Best media for blasting?

Dub

Dub

Administrator
1) What media do you prefer for blasting sheet metal?

2) What media is best for heavy rusted parts like suspension pieces?

It's been years since I've used anything but my spot blaster. I just dug out my old pressure pot blaster and figured I'd give it a go. My blasting guy sold out and the new guy doubled the prices.
 
IMO, i love crushed glass for blasting sheetmetal. I know lots of guys hate sand, but to me sand is the best i've seen to get the metal clean and white. Talking extra fine grade blasting sand. By "best" i mean in a business sense. There are obviously others better but have to look at cost and reclaim. We dont have a reclaim booth. With that being said, i dont have experience with EVERY blasting media out there, but we have tried a good bit of them. Considering the drawbacks from using sand (health hazzards and the possibility of promoting rust) i believe that the recycled crushed glass is the next best thing for open air blasting. Leaves the same fine texture that the sand would leave and really gets the metal white without beating it up.

I think black beauty does a good job of blasting the heavy rusted suspension parts. It can be a pain to clean the parts afterwards though as it seems the BB kind of embeds in the metal, but some good compressed air will do the job. Seems that it is really the only stuff that will get this nasty undercoating off of some of these old cars.

Probably going to have a mixture of replies on this, but i know a lot here like the crushed glass. I use it in my blast cabinet also.
 
have to agree totally with jeremy. almost everyone here dropped everything they were using and has moved to crushed recycled glass.
 
I'm using glass for sheet metal now. Was just wondering if there was something better or not. But up north here where rust is the word, glass just doesnt cut threw the heavy rust on suspension parts like sand. But before I revert back to sand I'd like to know if there is anything better I could be using. I'm just like everyone else I want to know the BEST way to do everything.
 
Hmmm, the glass should be cutting through fairly heavy rust no problem and should be as good or better than sand. The biggest user of the stuff is bridge and ship blasting. Doesnt get more rusty than that. It does make a difference on the grade though. If your glass is very fine, more like powder then thats why. Stuff i use is more like coarse beach sand or 50 blasting sand. If you need something that cuts faster then black beauty would the only thing because its so sharp. If your in a cabinet then alum oxide.
 
Good to know. Thanks a bunch. If the rep I have knew anything I would have asked him. I will see if he can order me some coarser glass. I hate the idea of going back to sand. And with so many options out there now, I'd hate to buy them all and learn the hard way.
 
Yes, i have some of what they call fine glass. More like baby powder consistancy. Great stuff but wont remove rust. I use it in a small handheld blaster for deglossing. Its nice, it cleanes and deglosses paint, chrome, etc without removing material. Its like spray on sandpaper. Great for door jambs, engine bays, etc. What would take 3 hrs with a scotchbrite i can do in 5 min.
 
We use steel grit where I work but you wouldn't want to use it on auto work.
 
A friend of mine has an automatic blast machine that uses steel. Works really well on stuff like wheels and heavier steel parts but never sheetmetal. Itll warp the crap out of it.
 
The steel grit is good on heavier stuff but I would hate to see what it would do to sheet metal. We use it for blasting railroad tank cars.
 
does any one use black beauty? I just baought a huge double cabinet blaster here at the school wondering what to put in it.
 
dant;11655 said:
does any one use black beauty? I just baought a huge double cabinet blaster here at the school wondering what to put in it.
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we do, but for only hard rusty steel like frames and underbodies/interiors. I wouldn't use it in a blast cabinet. The crushed glass works perfect in a blast cabinet.
 
i have used glass and black beauty in a cabinet. both work great when new BUT they break down quick and become really fine. as a guess i would say you get about 3 cycles. for a cabinet, best thing to use is aluminum oxide. that stuff is bad ass. leaves a great finish and last a long time. it is more expensive than the other two but like i said it last longer and keeps cutting. another thing with bb in a cabinet is unless you have a good vacuum system it makes the cabinet dark since the dust is black. makes it hard to see.
 
Desertdave, the cost appears to around $50. For comparison I can get a bag of ultra fine sand for $8.
 
DavidL;20591 said:
Desertdave, the cost appears to around $50. For comparison I can get a bag of ultra fine sand for $8.
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That would be ok for a blasting cabinet, but not for blasting outdoors on body panels. I'll stick with my HomeDepot sand for $3.50 a bag.
 
I was quoted $8.90 for an 60# bag of VitroGrit picked up at the distribution warehouse.

Seems reasonable to me that the price has undoubtedly went up some as the quote was last fall.

Next time I go visit my son I will be picking up 15 bags.
 
Senile Old Fart;20598 said:
I was quoted $8.90 for an 60# bag of VitroGrit picked up at the distribution warehouse.

Seems reasonable to me that the price has undoubtedly went up some as the quote was last fall.

Next time I go visit my son I will be picking up 15 bags.
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Now, $9.00 a bag I could do, but not $50.00.
 
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