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grit/beads for sand blasters


Badger90

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Glass beads (aka pearl beads) make alloy/copper/brass - look wonderful. Pre-painting should be done with oxide (wich is graded by coarsness in much the same way as sandpaper is). There's also chilled iron particles if you want to get a bit mental, copper slag, walnut shells, and the dreaded sand.

Les.

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Glass beads (aka pearl beads) make alloy/copper/brass - look wonderful. Pre-painting should be done with oxide (wich is graded by coarsness in much the same way as sandpaper is). There's also chilled iron particles if you want to get a bit mental, copper slag, walnut shells, and the dreaded sand.

Les.

I used chilled iron once, very expensive, very dense (you soon know about that after filling a 20 gall. pot!) and I walked it out of my blast room on my shoes, resulting in a trail of rust up and down my drive.

For the record, glass grit and glass beads are NOT the same animal.

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I shot-blasted my left knee with chilled iron particles at 120psi once after an oil rig pig trap fell over in the blast room and I fell over to get out of the way. I have to say that it was rather painful and I have the big scar 30-years later :(

Les :)

cooor bugger,

whats best for transfer box casing? beads isnt it?

i have stripped down ym old one and goignt o rebuild it.

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....

whats best for transfer box casing? beads isnt it?

i have stripped down ym old one and goignt o rebuild it.

I do a lot of ally engine casings. They come to me caked in mud and oil so I blast them with worn grit and finish off with glass beads, size 74-149 micron, Hodge Clemco Pt. No. 801AF. I use a low pressure, about 40 psi at the pot with no flow. They can be used several times.

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Which would be the best for fastest removal of crappy paint / rust from steel / iron? Nothing magic looking, just the most effective grit for large area crude removal.

Cheers, Al.

J-Blast Supafine is an expendable copper slag, it can be used several times, but gets dustier with each use. About £5.00 per 25 kg, or the glass grit I mentioned previously at about £6.50 per 25 kg. This is classed as expendable, but you need less air and it seems to last longer.

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For the record, glass grit and glass beads are NOT the same animal.

I see you have become enthusiastic about glass grit. How does it compare with aluminium oxide for removing material, and how does it compare with AO for re-usability?

I use about 60 psi, and just keep recycling the oxide, topping up the pressure pot with fresh as required. I assume that as the oxide particles become finer they get drawn out of the cabinet vent system.

I'm mostly cleaning steel of different descriptions, sometimes de-rusting, then welding or painting, sometimes just roughening for painting. I find with AO that I need to polish to a bright finish, with a flap wheel or similar, those areas I want to weld. I have concluded I'm removing Aluminium contamination by this final flap wheel clean.

It's private work, not commercial.

Cheers

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J-Blast Supafine is an expendable copper slag, it can be used several times, but gets dustier with each use. About £5.00 per 25 kg, or the glass grit I mentioned previously at about £6.50 per 25 kg. This is classed as expendable, but you need less air and it seems to last longer.

lost me now!!

the one im getting is them little 1L hand ones on the compressor not getting a big jobbie havnt enough work but that should do the trick for re-building stuf?

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David - I've never used Aluminium Oxide so I can't offer a comparison. It's expensive, but I suspect it will last longer.

Les - I think glass grit (made from bottle bank glass) is fairly new, but Hodge Clemco tell me they stopped selling it a while ago, so I'm confused! It's classed as expendable, but I've recycled it several times and it produces less dust than copper slag.

Badger - the blaster should give you a recommended grit size. If you're doing in open air go for the cheapest.

Orange - Glass beads aren't designed for removing paint, use a grit and finish off with beads for a nice finish, for a lovely finish polish and for a fantastic finish buff after polishing.

Sand - Kiln dried (paving laying) sand works very well. It is illegal to use it with compressed air, OK with air & water. A bag I "saw" had words to the effect that it shouldn't be used for blasting on a commercial basis (on premises covered by the Factories Act), I'm not sure about the legality of using it on a hobby basis. It is dangerous though and you should have regard for neighbours &c.

One-use grits can be recycled, you need to sieve it to get the big bits out and it helps to remove the dust with a fine sieve. I find the fluff filter from a tumble drier works perfectly for the latter. The dust produced is like talcum powder, blocks nozzles and prevents the grit feeding from the pot correctly.

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