abrasive for sandblasting?

[Oleh]

What is good abrasive for sandblasting?

[dr_hunt]

sand works, as does that new plastic media. I think that the better graded the sand is the more uniform the results are. Typically it's a silica sand, hard to find only several sources in the US. I think any sand will work as long as you don't try to re-use it without screening out the fines and paint/rust chips.

[Lighft01]

I use a black sand, low free silica is what it says on the bag. I get it from northern tool for 6 bucks for an 40 lb bag. Works excellent and is easy to sweep up. I use a flour sifter to seperate the big chunks from the good sand, and reuse it about 2-3 times before its just too fine to use anymore. Dont use it inside your garage it makes a huge mess, i found out the hard way.

[Sparks280zt]

At work we use Black Beauty to blast up rust scale on fuel tank floors, it works real well. You can get it at equipment rental places for $7 - $12 for a 50 lb bag. I would never use it on body parts as it will warp the heck out of them. I know Austin uses glass bead on most of his blasting projects and it seems to work well.

[Cruez]

The Black Beauty stuff works good... Garnet seems to have a longer lifespan... but its a little more expensive. Not much though...

[2003z]

If you use sand, wear a respirator as the silica is dangerous when inhaled (long term)

[SHO-Z]

One thing I found that worked good is to build a wood box about 12" deep and line it with plastic sheet. I used it to blast my alloy wheels; they were black from years of neglect. About 90% of the sand stayed in the box for reuse. Wear a good respirator not one of the paper throw away ones and goggles. Also blast in a well ventilated area.

 

Be Safe!!!!

[AK-Z]

I'm a advicate of soda blasting (course baking soda used for paint removal). It takes off paint well with out being to abrative to the metal, takes off rust but not as well as sand. It also disolves unlike sand.

[SportZ2]

Copper Slag works great. But if you don't plan to recapture it you will have a heck of a mess since it is black. Great thing about it is there is no dust/dirt in it at all. About $5.00 a bag.