Which blasting media

[American Locomotive]

We have a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet. We still have the siphon gun, but we did the "dual tube" mod to it. We also built a dust collection system and added more lights. The cabinet and gun works okay

The biggest problem we have is the media. We're using the "Black Diamond" coal slag from Tractor Supply and besides making a lot of dust, it just doesn't last. It seems like it only works well right out of the bag, then it rapidly starts to decrease in effectiveness. Some Googlin' online suggests that's just the nature of it.

Is there a media that will still cut heavy rust/paint, but last longer? Aluminum oxide? Steel shot? Glass beads? I know eventually any media will start to degrade, but it just doesn't seem like the coal slag works for very long at all.

 

[plinker]

Crushed glass works well for rust/paint, not sure how it compare to coal slag though. May depend on grit. Garnet seemed to have much better life over the crushed glass when I played with it in a Speedblaster. Never used aluminum oxide or shot, so cant really say how it would compare. I do know glass beads do not cut as well as crushed glass.

 

[cvairwerks]

Might need to play with blasting pressure some. I know that with glass beads you need to turn it down quite a bit.

 

[LS1-IROC]

Aluminum oxide is the best bang for your buck hands down. There are longer lasting abrasives grains but they are more expensive and harder to aquire.

 

[GeoBruin]

Might need to play with blasting pressure some. I know that with glass beads you need to turn it down quite a bit.

Yes, you can oblitetate your media and it becomes much less effective quickly if your pressure is too high. I switched from glass beads to crushed glass which cuts faster and was able to get similar performance with lower pressures which helped my media last longer.

 

[bugzilla46310]

We have a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet. We still have the siphon gun, but we did the "dual tube" mod to it. We also built a dust collection system and added more lights. The cabinet and gun works okay

The biggest problem we have is the media. We're using the "Black Diamond" coal slag from Tractor Supply and besides making a lot of dust, it just doesn't last. It seems like it only works well right out of the bag, then it rapidly starts to decrease in effectiveness. Some Googlin' online suggests that's just the nature of it.

Is there a media that will still cut heavy rust/paint, but last longer? Aluminum oxide? Steel shot? Glass beads? I know eventually any media will start to degrade, but it just doesn't seem like the coal slag works for very long at all.

What is the dual tube mod? I just bought a used cabinet and am using whatever Menards has. Works great on rust, is awful dusty and not enough time to determine how long it lasts. One mod I did is it needed a new viewing “glass”. I had some 1/4’ plexiglass and just cut the original out leaving 1/2“ around the perimeter. I just set the new plexiglass on there. Makes putting things in easier and doesn’t leak dust and makes replacing it a breeze.

 

[Rinspeed]

Aluminum oxide is the best bang for your buck hands down. There are longer lasting abrasives grains but they are more expensive and harder to aquire.

This.

 

[txvwnut]

I use garnet in mine. As stated put a pressure regulator on your cabinet, I run mine between 40 and 50psi depending on how well its working to remove whatever I'm blasting.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I use glass beads in an average size cabinet and alox in the Mongo unit. The glass bead cabinet gets the more detailed type parts and the large cabinet gets paint and rust items. The minimum amount of media is in each unit that it will blast with, as by having dust separators it slowly becomes a total loss system over time by the nuisance dust being rejected to the catch bin. I add a pint of media as needed and use it until performance decreases a bit, then add another. This keeps an average of decent abrasive in the unit most of the time, somewhat self changing. I blast until a performance drop off, then do a fingertip over the nozzle with a back pressure purge to be sure of no clog. If performance stays the same I add a pint of media and it goes back to work. When the nuisance dust bin gets dumped about every year the dust is a fine grey dust the consistency of face power.

