Sand blasting

Danika

Danika

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Hey there, does anyone know why not to sandblast a project with glass beads? Most say use aluminum oxide what's the difference? The sandblasting I'm going to do is a prep or duracoat finish.
Any thoughts would be great.
 
If i could i would use co2 blast (ice blast) so as to not leave any grit behind. I dont know about the other two.
I just started stripping two guns tonight for duracoat.
 
Danika said:
Hey there, does anyone know why not to sandblast a project with glass beads? Most say use aluminum oxide what's the difference? The sandblasting I'm going to do is a prep or duracoat finish.
Any thoughts would be great.
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Glass beads are usually used as a surface prep, and not for material removal. Many aluminum rifle parts are bead blasted to make the surface uniform and remove cutting tool signatures from the surface. Glass beads peen the surface, while other mediums are designed to abrade the surface.
 
I believe that the aluminum oxide leaves a more jagged surface for the paint to grip whereas the glass as mentioned peens the surface giving less bite.
 
I've never heard of anyone using aluminum oxide on rifles, it is very aggressive and will remove material. I have bead blasted dozens of guns for bluing and for Teflon coating and they work just fine without the possibility of material removal. The newer the beads the coarser the finish. I would never use sand for this application and absolutely never use sand on aluminum.......................it will literally disappear in your hand if you're not careful. I have used both extensively and would never use sand on rifle parts.
 
aluminum oxide is used when prepping the metal for a baked coating like GunKote, Duracoat or Armacoat. Leaves a slightly abrasive surface for the coating to stick to, and is not detected when finished.

Bead blasting will leave a smooth non porous finish. I would not use sand, but have seen some posts where guys have with low pressures.
 
Blargon, when I use the term "sand" I mean aluminum oxide, as it is sand, as opposed to glass bead. You must be super careful, 'cause that stuff will remove metal in a heartbeat if you're not !!!!
 
c-fbmi said:
Blargon, when I use the term "sand" I mean aluminum oxide, as it is sand, as opposed to glass bead. You must be super careful, 'cause that stuff will remove metal in a heartbeat if you're not !!!!
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Yes it is abrasive, but my gravity fed gun isn't overly strong...:)

Its also what the manufacturers of all 3 of the coatings I named recommend (120grit at 40-60psi), so that's what I use.
 
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c-fbmi said:
Blargon, when I use the term "sand" I mean aluminum oxide, as it is sand, as opposed to glass bead. You must be super careful, 'cause that stuff will remove metal in a heartbeat if you're not !!!!
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Silica is what is normally called abrasive silica sand.............
 
c-fbmi said:
I've never heard of anyone using aluminum oxide on rifles, it is very aggressive and will remove material. I have bead blasted dozens of guns for bluing and for Teflon coating and they work just fine without the possibility of material removal. The newer the beads the coarser the finish. I would never use sand for this application and absolutely never use sand on aluminum.......................it will literally disappear in your hand if you're not careful. I have used both extensively and would never use sand on rifle parts.
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I've blasted close to 70 guns with 120 grit aluminum oxide and it definitely will not remove material. It won't remove a gob of grease. As stated above..glass beads will leave the surface looking like a golf ball..not what you want for good adhesion.
 
Striker said:
I've blasted close to 70 guns with 120 grit aluminum oxide and it definitely will not remove material. It won't remove a gob of grease. As stated above..glass beads will leave the surface looking like a golf ball..not what you want for good adhesion.
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Correct. Glass beads "peen" the surface. This is NOT what you want. You want abraded surfaces to paint. 120 gr aluminum oxide is probably the best you could ask for. I have done 50+ pistols and rifles and aluminum oxide has been the best by far.
 
removing the finish is only half of the process. you need to roughen up the surface so the new finish will adhere. glass beads won't rough it up at all, silica sand will somewhat but nothing works as well as aluminum oxide. it's what the companies that make the finishes recommend..and they do that for a reason..it's called R & D.
 
Striker said:
removing the finish is only half of the process. you need to roughen up the surface so the new finish will adhere. glass beads won't rough it up at all, silica sand will somewhat but nothing works as well as aluminum oxide. it's what the companies that make the finishes recommend..and they do that for a reason..it's called R & D.
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I beg to differ... I blast with steel media on a daily basis... it'll roughen stuff up like nothing else! but even with the hyper-aggressive steel media, I could still give a smooth finish if that's what's desired ;)
 
Dustin said:
I beg to differ... I blast with steel media on a daily basis... it'll roughen stuff up like nothing else! but even with the hyper-aggressive steel media, I could still give a smooth finish if that's what's desired ;)
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what type of "steel media"?

captainamazing said:
Thats a great idea! Personally I just drag my guns behind my car on a long rope until they are roughed up enough to spray some Krylon on.
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rotflmao. :D

reminds me of the thread on arfcom where the guy admitted to kicking his ar down his paved driveway to give it that "well used" look.
Do you use nylon rope, para cord? what type of knot works best? ;)
 
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