what kind of sand to blast with

My son bought me a sandblaster from harbor freight a couole years ago and I never used it --it came with 4 nozzle sizes. I bought some blasting media at tractor supply (it was black) and apparently it is too coarse for this unit it keeps clogging even with no nozzle it gets clogged in the ball valve at the bottom of the tank (its not wet or damp,just some pieces are too big) I took one piece out of the nozzle that was like a sliver about 1/4" long but skinny like the end of a needle. Anyone know what kind of sand or whatever I can get that will work I went back to tractor supply and what I have is all they sell. Will playsand or something I can get like at a lowes work?

 

Most places sell oxide of aluminum. That should work. Not sure what you have.

Play sand will kill you. Look up silica lung on google.

 

What you have sounds like crushed Nickle Slag, cheapest on the market, I use it too and it's very aggressive but it doesn't last long. Make sure what ever you get does not have Silica in it and I believe regular sand does. Crushed glass seems to be the next cheapest on the market these days, no Silica and it's not supposed to be as aggressive a media. Aluminum oxide is probably the best but very expensive.

 

Use triple 000 The best sand I've used And wear a mask contains silica .

 

Do yourself a favor and replace the valve . The ball vavle is junk. You can buy a "deadman" valve from Harbor Freight for about $15 which will work well. I use boiler slag in my pressure blaster and have no problems. Make sure you have multiple water speprators on your system or media will get wet and clog.

 

I use Silica sand (bought thru some concrete supply stores). I've done lots of blasting and have had great success. Once my blasting is complete I sand the parts lightly with 150 paper then seal parts and paint. I never blast the outside of parts this is all inner fenders, under hoods, door jambs, all suspension parts, frames, engine brkts, etc. If your wanting to blast an entire car or big panels I would suggest taking it to a dry stripping place. You will pay lots of money for any blast media and it would take several hours to get good results.

I also use a harbor freight sand blaster. I adjust the air supply to 65lbs, then open the tank valve (horizonial valve along back of blast). Next I adjust the valve (under the tank) to an open position so that the sand starts coming out. Be careful not to just crank open this valve all the way because your sand will come out at such a rate that you will not make any progress but refilling the tank every 5 -10 minutes. Also I have found that the air from your compressor must be dry. If your not sure how dry it is just start by filling the tank 1/3 of the way full. Remember to purge off air from tank before fill cap is removed. I try to be sure to use all my sand in the so the next time I use the sand blaster I put fresh sand in it. Good luck.

 

that black stuff should work o.k. for you, just pour it through a screen before going into your tank.
i find a lot of big stuff that way that would plug my blaster.

 

That black stuff as you call it is " Black Beauty " made for an outdoor type blaster . They use that on the farm equipment . Sicilia will kill your lungs ! You want something aggressive for frame and heavy metal . Play sand is a no,no !
For a home media cabinet , never use sand or black beauty . For most of the items you will be cleaning , buy the container of glass bead media . It's like $35 and will do anything you want from small carb parts to headlight housings to car rims . Cleans nice and doesn't warp or tear up your parts . That's all I use because it's safe , cleans well , lasts a good while and doesn't use your tips up fast .

What are you cleaning ?

RetroJim

 

Aluminum Oxide is the best general purpose product currently.
silica, and black beauty build heat, and remove at a slower rate.

 

I use Green Lightning also known as Olivine. It's great stuff, can be use in low pressure and less chances of warpage(I've never warp metal). You will never want to use silca again!

-Saint

 

If you use glass beads, make sure they are less than 0.5 mm [ .020 in. ]
Beads go all the way up to .080 in. [ 2 mm ] but larger ones are for peening.
BTW, the large beads are good for sealing aluminum castings after cleaning.
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copper slag for frames and heavier stuff. ater a couple times thrugh its fine for sheetmetal. unless you have fresh air system stay away from silica unless you want fucked up lungs! real bad stuff.

 

this is the kind I have


View Larger
<!-- PRODUCT DETAIL IMAGE :: END --> <!-- PRODUCT DETAIL DESCRIPTION --> SKU Number: 3999698
Manufacturers Number: SB20G
Sandblasting Tank | Brand : Black Bull | Capacity : 20 gal. | PSI Rating : 60 to 125 PSI | Air Consumption : 6-25 CFM | Overall Color : Red | Material : Steel | Application : Remove Paint,

 

Whatever you use, sift it!

 

buy a big tarp from harbor freight and blast your parts sitting on it , then you can collect and recycle some of the media

 

Find the nearst masonary supply store . they can get it for you, it is very fine
in 40lb. bags. My supply house charges $ 9.00 per bag.

 

try crushed walnut shells, they work great and are <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CDOCUME%7E1%5CLeo%5CLOCALS%7E1%5CTemp%5Cmsohtml1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <wunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><style> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";} span.ypermboxbubbletop {mso-style-name:ypermboxbubbletop;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]-->environmentally friendly

 

What do U ask for??

 

Thank you. Do you have an internet source to purchase it through???

 

I use #60 silica sand that can be bought for about $5 for a 100 pound bag. I buy it at a brick and stone supply outlet

 

Hey guys,

Sorry for drudging up an old post, but this is most relevant to my questions and I didn't want to start a new post to be flamed for lack of search.

I just purchased a brand new 10lb blast cabinet off craigslist and am going to be putting it to use soon. I'll be trying to clean every part I take off the 35 chevy and would like to know what would be the best all purpose media? I doubt I'll be doing anything as thin as sheet metal, except for the horn possibly.. What should I go for? I'll be doing the engine parts, suspension parts (that'll fit), and anything else I can get my hands on. I'll most likely be picking something up from Northern Tool as they're right around the corner from work.

Thanks!

 

Glass is made from silica sand......................

 

You don't have to stick with one type of media. I use 2 grades of glass bead, the crushed windshield glass, AlOxide, walnut & 2 grades of plastic in mine. Only takes a minute of 2 to change from one to the other.

 

soda for your sheet metal

 

Thanks for the info, the cabinet I got, not really sure if there's a quick cleanout trap on it or not, probably going to put a hole saw to it and cap it off..

I got the one on left for a decent deal: http://www.masterquality.com/assets/specific/MW10011 MW10030.pdf


Stopped by Northern Tool and saw they had a breakdown sheet next to all the material. I'm going to try out some aluminum oxide to just get a feel for how it's going to work out. Did some more searching after posting in this thread..

 

everyone keeps saying not to use play sand, if you are blasting you should have proper air mask to protect yourself. NO blasting media is 100% safe to breath.
once you start blasting the paint , rust and whatever else is on the part is released into the air. allways protect yourself with a good air mask.