Preferred Media

I am stripping down my '68 Plymouth GTX and plan to media blast the shell inside and out.
Normally I buy the cheap Black Beauty type media sold locally for this type of work.
Just wondering what others are using as a disposable media?
Floor Pan Front Right.JPG
 
Most "sand" also contains caustic salts, not something you want pounding into your sheet metal. I use garnet.
 
crushed glass. black beauty can be really aggressive and warp the crap out the sheetmetal.
 
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That's what I use in my blast cabinet. I may have an extra bucket but I am thinking it was a little expensive for single use.
I don't have a dedicated blast area and the only means of recovery would be plastic sheeting under the car and shop vac.
 
Most of the job I use crushed glass and I occasionally use StarBlast 101. I really like StarBlast but it is not as aggressive as crushed glass so you use more to get the same result. But the StarBlast is much less dust and generates less heat.
 
I ordered some crushed glass but had to also order a new nozzle for the pressure blaster. First time using a pressure blaster, in the past always used one of those siphon style blasters.
 
That's what I use in my blast cabinet. I may have an extra bucket but I am thinking it was a little expensive for single use.
I don't have a dedicated blast area and the only means of recovery would be plastic sheeting under the car and shop vac.
I don't have a blasting area either, so I just lay out a large sheet of plastic under whatever I am blasting, and I sweep up and screen the glass as necessary. I use the 40-70 grit crushed glass, and the recovery rate is surprisingly good. I probably lose a couple of handfuls out of each bucket. Plus the glass can be screened and reused a number of times before it becomes too fine to cut. My only complaint is that I can't buy it locally and the shipping really adds to the cost. Even so, because of the longevity of the glass, it probably washes out a lot of the cost vs. the cheaper, one use stuff.
John
 
I have the same problem here. Ended up ordering two 40# packages which cost about $65 shipped.
The guy who does blasting here town charges $90 an hour and pays some high school kid to do the blasting :eek: so I don't mind spending money on media.
 
None of my business BUT!!!

Using crushed glass in side a shop where painting is done, can cause issues and it shows up mostly in black ss or base clear.
A jobber called me last night with two shops in same day one a Diamont black and a PPG black having a slight metallic /pearl look.
Both shops use glass beads for blasting and it cause by the caused by the glass. (gets in the heating system and fine enough goes right through filters)
Not the first call I have had.
 
Thanks Barry, that is valuable information right there.
Do you know if they were blasting in one part of the shop while painting when this happened?
 
No the two shops yesterday had blasted in last week or so as i understand it.
I usually get these calls in winter so I'm guessing the fine dust is getting into the heating system.
If you recycle 80% average, where is the 20% going? No way a furnace or booth filter is fine enough to catch the dusting.
 
For the trunk of the Duster I used Coal Slag. It is VERY aggressive and it was still a challenge to get the deep rust like you are showing out. I have used Starblast as well but takes a long time to get that level of rust out. Does it matter much if you deform the metal much in floor pans and trunks?
 
I use 30/60 coal slag. It's the finest they have locally. I buy it by the 3000lb sack. It's a lot finer than the black beauty I used to use from Menards. I like it. It leaves a nice etch on the metal. But I don't lay into panels and those areas are already stripped by other means. I use it more for jambs, inside, rockers, firewall. Everywhere but down the side of a quarter or hood.

I have used it before on panels without damage but I wouldn't turn somebody loose without experience.

I always felt like glass beads was just dicking around. It does the job but leaves such smooth profile I ended up 80 griting floor pans and such. I use it in my small blast cabinet for hardware prep or mix it with coal slag for rust pit work. I know a lot of guys swear by it but that isn't me.
 
Brad, you said glass beads, if that is what you used you might want to try crushed glass. Beads have more rounded edges and crushed glass has sharp edges. Beads can only be recycled once, and crushed glass (I just found out) can be recycled 7 times, so they say. I recycle only a couple times.
 
i use starblast. it is rounded and has little to no embedment into the substrate . i recycle it 7 to 8 times depending on weather .
 
I don't have access to crushed glass locally. I imagine your right Chevman. Didn't think about the beads vs. crushed glass cutting different. With my setup I won't mess with recycling it.
 
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