 

[bugzilla46310]

I use glass beads in an average size cabinet and alox in the Mongo unit. The glass bead cabinet gets the more detailed type parts and the large cabinet gets paint and rust items. The minimum amount of media is in each unit that it will blast with, as by having dust separators it slowly becomes a total loss system over time by the nuisance dust being rejected to the catch bin. I add a pint of media as needed and use it until performance decreases a bit, then add another. This keeps an average of decent abrasive in the unit most of the time, somewhat self changing. I blast until a performance drop off, then do a fingertip over the nozzle with a back pressure purge to be sure of no clog. If performance stays the same I add a pint of media and it goes back to work. When the nuisance dust bin gets dumped about every year the dust is a fine grey dust the consistency of face power.

Do you have a vacuum hooked up to your cabinet? Although the media I use is dusty, the vacuum keeps it manageable. I use a small shop vac attached to the vacuum port on my cabinet.

 

[dkmc]

Alox is pretty aggressive and long lasting over slag or glass beads.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Do you have a vacuum hooked up to your cabinet? Although the media I use is dusty, the vacuum keeps it manageable. I use a small shop vac attached to the vacuum port on my cabinet.

The large cabinet uses a 4 inch suction line from the lower cone to a cyclone separator, then on to a filter bag house with 15 filter bags to then get rid of nuisance dust and return the solid media to a collection cone to return it to the gun. Absolutely no issue to see what you are doing in that cabinet. The smaller cabinet running glass beads and 2-1/2” suction to a cyclone separator is another story even with the cyclone separator.

 

[dkmc]

The large cabinet uses a 4 inch suction line from the lower cone to a cyclone separator, then on to a filter bag house with 15 filter bags to then get rid of nuisance dust and return the solid media to a collection cone to return it to the gun. Absolutely no issue to see what you are doing in that cabinet. The smaller cabinet running glass beads and 2-1/2” suction to a cyclone separator is another story even with the cyclone separator.

The larger cabinet looks similar to my Abrasive Blast Systems cabinet....

 

[Steve_P]

I use Aluminum Oxide. I also have a cabinet with glass beads. Alox is much more aggressive than glass beads; I typically only use glass beads on bare aluminum parts. With a suction gun, I use something like 80 psi with the Alox and 40 with glass beads. The cheapest option for an aggressive media would be blasting sand, but Alox lasts much longer.

 

[American Locomotive]

We ended up going with Aluminum Oxide. It is working very well so far. The purchase price compared to slag definitely hurt, but the comparisons I was reading say it should last 20-30x longer, so it should be worth it.

 

[OccupantRJ]

The larger cabinet looks similar to my Abrasive Blast Systems cabinet....

@dkmc, I do believe you are correct, my man. That is the closest a cabinet has looked to mine yet! The color, and design and attachment of the suction tubes along with other details give it away. I have always been curious who made it but in the poking around previously nothing quite similar came up. The bags I bought recently were the only non generic parts I have had to buy in 30 years for it, so that is a plus. It has a 4 tube fluorescent fixture bolted to the top of it and if the ballast ever goes out I will convert it to LED. With alox used in it you can see amazingly well in it to the point that I generally do not even think about it.
The smaller cabinet has a single incandescent bulb in a box housing on top and I think I will try a screw in LED bulb I found in the store room in it. The smaller glass bead cabinet is used for finer touches, and the alox has spoiled me for removing paint and rust. If the bulb makes no noticeable improvement a different light system may be in order. I have completed all my larger machine refurbs for the moment so I try to keep a few small projects on the back burner to prevent retirement boredom.

 

[OccupantRJ]

In case anyone is interested, the green used on my cabinets was pretty much a match for the original green. There was a line of Kangaroo gas stations here that got remodeled and this is the trim color they had mixed at Sherwin Williams. It is an industrial enamel that I bought new at Restore and was labeled as Kangaroo green. I paid only $8 for a new gallon after the remodel company donated to Habitat Restore at the end of the jobs. If the label is still viable I can try to get a pic of the mix formula for someone.

