More Issues

Midwest Media Blasting

Midwest Media Blasting owner, Rob Langdon, had a need, and when he found that no one could really fit that need, a business was born. A little over two years ago, Langdon started his own media blasting business in Sioux Falls, and has filled a niche that has been unavailable for quite some time. Having a project of his own that was too hard to sand, Langdon began calling around to blasting companies for help. “The issue I would run into is that no one would call me back, they could not fit me in for many months or they only did large projects. And that’s when I realized there was no one who could really fill this void, so I decided to.”

Most people may not realize just how much media blasting has evolved over the years. Differing from the usual sand blasting, media blasting features the use of multiple different types of grits and style of media that can be used on multiple types of surfaces, without damaging the integrity of the project. Most of the materials Midwest Media Blasting uses for their blasting is recycled glass that can be done dry, or it can be added wet, creating a dustless form of blasting. Langdon mentions the importance of using this form of blasting. “This mixes the glass particles with the water so it keeps the amount of dust particles down. This makes it easier for me to see what I’m doing, keeps the metal cool and it cleans a lot better.” This industry has evolved to the point of blasting not only with recycled glass, but even corn cobs have been used along with walnut shells. Midwest Media Blasting also uses soda blasting, when the job calls for it. “Using these different materials allows us to do a lot more projects. Without using sand that can beat up different surfaces, these materials can be used on aluminum, steel, wood, brick, plastic and even fiberglass.”

Recently have a project sandblasted that turned to rust in an instant? Not an issue at Midwest Media Blasting.” With wet blasting, there is a rust inhibitor mixed in during the actual stripping process and when the project is finished, it is also rinsed with another rust inhibitor, helping to ensure that the clean metal will not turn to rust upon completion. The company that we get our rust inhibitor from guarantees the product up to 72 hours to prevent rust from surfacing on the bare metal. If kept inside it can last for months. This makes the timeline stretch a little further for customer’s projects to get coated and painted.”

Having up to five various grits on hand, Midwest Media Blasting is able to maintain the smooth, glossy finish of aluminum without the use of body work and has also used these different grits to age woodwork. “We’ve taken the stain off old school desks, and aged oak for the historic Pettigrew House in Sioux Falls to match existing trim that needed to be replaced.”

Along with restoring items for the Historical Society, Midwest Media Blasting completed a hefty project of restoring the brick on the inside of the Traditions Furniture building in downtown Sioux Falls. After being plastered and painted over, Midwest Media Blasting was able to re-expose the brick walls that had not been seen for many years. “The historical society is trying to get buildings in downtown Sioux Falls back to what they originally were. This building had been added on multiple times and there were different kinds of brick with each addition. The tricky part was blasting over the older soft brick and the newer brick that had a different shape to it, and being able to work with those differences and not alter the integrity of the brick itself.” These types of projects are one of Langdon’s favorites. “I love doing the historical projects. It’s fun to see the project unfolding and to see the building come together is really neat. You get to see a lot of hidden things.”

A normal project for Midwest Media Blasting includes anything from classic cars, old coca-cola coolers, and even hockey net frames. “There’s usually either random parts from a vehicle, or a vehicle on a rotisserie that needs to be blasted in the shop. We do different projects all the time, and that’s what I really enjoy. I can do either large projects like the Traditions building, or that small piece of memorabilia, such as a Tonka truck you want restored. There’s always something different.”

Langdon grew up around vehicles for most of his life. His father owned a small car lot where he did body work and flipped cars. With this history, he has always had an interest in cars and has completed many restorations and builds for himself. Now, he has the ability to bring a little bit of nostalgia to his customers also. “It’s cool seeing the expressions of people who didn’t think their project could ever look like that, or seeing an item returned to its former glory. It definitely makes the work worth it.”

August 2015

View Online

More Issues

Midwest Media Blasting

Images