Media blasting

Where is a good place to buy some media blasting media? Also what is the general consensus on what to use on slightly rusty/ painted surfaces like suspension etc.? The drooler at home depot said it's special order, any other places to check?

I go through about 2 tons of media every year in my shop. I get it from my local building supply/lumber store (not Home Depot or Lowes). Number 4 sand...comes in 100 pound bags.

I think Harbor Freight sells 25# bags of walnut shells.

I usually pick mine up at Northern Tool. Rusty painted steel gets Black Diamond. For the soft touch on aluminum I use crushed glass or glass bead.

Toyman01 wrote: I usually pick mine up at Northern Tool. Rusty painted steel gets Black Diamond. For the soft touch on aluminum I use crushed glass or glass bead.

+1

Tractor Supply also sells black beauty. Its coal slag. Tip: coarse is realllllly coarse, so go for the fine grit - which isn't so fine.

Local equipment rental places will have coal slag in various grits in 100lbs bags. Black Beauty is a name they carry locally. (Silica sand is hard on the lungs.)

Our Tractor Supply carries glass beads I think. Look up sandblasting supply local to you in the YP?

Harbor Freight Black diamond for rusty steel here. Be careful if you try regular sand like play sand from a lumber yard, the silca in the sand can mess up paint later on.

Thanks guys! I knew I could depend on the hive mind!

The most common media is "Black Beauty" which I buy at my local Menards, glass beads which I usually get at Harbor Freight, and plain sand. Silica sand should not be used, this is a nearly white sand. Aluminum oxide is also good but usually costs more then black beauty. I like glass for use on aluminum or any metal other then steel or cast iron. I also use it on steel if I want a smooth finish for painting as the harder media may leave the surface rough.

NOT A TA wrote: Harbor Freight Black diamond for rusty steel here. Be careful if you try regular sand like play sand from a lumber yard, the silca in the sand can mess up paint later on.

And your lungs.

While the health effects of inhaling silica are well known, do not be fooled into thinking coal slag is safe. The same may go for some of the other products as well.

Harbor freight list's it, Tractor Supply also carries it.

I use glass beads from HF for just about everything. So far I haven't found much that it couldn't take off, including rust and paint.

ALWAYS wear a dust mask when blasting. You don't want to breathe in the stuff you are knocking off your parts, much less the blast media itself.

Only recently I realized I needed to be wearing a dust mask when using my big buffer, as well (doh!). Think about the fine particles and abrasives blowing into the air...

Alright, now for part two.....

I'm resto-modding a car that has an aluminum body (partially anyway) and want to media blast that, whats the best media and source for that? Walnut shells or some crazy e36m3?

Where are yall buying your blasting cabinets?

yupididit wrote: Where are yall buying your blasting cabinets?

TP Tools. Made in USA quality. I have two that I run in a commercial powder coat shop and they are worth the money.

http://barrelblaster.com/

A step above the HF cheapie.

mikeatrpi wrote: Tractor Supply also sells black beauty. Its coal slag. Tip: coarse is realllllly coarse, so go for the fine grit - which isn't so fine.

Black Lung?

Not sure it's any worse then sand, but breathing protection is pretty much a must when sand blasting.

In reply to sesto elemento:

I'd look into soda blasting for an aluminum body.

Edit: Let me expound on this since I'm on a real keyboard, rather than a phone. Media blasting with something harder can cause the metal to move just like peening it with millions of tiny hammers.

Here's a post on the subject over on metal meet. This was a 57 Chevy trunk lid that was blasted and deformed. I can only imaging how much an aluminum skin would move.

http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9464

Soda blasting or walnut shells would be the only thing I would use on aluminum and I would do a lot of research before I did anything.

The HF cabinets are OK but you do have to make a few mods. Like sealing the thing up and you do have to have some type of dust removal system. A dust trap that uses a 5 gal. bucket and for PVC pipe along with a good shop vac will work. I used a 50 year old carpet vac for 10 years that worked great after I adapted a modern pleated paper filter in place of the simple paper bag. The motor finally died so now I my old shop vac.

For the plastic window I junked that and made a frame out of aluminum channel that will fit over 1/4 plywood but used plexiglass and siliconed it together. I then cover it with the shrink to fit plastic used to make temp. storm windows. That way the plastic doesn't get "frosted". You just change out the plastic sheet every couple of hours of blasting time. The window is held in place by the vaccumn of the shop vac. Tune it off and you lift the window off and remove the item your blasted. There's a door on the side I use for larger items. I use some foam weather strip around the frame to seal the whole thing.

In reply to jimbbski:

Might as well not buy it.

Ive got an industrial cabinet but the stuff ive been doing is too big (porsches and lexus subframes, etc.).

Where to get soda or walnutshells? Any ideas?

In reply to sesto elemento:

The soda is just baking soda as far as I know. HF carries it as well as a soda blaster. I have seen walnut media at Northern Tool.