 

[OccupantRJ]

We ended up going with Aluminum Oxide. It is working very well so far. The purchase price compared to slag definitely hurt, but the comparisons I was reading say it should last 20-30x longer, so it should be worth it.

Glad that it is working for you. I only keep about 2-3 pints of alox in my large cabinet and add more as needed to keep the flow consistent as with the dust separator it slowly depletes along with the nuisance dust and ends up in the flywaste bin. I have found that the weight of large amounts of media can be detrimental to a suction type cabinet with some feed designs.

 

[dkmc]

In case anyone is interested, the green used on my cabinets was pretty much a match for the original green. There was a line of Kangaroo gas stations here that got remodeled and this is the trim color they had mixed at Sherwin Williams. It is an industrial enamel that I bought new at Restore and was labeled as Kangaroo green. I paid only $8 for a new gallon after the remodel company donated to Habitat Restore at the end of the jobs. If the label is still viable I can try to get a pic of the mix formula for someone.

Just saw this now in stopping by. Zero email notifications on new posts. If you can still read the label, I'd like to know the details.

 

[dkmc]

RJ .......attached here is a PDF with various info on the Abrasive Blast Systems cabinets

 

[NUTTSGT]

I know what people say but mine is vented outside via a shop vac. Silica sand. Yeah, probably no worse than the guy stuck in the sand trap at the golf course.

 

[JABgj]

AlOx is a good choice and comes in various particle/screen sizes. Choose size based on orfice, nozzle and PSI being used. It will also wear out your nozzle and gun.

 

[dkmc]

I know what people say but mine is vented outside via a shop vac. Silica sand. Yeah, probably no worse than the guy stuck in the sand trap at the golf course.

Breathing the fine dust containing silica is what's dangerous when blasting with silica.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Just saw this now in stopping by. Zero email notifications on new posts. If you can still read the label, I'd like to know the details.

I will sure try to look for you.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I know what people say but mine is vented outside via a shop vac. Silica sand. Yeah, probably no worse than the guy stuck in the sand trap at the golf course.

If you ever get a chance to get hold of an internal draft blower you will love it since you vent outside. The volume of air moved is impressive And way quieter than a shop vac. Of course, the abrasive fly waste is going to wear out anything over a period of time.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Breathing the fine dust containing silica is what's dangerous when blasting with silica.

I'll agree with that and why I have it vented to the outside.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Just saw this now in stopping by. Zero email notifications on new posts. If you can still read the label, I'd like to know the details.

@dkmc

 

[OccupantRJ]

I had a half sheet of expanded metal in my storage barn, so yesterday I took the fine thin screen sheet out of the Trinco blasting cabinet to make an improvement. My son had bead blasted some heavier parts and managed to warp up the screen tumbling the parts around as he blasted. It was stretched and sagging between the three support cross bars. After I got it out and managed to massage it back into shape by flexing and with a dead blow mallet, I cut a support screen out of the heavier expanded metal to help prevent a further similar situation. The original small screen will flex to install, but I had to cut a couple of notches out of the heavier screen to just be able to clear the glove snouts. It is in there now and hopefully will improve support.

 

[lbhsbz]

I only use glass bead in my cabinets now. It does not work as good as aluminum oxide, but it is easier to deal with. Aluminum oxide will eat the gun and the nozzles....carbide nozzles are almost a requirement, and they tend to live about 50 hours or so (at least in my setup). Guns don't last too long either before they have holes worn in them. In a smaller cabinet, you'll also go through glass and glass protectors in a hurry. I can't stand the protectors, so I was changing a piece of glass every hour or so when running the Al Ox because I simply couldn't see though it anymore, just from the blowback hitting it and tearing it up. Glass bead doesn't have any of these problems.

Most paint comes off pretty good with glass bead. Harder paint and powdercoat does not. I invested in a really expensive $500/5 gallon jug of some nasty stripper for powdercoat....let it soak it for 30 minutes or so, then the remaining comes off pretty easy in the blast cabinet.

