Starting new build - 48x24 RFS right side firebox

[redblotch83]

Hello Everyone! Work got me busy for the last few months and to be honest, once I got her to a place where I could use her I stopped working. Smoking meat is so much more enjoyable than grinding and welding and grinding and welding and ugh. But I'm picking it back up this weekend. Just have to build the counterweight and paint her. That's where today's question comes in. Since I had been lazy about finishing it I ended up getting some rush on the bottom and around the welds. So to prepare for painting, I decided based on some forums here that I would get it sandblasted. Since I've been slammed at work, and I don't own a sand blaster, I decided to reach out locally to have someone come to the house and perform the task. The company I ended up going with used a "dustless" sand blasting technique and based on their website it looked like it would be great. (They usually do the blasting on older automotive bodies.) So, they came today and when they were done she immediately began to form a very thin layer of dust. I'm sure I messed up and probably should have just hired regular sand blasting, but I wanted to post a pic for you guys to look at and tell me what you thought. As he was blasting, it looked so pretty and grey! And this also is my only foray into metal working, so I'm completely new to this. Maybe this is very typical. But I really trust you guys, so I thought I would post a pic and see what y'all thought. I mean, I'm sure I can grind/sand her down with a very fine pad, but the reason I went with the sand blasting vs just grinding her all over was that I didn't want to have to spend days grinding on it. Thoughts?

[mp4]

I don't believe that the surface rust you are seeing is a problem. Paint away...

[Dirtytires]

I'd wipe it down with a good solvent to get the dust off and spray it immediately. Would not worry about the light oxidation.

[redblotch83]

Thanks guys! Went great! Will upload final pic later on.