Glass Beading Pressure Question

[Junkman]

I have a small blast cabinet with glass beds in it. I was told that I should limit it to 40 PSI. Problem is that it is taking me forever to clean almost anything that I try, and it isn't doing a good job. What pressure do you use with glass beads? I am thinking of switching out the media, and would like suggestions for mild steel clean up of old auto parts.
thanks

 

[JoeFin]

You can get a variety of blasting medias but personally I prefer glass bead at about 60 psi.

But if you have old under carriage parts your trying to clean up you'll need some thing with a much heavier cut. You can try "Steel Grit" at about $50 a 25 lb bucket or go all the way to a "Silicon Carbide" at $140 a 50 lb bucket

 

[AllAboutTools]

aluminum oxide

 

[JABgj]

Glass beads work good but wear out fast and the dust is nasty for your lungs. AlOx cuts fast and holds up pretty well. Do the best you can on dust control for your health what ever you use.

 

[John Timmins]

I use ground glass at 60PSI. Most of the stripping I do is done on vintage Mercury outboard motors made form 1958-62. The aluminum is blasted to bare metal and it has a nice matte finish....clean, prime, paint.

I think you should crank it up unless the glass beads are an issue. I never used them, just ground glass. The next time I need blasting media I will get a bucket of it from the Snap-On man. The price is pretty good especially when S.O. has a variety of SIZES of media. I am confident it is consistant. S.O. also has a variety to choose from.

I don't want to mention any names, but some places only have one bag of ground glass to choose from. The media must work with the nozzle you have. I don't want a bag that has small, medium, and large media in it.