glass beads for semi polished finish on alloy

[steveo3002]

im a newbie to blasting

just purchased some glass beads , which im led to believe is what i need to put a nice sheen on alloy parts without pitting them

ive opened up the tub and its finer than i expected..way finer than sugar , does that sound like the right stuff

 

[shenion]

Yes, that is what mine is like. Medium grit if I remember right.

Will leave matt finish. Polishes up easily from there.

 

[steveo3002]

right okay i'll give it a try...just making myself a home made cabinet

will the finish be smooth though? im hoping to re finish engine parts so they look nice, but not too bling

 

[rtbcomp]

You should get a nice satin finish with beads. They feel like liquid silk when you take a handful, very strange.

Keep the air pressure around 30 psi to start with, you don't need much at all. They can be re-used a few times.

 

[shenion]

I'm doing some alloy wheels for my GPz. They are solid white with corrosion. I finished one and it looks good as is. Just a bit of polish to get a morror finish.

 

[steveo3002]

does it shift corrosion/paint okay on its own...or should i consider something else if the part is rough

 

[shenion]

On aluminum, the corrosion is very brittle. So the beads take it off real easy but just bounce off the metal. Using high pressure can harden the surface (basically ball-peaned hardening.) I have not see it as my gun does not have much force.

It is slow on paint, but works fine. I do not want to remove any metal and the beads do that.

I did do a very rusty log splitting wedge (did not want to change media in cabinet.) Worked ok, but slow.

 

[steveo3002]

thanks for the advice

should i mask gasket surfaces or not worry?

whats the best stuff to mask threads n stuff with ? duct tape?

 

[rtbcomp]

I tend to remove paint & gunge with fine grit (Aluminium oxide is the proper stuff), this stops the expensive beads becoming contaminated.

I don't bother masking at all with beads, although you may want to plug oilways. I'd do a few test pieces first if you're not sure.

 

[steveo3002]

yeah i plan to try a few brackets n stuff to see how it goes

how many times would expect to be able to reuse the glass beads for general light alloy use

 

[rtbcomp]

I think you'll notice a deterioration after 3 or 4 times, they degrade more quickly the higher pressure you use

 

[steveo3002]

right well , im really disapointed

the glass beads wouldnt barely touch the alloy cover , tried some alum oxide and it marks it but its stupidly slow

i have a 2.5hp comp and the spray gun style blaster gun...should i expect to be able to blast a rocker cover or am i being hopefull?

tried it on some rusty bolt heads and it cleaned those okay

 

[rtbcomp]

Did you try different pressures? I didn't realise what type of gun you had, I've got a pressure pot which work at lower pressures.

You may be pushing it a bit with a 2.5 hp compressor. Did you get a choice of nozzles with the gun? If so try the smallest.

What sort of finish did you get with the oxide? Have you tried going over the bits you did with oxide using beads?

This is a bit as received

After fine gritblasting

And finally with beads

 

[steveo3002]

heres where i got with the oxide...painfully slow and its struggling to shift the paint even

i realise its not a mega set up that i have , i might be willing to spend another £20 but im thinking i might as well pay to get stuff done localy instead

 

[rtbcomp]

It can depend a great deal on the type of paint too, I took 2 days to do 4 wheels last week, othertimes a single wheel can take less than 30 mins.

 

[steveo3002]

maybe im expecting too much

i cant be bothered standing there for hours on end with , refilling the silly little pot etc

what with the price of buying media in small amounts i might as well give the local guy 10-15 a pop

 

[rtbcomp]

Don't give up completely, you may have just dropped on an awkward job for your first try!

 

[steveo3002]

my funds wont stretch to a pressure pot...do you think my gun might be the problem

could you point out a budget gun that might make the best of things ?

thanks for the help

 

[rtbcomp]

To be honest syphon guns tend to be much of a muchness. The fact that it cleaned that bolt suggests it's working OK.

 

[steveo3002]

its just the fact it cleans like a pencil dia bit at a time...are there ones avail with a wider nozzle?