 

[dkmc]

I was changing a piece of glass every hour or so when running the Al Ox because I simply couldn't see though it anymore, just from the blowback hitting it and tearing it up.

I installed window screen spaced 1" off the inside glass. It helps, it deflects a large percentage of the particles barreling toward the glass.

 

[OccupantRJ]

My large cabinet has a rectangular vent opening positioned right above the view window. I use 1/4” plexi window and only have to change it every couple of years or so. The baghouse draft blower is 4 inch diameter and so is the lower cabinet extraction tube. This apparently sets up a strong down flow across the window to air scrub and help protect it. I have a piece of expanded metal inside the raised perimeter of the intake opening along with a section of 1/8” window ac filter over it for an air intake filter.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Since I was involved yesterday with the support screen on the smaller Trinco cabinet I decided to make seeing what was being blasted a bit better. I replaced the viewing window, then removed the external light housing to clean the light window and replace the incandescent bulb with an LED I had around. It made quite the difference. Next trip to town I will get a new piece of plexi for the light window to make things even better. It about time to paint another coat of white paint on the inside of the cabinet as it makes for better viewing. That paint has lasted 14 years in there.

 

[Steve_P]

I only use glass bead in my cabinets now. It does not work as good as aluminum oxide, but it is easier to deal with. Aluminum oxide will eat the gun and the nozzles....carbide nozzles are almost a requirement, and they tend to live about 50 hours or so (at least in my setup). Guns don't last too long either before they have holes worn in them. In a smaller cabinet, you'll also go through glass and glass protectors in a hurry. I can't stand the protectors, so I was changing a piece of glass every hour or so when running the Al Ox because I simply couldn't see though it anymore, just from the blowback hitting it and tearing it up. Glass bead doesn't have any of these problems.

Most paint comes off pretty good with glass bead. Harder paint and powdercoat does not. I invested in a really expensive $500/5 gallon jug of some nasty stripper for powdercoat....let it soak it for 30 minutes or so, then the remaining comes off pretty easy in the blast cabinet.

A decent two stage paint, even acrylic enamel, is a nearly impossible to remove with glass beads - Al-Ox still struggles but it's magnitudes faster. If you want to remove a coat of Krylon, then maybe ok. But even blasting rusty steel parts takes sooooo much longer in comparison between the two. And yeah, powder coating basically laughs at even Al-Ox. The best way to remove paint is like you said- chemical stripper, and then a final blast- much cheaper, and faster, than running a compressor for hours to achieve the same results.

I used blasting sand for years in a cabinet and that also goes thru ceramic nozzles quickly. When I use up my ceramic nozzles then I'll move to carbide. I haven't really noticed any lifespan difference on the ceramic nozzles between sand and Al-Ox but won't doubt that it exists. And of course, yes, glass beads are much easier on consumables, by definition. So, it obviously depends on what you're working with on the decision on what blasting media to use. I wouldn't want to blast dozens of old rusty suspension parts, let alone a bridge, for new paint with glass beads.

 

[OccupantRJ]

A tip to use with your blast cabinet. When placing parts in the cabinet that can be hard to pick up with the gloves, keep a wood block in the cabinet at all times that a part can be placed on to get a better grip.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Sand Blasting . . .

So I've owned the Black Bull gravity fed sand blaster for about 5 years. It works "okay" but recently it's been really unimpressive. Getting more air out the gun then abrasive. Then I "jiggle the handle" and it works again as intended. I've kicked around the idea of a blasting cabinet, as this...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[dkmc]

Couple different kinds of good paint stripper

https://generalchem.com/product/strippaint-9900 Can get 1 gallon jug

https://powderstrip.com/product/eco-strip/ Only 5 gal minimum

 

[lbhsbz]

A decent two stage paint, even acrylic enamel, is a nearly impossible to remove with glass beads - Al-Ox still struggles but it's magnitudes faster. If you want to remove a coat of Krylon, then maybe ok. But even blasting rusty steel parts takes sooooo much longer in comparison between the two. And yeah, powder coating basically laughs at even Al-Ox. The best way to remove paint is like you said- chemical stripper, and then a final blast- much cheaper, and faster, than running a compressor for hours to achieve the same results.

