Media Blasting Nozzle Sizes and Media Use

[JonnyAlpha]

Hi;

I have a Small Sealy Blast Cabinet with a built in suction gun and a Clarke CPSB100B 32L Blast Pot.

They are both second hand a came with a few spare nozzles, the problem is I have no idea what size nozzle to use for what type of media / blasting? Does the media you use depict the nozzle, or dod you change the nozzle depending on desired use (detail or no so detailed)?

I am hoping to get some Soda to do some Soda Blasting (Engine Casing Parts and Carbs) and I also have a bag of RestoFine G500, which according to this is a glass abrasive suitable for steel and aluminium?

So the plan is to use Soda for the aluminium restoration and the RestoFine G500 for cleaning up the steel parts (timing chain cases, engine brackets etc)

I was going to get some EcoStrip Soda (25Kg) but company I found don't ship that small amount, I then found some Armex FlowXL here.

What size nozzles should I be using for the FlowXL Soda and the RestoFine G500?

 

[MoreWellie]

when you say "built in suction gun" with a "blast pot" I don't think the two normally work together

if you are using a suction gun in the cabinet then, from my experience with grit, the size of the hole in the nozzle is important to both the suction and how long your air lasts

I made a few steel nozzles with different sized holes to work out what was best for me and then bought a pack of nozzles once I had decided

Working with grit I found that a 5mm nozzle worked best with my compressor (which is admittedly a bit undersized for blasting at 10 FAD) but if I went larger on the nozzle it didn't siphon the grit as well and the air disappeared way to fast. As it was my compressor runs pretty much continuously but it blasts steel parts better than expected and at a reasonable rate. You certainly notice the difference when a nozzle wears the hole larger

I have cleaned the media out of the cabinet several times and think swapping media for different processes would be really tedious and if you expect to do it often I think you will quickly want a second cabinet

 

[JonnyAlpha]

when you say "built in suction gun" with a "blast pot" I don't think the two normally work together

if you are using a suction gun in the cabinet then, from my experience with grit, the size of the hole in the nozzle is important to both the suction and how long your air lasts

I made a few steel nozzles with different sized holes to work out what was best for me and then bought a pack of nozzles once I had decided

Working with grit I found that a 5mm nozzle worked best with my compressor (which is admittedly a bit undersized for blasting at 10 FAD) but if I went larger on the nozzle it didn't siphon the grit as well and the air disappeared way to fast. As it was my compressor runs pretty much continuously but it blasts steel parts better than expected and at a reasonable rate. You certainly notice the difference when a nozzle wears the hole larger

I have cleaned the media out of the cabinet several times and think swapping media for different processes would be really tedious and if you expect to do it often I think you will quickly want a second cabinet

I have a small blast cabinet with a suction gun and a separate blast pot. I'll probably stick to Soda in the cabinet.