I got a new cabinet style sandblaster last week and am setting up my shop for my future ventures. I have a desiccant dryer on the way and was at TSC today and saw they carried the Black Diamond sandblasting media.

Have any of ya'll had any experience with that stuff. It had no info on suggested uses, I know from looking around glass beads are optimum for what I will be doing for the most part....cast aluminum.

I was planning on getting it from the same place I got my blast cabinet and other equipment, but TSC is local the other is not and would involve shipping.

Oh, I'm not worried about shipping costs cause I'm looking at ordering more stuff anyhow. Thanks for any info

Shawn

 

Try copper slag. It stays sharper longer than glass bead.

 

Wait for P.J. to chime in on this before you buy anything.

 

I've used black beauty and glass bead before, they both work good. At work when we run out of blasting media we use the sand from our locomotives. Its silica sand, its used to get them traction when the wheels slip but it also work great a blasting media. It is a little on the aggressive side, as it will wear out the nozzle and "fog" up the glass faster.

 

I had an injection pump case in the blast cab tonight. I tried walnut shell media for the heck of it but it won't strip the cummins engine paint off. Paint stripper don't quite get it done either. I usually use glass beads for aluminum or more aggressive silica sand on rusty steel/iron, but I am leary to glass bead this, even staying away from the machined surfaces.

Open to thoughts and suggestions.

 

"Black Diamond" should be nothing more than coal slag ()

You want to look for either melamine (plastic bead), aluminum oxide or maybe garnet.

Each of those are fairly expensive, but will last over 9 times longer than any "one and done" media you are going to buy.

We are currently using 100% crushed recycled glass. We get 44,000 lbs at a time in 3K lb. super sacks. Getting your media locally would be nice, freight is going to KILL the per lb. price. Super cheap, but it is one and done. We blast in a 8X16 room, pushing 185CFM @ 95 psi. so recovery isn't like in a cabinet.

Check out Optima Materials, Omni Finishing Systems and Norton websites just for reference on what meidas to use for what.
It if were me, I would grab some 36 or smaller Aluminum Oxide and roll with it. It is one of the best all around medias, lasts a long time, leaves a nice finish and contains less than 1% free silica *(the stuff in sand that will eventually kill you).
Good luck, let me know if you have any other specific questions.

 

Aluminum Oxide can be bought for about $.40 a lb, but remember it will go a minimum of 9 complete cycles before it breaks down. You will want to add "virgin" media into the mix every so often to keep it fresh. It's just a shame to use something else (by product such as copper or coal slag) when they will only clean at their best the very first time they strike your part.

Stay away from sand, for multiple reasons. If you are going to use a product with high free silica, you might as well look into some asbestos insulation and a fresh coat of lead based paint for your house while your at it.

 

When you sandblast media......doesnt it scratch thier camera lenses and ruin thier microphones??????yuk-yuk-yuk.

 

Trying to get people to not call what we use SAND is a losing battle.

 

The local outfit here that i take stuff to is named "Media Air-Blast"......sounds like a newsreporter with flatuance

 

Two of the places we buy nozzles and other equipment from are not even allowed to utter the word sand. It's printed on all their advertising and right on the blast pot that their stuff if NOT to be used for blasting with Silica Sand.

I guess it is supposed to take them out of the legal loop? Either way, sand is nasty stuff. Dusty, smelly and leaves powdery residue all over your parts. I actually pay about $.05 per lb. less for glass than I did for sand a few years ago.

 

Pj Have You Ever Blasted With Soda ? I Have A Small Spot Blaster -for Stone Chips &so Forth -its Not As Agressive Bit Ive Been Pleased With Results So Far.
Claude

 

Years ago I blasted a four wheeler frame with 50lb bags of sugar from Sams.

 

No, we haven't. The equipment is different from regular media blast pots.

It's very popular around here though, with environmental standards tightening, soda blasting is becoming the standard for marine work. It is pretty cool too, considering when you are done is washes away to nothing.

We feel like crushed (recycled) glass is a nice choice, it cuts well, is cleaned to USDA standards before it is processed and clean our parts far better than other medias we have used and is somewhat reclaimable with the proper equipment. Funny, when we talk about the glass, people assume it is sharp like glass. To the contrary, somehow the way it is crushed leaves it angular, but not like the normal broken glass you would imagine. I can pick up a handful of it and rub my hands together vigorously, heck I'd even go as far as to say you could roll around in it without a shirt on. We used about 65,000 lbs over the last year or so and have yet to hear of someone being cut by it.



If you do a google search for "Crushed glass uses" you'll find that it is catching on all over the place. Which, is probably a bad thing for me.....

Broward County has used glass to help with their beach erosion problems, the Navy has all but totally switched over to it for their blasting operations. It is spec'd all the time now for bridge work, you name it.


Sorry for the rant and half thread-jack, if you can't tell I am still enthused about the business.

 

Thanks for the info P.J, sounds like you kinda know what your talkin' about!! Thanks again, I'll check on that aluminum oxide "media"