Blast Media - automotive use

[Coo]

Just a quick one....finally getting sorted for blasting.

What's going to be the best media for my intended use ?
Mainly automotive parts, calipers, brackets, suspension arms etc

Ally Oxide, grit, garnet based, glass beads etc ?


Thanks

 

[rtbcomp]

Not glass beads, glass grit would be a good choice.

 

[sasquar]

Ali oxide would be my choice, assuming youre trying to remove rust etc..... glass grit will do it, but will lack the puch needed to get rid of anything other than very light rust without multiple passes....... Worth trying to find a local blaster, some will let you take 'scrap' grit away...... its still perfectly usable as long as the dust content isnt too high, its just too broken up to be commercially effecient any more. But for home stuff, free is a lot more pallatable than the prices ive seen banded around!!

 

[Coo]

Excellent, cheers

 

[rtbcomp]

..... glass grit will do it, but will lack the puch needed to get rid of anything other than very light rust without multiple passes....... Worth trying to find a local blaster, some will let you take 'scrap' grit away...... its still perfectly usable as long as the dust content isnt too high, its just too broken up to be commercially effecient any more. But for home stuff, free is a lot more pallatable than the prices ive seen banded around!!

Sorry - glass grit is very sharp and well suited to the rust and paint found on cars, I haven't tried ally oxide so I can't compare it. And it's cheap as chips

http://www.stacey-processing.com/glass-grit-and-shot-blasting-media.html

I've used grit scrounged from blasters doing buildings. Well worth it, I just rolled up and asked them if I could have the grit if I swept it up - they thought all their Christmasses had come at once! One lot even gave me a few bags of brand new grit.

 

[sasquar]

Brand new glass may well work well for one run through, as per J blast (copper slag) which is almost certainly what was being used on the buildings, its basically designed to be disposable grit. Ie one run, then its dead, it dulls very quickly. Ali oxide is designed for repeated use, and will certainly perform better in a cabinet than either glass or J blast.

It is VERY cheap though, that glass youve linked to, to put that into perspective, buying new Ali oxide, in 1 ton quantities works out at near enough £1/kg (no idea how much it would be in small quantitites, but probably close to twice that) so given that, if you are going to buy some, then its definietly worth trying the glass!!

 

[langy]

My guy is probably the best around and he uses crushed glass or chilled iron

 

[rtbcomp]

Crushed glass is designated single use, however I re-use until it turns to dust and ends up in my air filters. After 3 times it's really only good for moderate rusting and old fashioned paints. Over that it's good for cleaning aluminium prior to bead blasting. It shatters on impact so the worn stuff is still quite sharp.

The biggest problem with worn glass is that it sticks in the pot so you have to shake the pot from time to time to get it to feed.

If you start out with medium or coarse glass grit you can get more uses out of it, but then you need larger nozzle sizes and more air.

It's always worthwhile stripping paint off in a tank prior to blasting, it saves a lot of time, grit and electricity.

Chilled iron is fantastic stuff, good for 300 uses. The downside is that it rusts like billy-oh.

 

[SmartWerks]

For cabihet use go with AO, glass beads are good after initial cleaning and blasting with AO if the parts are not being coated as it leaves a nice finish and the peening action of the glass beads helps prevent corrosion. Crushed glass is cheap but you have a lot if spent media to dispose of so in my mind that's for blast room or outside blasting.

 

[brightspark]

[QUOTE="rtbcomp,
Chilled iron is fantastic stuff, good for 300 uses. The downside is that it rusts like billy-oh.[/QUOTE]it is but if u use it with a pot that hasnt got an inspection hatch the iron rusts and builds up inside the pot andf the only way to remove is belt the pot round the outside with a hammer and remove the clumps out of pot

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Question.

I want to derust the underside of my Disco. It's not horrendous - yet !
Heavy rust would be removed with needle descaler so it's more the "nooks and crannies" I'm bothered about.
If I lay a tarp down to catch bulk of debris (drive is compacted limestone so mess isn't going to be noticeable anyway ) and then blast with glass can anyone see a problem with that ? I'd be using a full hood and mask but not air fed.
Cheers.

Paul.

 

[brightspark]

Question.

I want to derust the underside of my Disco. It's not horrendous - yet !
Heavy rust would be removed with needle descaler so it's more the "nooks and crannies" I'm bothered about.
If I lay a tarp down to catch bulk of debris (drive is compacted limestone so mess isn't going to be noticeable anyway ) and then blast with glass can anyone see a problem with that ? I'd be using a full hood and mask but not air fed.
Cheers.

Paul.

yes it will be red hot and u will be gasping for air after 1 minute .just use a breathing mask and a face shield

 

[God mode restorations]

All this talk about blasting reminded me that I had some brakets to blast.so got all set up only to realise I had ran out of grit ffs..

 

[brightspark]

All this talk about blasting reminded me that I had some brakets to blast.so got all set up only to realise I had ran out of grit ffs..

shoulda popped down to b and q then used the spent sand to fill the cracks in your block paving

 

[the artfull-codger]

shoulda popped down to b and q then used the spent sand to fill the cracks in your block paving

Ha ha double the value B S !!

 

[Coo]

Question.

I want to derust the underside of my Disco. It's not horrendous - yet !
Heavy rust would be removed with needle descaler so it's more the "nooks and crannies" I'm bothered about.
If I lay a tarp down to catch bulk of debris (drive is compacted limestone so mess isn't going to be noticeable anyway ) and then blast with glass can anyone see a problem with that ? I'd be using a full hood and mask but not air fed.
Cheers.

Paul.

Fingers crossed you have chassis left after needler !
Will be very very dusty under there, even with a tarp you may lose a lot unless you tape the tarp on one side of the body...

All this talk about blasting reminded me that I had some brakets to blast.so got all set up only to realise I had ran out of grit ffs..

Sods law strikes again !

Thanks again all !