Which blast media?

-
ValiantOne

ValiantOne

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2008
Messages
1,117
Reaction score
210
Location
West "By God" Virginia
Hey all,

I use 60 grit aluminum oxide in my gunsmith/machine shop blast cabinet. Lately I have been using it on some front end parts and it just isn't aggressive enough for rusty scaly surfaces.

What do you recommend? I won't use any silica indoors and "black beauty" isn't much good either for a system that recycles the media. It just breaks down too quick in my experience.

What do you like?

Thanks

CE
 
Aluminum oxide works great for me.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Aluminum oxide works great for me.
Click to expand...

I use alum ox as my daily media as mentioned above, but I think the 60 grit was just too fine for the tough rust. The 36 grit is more aggressive.

It will be interesting to see how the Garnett holds up as compared to the alu ox.
 
garnet (I assume you bought the brown/red stuff) has a MOH hardness of 7 to 8.3 and usually can go about 6-8 cycles before it starts breaking down. you will have better life out of it as its more aggressive and will take longer to break down to your 60 grit. (3-4 hours of straight blasting probably)

aluminum oxide depending on what type your using has a MOH scale of 9 and 7- to 9 cycles before it starts breaking down. there are tons of different types of alox some better than others.

I am a blaster by trade and lately have been using the Hornet brand black garnet which is horneblend and garnet works ok but shatters quickly, the Barton brand red/brown from india (repackaged in New York) holds up best in my commercial stuff.

36 grit will give you an aggressive profile depending on your air pressure/volume. will be fast though
 
Chrisf, that is great info.

Yes I did get the brown/red stuff. It seems to be standing up fairly well. I have been using it for my daily blasting too. Once it breaks down a bit it is okay for my regular job.

As you are a blaster, what would you use/recommend for scaly, rusty steel?

Thanks,

CE
 
I use several different media, black beauty, sand, glass beads etc, depending on the job.
Call some of your local concrete places, most sell 50 lb bags of about any media, any grit.
 
not a fan of any slag (copper or coal) too dirty and has trace arsenic in it from the refining process. it also has water issues (nobody has ever had their black sand pot plug up have they? lol) sand is a no-no too.
I use glass on almost all of my stuff. grit depending on how rusty it is. I am not really a industrial blaster. we do more specialty stuff than just gravel boxes and truck frames. houses, fire damage, higher end cars, airplane stuff ect

im not afraid to use new medias and when I first started I bought every product in every grit I could get. all have their advantages and disadvantages

you will ask 10 blasters and get 15 different opinions on the best media. most industrial guys blast whats cheap to maximize profit. (black beauty) I blast what is best and worry about profit later. that's why I have customers from 500 miles away bringing me projects knowing they passed 10 blasters to get to me. I currently blast soda, walnut, glass (20-50, 30-60, 50-100, 100-200 and 250 grit) Garnet (red, green and black) alox, as well as a custom mix we have been making for wood products (furniture)

on the rusty scale chris, I would probably go a 30-60 maybe and quickly reblast with a 100-200 after to break the sharp edges down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top