sandblasting beads

carolinainmymind · #1 2012-08-29, 5:46am

I love the look of the sandblasted beads, where the outer layer is blasted away in parts to reveal the layers underneath. I have access to a blasting cabinet (hubby loves tools) but I have a few questions.

What type of blasting media do you use? Can it be reused with the glass grit in there?
What do you use for the masking so it isn't blasted off? Most things I can think of would be eaten away quickly.
The pressure on his cabinet is adjustable. I'm assuming less is more, right?
What do you hold the beads with so you can blast the ends?

I know it's alot of questions, I guess I understand the process in theory, but I can't quite figure out the details!

Croft Eeusk · #2 2012-08-29, 6:19am

Hi Glenda - great minds wonder the same questions. Em, well. Maybe not great

But I'm sure glad you asked, because I'm really curious too.

Come on somebody, give up the goods!

dj

tilegoddess · #3 2012-08-29, 7:49am

Good morning!! I think you two will be happy I stumbled upon this post this morning... I've been a sandblast artist for the last 11 years.

Okay... let me try to address your questions in order...

1. Blasting Media... you can buy glass bead abrasive but garnet will work nicely and I believe it's less expensive and easier to find. When shopping for abrasives, the higher the number equates with the finer the abrasive. For fine detail on glass you ideally want abrasive in 120 or 180 grit size. "Aluminum Oxide" is a very aggressive abrasive as is silica "beach sand"... I use those for granite monument work and it would eat right through your glass....

2. Masking- 3M and/or ANCHOR makes the best masking and you can buy it by the roll or sheet. I use redwood-sign grade masking (#125) and it is the toughest stuff they make. Again, I use it for stone and monument blasting... so you'll probably want something thinner. They make several thicknesses and they are sticky/adhesive on the back (like a sticker with a peel-away contact surface). I buy my masking from www.USCutter.com as they had the best pricing a great customer service to boot.

**Many "sign" copmpanies also have the vinyl masking you need or they can cut a "decal" for you out of the masking you want/need** I hand-cut all of my own artwork so I don't use plotters as I rarely repeat a design twice.

**There is also a "photo-resist" kit option available... Morgan Campbell (Baywinger on LE) has used it for etching the boro knife handles he makes. You can PM him for more information as he's been playing with it a bit

**

3. Blasting pressure... play around with it... you'll need a lot less than I do for stone work

4. blasting bead ends... you may want to try blasting them on their mandrels, perhaps keeping them in place with museum wax?? The cabinets I use have attached "gloves" you put your arms into so you can hold the work you're blasting..... I don't know what kind of setup/cabinet you have....

Let me know if you have more questions and I'll try to help you out if I can

houptdavid · #4 2012-08-29, 8:02am

Damm Joy, what don't you do?

tilegoddess · #5 2012-08-29, 8:15am

play golf....

cheng076 · #6 2012-08-29, 9:00am

Good for you. Golf is a dumb game.

houptdavid · #7 2012-08-29, 9:08am

Quote:

Originally Posted by tilegoddess

play golf....

smartass!

Baywinger · #8 2012-08-29, 9:09am

Nikki and are are using the 200 grit aluminun oxyide set at about 60 pounds this works very well on both boro and soft glass
Nikki is able to etch her delicate blown softglass shells with no problems.
Rayzist is the photo film it works really well but it is expensive.

tilegoddess · #9 2012-08-29, 9:37am

Thanks for chiming in Morgan... I wasn't sure what size a abrasive you used, what type and what pressure

mtnglass · #10 2012-08-29, 9:44am

DH uses alum. oxide 200 for my glass. Our business is blasting so we use a variety of blast media since we do everything from graffiti removal to auto restoration to monument work. We don't use garnet because you don't get as many turns out of it and in the long run that makes it more expensive. As far as resist goes we use Hartco Mask and we use a lot of it with our commercial grade plotter (stencil cutter).

tilegoddess · #11 2012-08-29, 10:01am

Very cool Julie!! I LOVE learning new stuff about sandblasting!! Everything I know about it has been learned by trial and error on my part... I've had exceptionally few people willing to share info with me and I've often struggled or had to learn the hard way how to get stuff done (sigh).

So "THANKS!!!" for sharing your info about blasting!! I'll have to look up Hartco Masking...

carolinainmymind · #12 2012-08-29, 10:48am

Thank you everyone, great info here!!! I have a friend in the sign business, so I'll have him save scraps of vinyl to test with... I'm not sure about what DH uses for blasting, I know he uses sand sometimes and maybe walnut hulls? (for automotive restoration) so I'll need to do some more research on that. I do have plenty of wonky beads to practice on, though!

PS Joy- I'm less than 2 miles from the largest granite quarry in the world, so I'm sure you've seen rock from my neck 'o the woods (Mount Airy Granite)