Blasting Carbs

I do these all the time and had to do another today so it was time for something quicker and less time consuming than duct tape.  I usually tape the front end up and cut the tape to fit so I don't loose a lot of valuable aluminum shot.  It takes a little time and then I have to deal with the glue residue on the carb as well.  

This is one I did last week the regular way I usually do.  Aluminum shot does an awesome job on aluminum, even takes off stains, and makes it look brand new.  

 

These only get blasted at very low pressure so I thought if I had a plate like for the engine side it would be super easy and quick.  No tape, no cutting, no glue mess, no carb cleaner to get the glue off.  Quicker, easier, and the use of absolutely no consumables.  It would also cut the time down by roughly 75%.

I took a heavy round gasket and added an extra hole it needed.  This gasket would be stronger than the aluminum blasting at low pressure and I could use it over + over.   Then I went to what most call the scrap pile that is not a scrap pile and found a perfect little square 1/8" plate to make the cover out of.  I marked it with a correct 3 hole gasket, made the extra hole, traced it on the 1/8" plate then drilled it.  After that I cut the extra square edges off, then rounded it with a flap disc and walla.  

I tried it out and it worked out perfect and didn't damage the gasket backside at all.  It took around 5 minutes to put the plate on, put a plug in the engine side, cap the fuel inlet, blast it, blow it off, and set it on the bench for pics.  I've been doing things like this a lot lately and need to do things like this all I possibly can.  Saving a lot of time and eliminating consumables on a lot of jobs would be a really big deal around here.