Hi

Does anyone know of a good website or book with advice on grit/sand/bead blasting? I've had a look on google and found a few corporate bits and pieces but a no-nonsence guide would be good.

I've just got a new attachment for my compressor and been playing yesterday with aluminium oxide grit - nice results especially on cast iron items.

Things I'd wished I'd known before I played:

The grit really does get EVERYWHERE (even when you think you contained/masked things up)

It uses a load more than you think

can it be re-used???

Thanks
James

Grit can be re used, i have a small self contained unit, small parts only, the grit gets sucked up a tube into the gun and blast out, then falls to the bottom of the cabinet and gets re-used. It does however need replacing every so often.

A mate has a system like yours and he use's it inside a old green house, still very messy but it helps.

I'm no expert but have sandblasted a few bits myself, aluminium oxide is a good blast media but can be expensive, some people use kiln dried sand but this is a big health and safety risk and can cause silicosis.

Yes you can re-use the media but it will become blunt in time, if using a cabinet it's fairly easy to gather up to recycle but if doing large components not so easy. I've see commercial blasters that blast inside a shipping container and literally shovel up the media for re-use.

Yes, it does get absolutely everywhere usually including your nether regions!

Regards

Frank

Damn Too slow!

[Edited on 24/2/08 by fatfranky]

I used to use an old caravan

As you say it gets every where.

To be honest I found that it was easier to let some one elts do it

Would be handy to be able to do the odd bracket on a sunday afternoon tho.

The media is or was cheap when I used to get it from a paint refinishers and not machine mart.

Thanks for the info.. anyone got a good guide for when to use oxide vs sand vs walnut shell etc? and if any metals are sensitive to being blasted with one particular product or not?

I'm wary of blasting thin metal or machined surfaces since I don't want to ruin anything - might give the diff casing a blasting during the week!

I've built a temporary blasting box and thought I'd sealed it ok - the black snot in my left nostril says otherwise!! Better mask required...

I have a pressure pot blaster (home made) and an unlimited supply of FOC glass bead blast media...............

still haven't solved how to keep it inside anything though!

I have a crappy machine mart cabinet, keep looking for an industrial jobbie which might actually work.