Blasting Media

[Duncan]

So....I found a corner of the garage for a sandblasting cabinet (or as Kel called it, "the humidicrib")

But despite the name, I guess sand may not be the right thing to put in it.

So....I need to do regular car cleaning stuff....

what should I use, and where do I get it?

[scotty nm35]

I just use Garnet, it strips anything back. You might want something less harsh for automotive.

Don't use sand, it can kill you.

[BigBoyDan]

Not sure if it suits your needs but bicarb soda is good, low abrasion and water soluable

[Daleo]

Duncan, my mate with the coating business buys all his blasting consumables through these guys.

http://www.burwell.com.au/

They're based in Revesby.

[Craved]

hare and forbes - 25kg bags 60-80 garnet

[Risking]

I personally like the finish of glass beads.

[33GTRV]

from a cleanliness side of things, look at the foam and steel media

[turboedsloth]

I use glass beads, finished product is alot better compared to garnet. Get it from hare and forbes in perth

[666DAN]

As the guys have said it all depends on what sort of profile you need, Hare and Forbes are awesome BTW

Garnet will give a very good profile for painting provided the air-pressure is up to scratch, our old blaster was getting 10 micron profile, then we boosted it and could get a deadly 75 micron....beautiful for long term coating adhesion and letting etch primers get right into the metal.

Glass beads are good, but more suited for taking coatings off, and not for hard-core surface prepping, same for bicarb...which is nice and gentle and works on delicate substrates even plastics.

The king-kong of media is silicon carbide, it can be overkill on anything but the most hardened alloys or things that need some serious stripping. Silicon Carbide DES46 from A E Baker & Co

The thing to remember is never trust the sealing of the unit and always wear a proper dust mask/filter, I use a full-face Sundstrom SR 200

Secondly, always cover the glass observation panel with plastic laminate pouches of similar; something that can be replaced after the blast media has scored it, you just simply tape on a new bit of plastic instead of destroying your nice glass panel.

The harder the media = the quicker the nozel will need replacing.

And a decent compressor with an awesome capacity will save time and headache.

The guys here will give you good advice based on your requirements - www.blastech.com.au

Edited October 16, 2012 by 666DAN

[Dan_J]

I just use Garnet, it strips anything back. You might want something less harsh for automotive.

Don't use sand, it can kill you.

care to explain scotty ?

[Carbon 34]

care to explain scotty ?

The silica in the sand is like glass chards and cuts your lungs to pieces then you bleed out and drown in your own blood

Long term health issues as well

[Duncan]

thanks guys, I ended up deciding to give garnet a try....pretty much anything I am blasting would be painted next.

picked up a bag from hare and forbes in north parramatta