL, but it put out such a volume of sand (even throttled back) and air, that the box fans had no chance to keep up with the dust, and my plastic tent was quickly shredded. I tried putting up a second layer of plastic. No good, this was quickly destroyed as well. The media shot through it like it wasn't even there. So I took down the plastic and tried instead of tenting the project, just covering the shelves in the garage instead.

I pressed forward over the next two days and finished the frame, cab, fenders, seats, hood, bumpers, bed front, lots of brackets, etc. I didn't make the progress I wanted to… mostly because stopping to sweep up the media, filter it, and refill the pressure pot slowed the process down. I probably should have just bought more media. I ran out of time on the rental before finishing the bedsides, but I had accomplished a lot with my long weekend and the truck was looking good.

Problem was, the dust got everywhere! I had locked the door between the house and garage, so the house was fine, but everything in the garage had a coat of dust, despite my plastic covers. I spent the next several evenings taking every single item out of the garage and cleaning the dust off. I mean EVERYTHING, every tool, box, shelf, saw blade, rake, shovel, welding equipment, truck part, tote box, etc. All the walls, lights, and ceiling had to be swept down as well. Very frustrating and tedious process, but it was the only way to get all the dust out.

I came to the conclusion that sandblasting is best left to those who make a living at it. I saved a few bucks, but the time spent cleaning up just wasn't worth it.