I used blasting sand for years in a cabinet and that also goes thru ceramic nozzles quickly. When I use up my ceramic nozzles then I'll move to carbide. I haven't really noticed any lifespan difference on the ceramic nozzles between sand and Al-Ox but won't doubt that it exists. And of course, yes, glass beads are much easier on consumables, by definition. So, it obviously depends on what you're working with on the decision on what blasting media to use. I wouldn't want to blast dozens of old rusty suspension parts, let alone a bridge, for new paint with glass beads.

I blast 50 + year old brake calipers all the time....and I don't notice any difference in rust removal (scaley rust yes....normal old iron rust...no). I run 90psi with a good gun and not a POS harbor freight setup though.....I had a HF cabinet in the beginning....it was the most horrible thing ever. I have a Kelco and a Cyclone now with Skat Blast guns and pick up tubes and a good air supply (OK air supply....80 gallon 5 hp ingersoll compressor) and everything but powdercoat comes of pretty quick

 

[OccupantRJ]

ALC Soda Blasting Conversion Kit for ALC media blaster. Needed? 3/32 Orifice?

I have a good old ALC sandblaster. I need to do some soda blasting. ALC has a conversion kit. Around $180. From what I can tell, it's just made up on parts that you can piece together from Wal-Depot, for a fraction of the price. However, when searching the interwebs, I did find a post that...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[OccupantRJ]

Cheaper alternative blasting media to Skat Blast® Speed Bead?

https://www.tptools.com/Skat-Blast-Speed-Bead-Abrasive,10574.html?b=d*8019 $75 plus another $20 shipping is too much for a 45 pound bag when just a couple of years ago it was like $60 total for 50 pounds. I figure I go through 2-3 bags a year. Anything similar at a better price, preferably...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[oldwelder]

We have a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet. We still have the siphon gun, but we did the "dual tube" mod to it. We also built a dust collection system and added more lights. The cabinet and gun works okay

The biggest problem we have is the media. We're using the "Black Diamond" coal slag from Tractor Supply and besides making a lot of dust, it just doesn't last. It seems like it only works well right out of the bag, then it rapidly starts to decrease in effectiveness. Some Googlin' online suggests that's just the nature of it.

Is there a media that will still cut heavy rust/paint, but last longer? Aluminum oxide? Steel shot? Glass beads? I know eventually any media will start to degrade, but it just doesn't seem like the coal slag works for very long at all.

Cheaper alternative blasting media to Skat Blast® Speed Bead?

https://www.tptools.com/Skat-Blast-Speed-Bead-Abrasive,10574.html?b=d*8019 $75 plus another $20 shipping is too much for a 45 pound bag when just a couple of years ago it was like $60 total for 50 pounds. I figure I go through 2-3 bags a year. Anything similar at a better price, preferably...

www.garagejournal.com

We have a Harbor Freight blasting cabinet. We still have the siphon gun, but we did the "dual tube" mod to it. We also built a dust collection system and added more lights. The cabinet and gun works okay

The biggest problem we have is the media. We're using the "Black Diamond" coal slag from Tractor Supply and besides making a lot of dust, it just doesn't last. It seems like it only works well right out of the bag, then it rapidly starts to decrease in effectiveness. Some Googlin' online suggests that's just the nature of it.

Is there a media that will still cut heavy rust/paint, but last longer? Aluminum oxide? Steel shot? Glass beads? I know eventually any media will start to degrade, but it just doesn't seem like the coal slag works for very long at all.

Look up 10x very happy with it.