Sand Blasting Cabinet ?????????????

[Bill in NJ]

OK I have had this for years. I bought it from TIP at a Hershey Pa meet.
Always used cheap sand in it and worked OK for me. Now I am wondering if switching over to glass bead is better, like a smoother finish, etc ?

What say you ?? Thanks in advance

[harleytoprock]

Glass beads do not imbed the metal and is suitable for internal engine, transmission parts etc. If your wanting to remove rust and paint, aluminum oxide is a good media. or just cheap sand.

[jmeckel]

Be careful with sand, it creates fine dust when it breaks apart. This is silica and will damage your lungs. You need a good air filter system to clean the air.

[Kevin in NJ]

Yes you will get different finishes.

First of are you using ceramic or carbide steel tips? This does not matter for the finish, but the way more expensive carbide noozles way way outlast the ceramics and are a much better value. Keep in mind you save money 2 ways. The ceramics have to be changed much more often and as the ceramic tips get wider you get slower cuts and use more air.

What are you trying to do? That drives what media you use.

If you are trying to do heavy cutting then you want a course material. Glass beads leave a much softer finish. Plastic media can be used to remove coatings and not harm finishes.

For all around work leaning more towards moderate rust removal I have been using the crushed autoglass and glass hybreds.

Never ran sand in the booth and you should not unless you are running a HEPA filter as the silacates are bad for your lungs. I run the HEPA filter on my unit because of the washable filter that goes before the motor. I already had one bearing go bad so this prevents the particles from getting in and through the motor.

I will also add. If you are using quick disconnect couplers you want to use the larger 3/8" units. They flow twice as much air as the 1/4" units.

That is my advice from many hours of standing infront of the booth trying to get my parts done.

[hardtimes]

Hey Kevin,
Great practical application info/help, thanks from the amateurs !

[Mitch//pa]

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i use this product from TP tools which is similar to aluminum oxide for all around use..
it also has very low dust
the grit is 50 and it costs 44.00 for 50lbs...i also use the carbide nozzles

[Tom Wesenberg]

I also use carbide nozzles. Because they last so much longer they are a much better value, as Kevin points out. I only used one bag of sand when I first built my cabinet. It was very dirty and broke up quickly. I use Black Beauty from Menards for almost all my blasting now. It's much quicker than sand, and leaves a good surface for the paint to bite into.

I use glass beads for things like pistons and gears, but you have to be careful that ALL glass beads are gone from the parts when you finish. In the 80's a student of mine used glass beads on his Ford van intake manifold during an engine rebuild. He didn't get all the beads out and the engine ran about 5 minutes then the beads melted into the ring grooves and stuck the rings. He had to do his engine over again.

BTW, Black Beauty is ground up coal slag (clinkers).

[LopezCarguy]

I have a bad boy blaster cabinet and run black beauty, Coal Slag..$26 for 50 pounds..cuts rust fast and leaves surface perfect for primer to hold onto..don't know about environmental issues like black lung disease from coal..but then I'm firm believer in Red Foxes statement.. damned if I want to go to hospital and die from nothing....

[Russ/40]

Originally Posted by Bill in NJ

OK I have had this for years. I bought it from TIP at a Hershey Pa meet.
Always used cheap sand in it and worked OK for me. Now I am wondering if switching over to glass bead is better, like a smoother finish, etc ?

What say you ?? Thanks in advance

As has been mentioned, glass beads give a very nice finish without cutting softer metals. Carbs, fuel pumps, etc are clean and undamaged. Glass beads are more expensive and do degenerate rather quickly. They are not preferred for rust removal but do the job on rust reasonably, as long as your not doing large items.

[spdway1]

I use black magic from Tractor Supply. They sell a few different grits.

[1930pu]

I have a tip blaster also, when I took my wheels etc. to get powdercoated I asked what they use. They use recycled glass, I tried it and like it, it is about 8.00 for 50lbs from a hardware supplier here, I use it in my sandblaster too, I reuse it 3 times, then get rid of it, not much dust and the moisture doesn't seem to affect it as much

[Alaska Mike]

I use my sandblaster on a regular basis. One of the reasons glass bead breaks down is too much pressure. I shoot about everything at 45 lbs of pressure or less. Different grades of glass bead will produce varying results on varying surfaces. Remember blasting is very similar to sanding. If you want to remove something fast, use a coarse grade and then blast again with finer and finer grades to get the finish you want.

One of my favorites is baking soda. It will take most paint and leave the metal untouched. I buy it a swimming pool supply house in 50 lb. bags. Walnut shells and corn cobs also have their place.

We blast everything from aluminum parts for motorcycles to plastic moulding for engine covers, again many times with several steps.

Blasting is much like anything else, experiment with it and you will learn lots of tricks.