Good all round media for cabinet blasting?

[marlinspike]

Just got a Mattis pressure pot, dual media and soda one, which seems to work OK with my compressor. Bought a blasting cabinet, now I need media.

I will be starting with trying to blast rust from car suspension parts, control arms and the like. What's the best media for that? I see on Ebay that iron sillicate is pretty cheap? Is it reusable? How many 'goes' would I get from it?

Alternatively is there a good all round media that will shift rust but could be used for less aggressive cleaning like doing the valve cover? I have no idea yet how much media I would get through doing suspension parts but I think one use media would be pretty expensive. Thanks.

 

[brightspark]

its a use once abrasive but can be used twice if its fine and course sieved . any more and your just hurtling dust around and well prone to blockages .crushed glass is quite popular but its one use only

 

[Erie Fred]

There all manner of plastic abrasives, have not tried them yet though.

 

[frank horton]

all I've ever used is kiln dried sand.....the countries where I have lived nothing else was available easy.....
sieved it can be used for more delicate parts.....
I have a b/cabinet for the small and delicate parts and a big press pot for norm use....

 

[Dcal]

Garnet is tougher than than standard grit blast (J Blast, Scangrit etc) and can be recycled a few more times but they all eventually break down.
As @brightspark says the more you recycle the more dust you will create and the harder it will be to see.

Garnet 30/60 Garnet Blasting Media for Rust & Paint Removal

80Mesh Garnet Blasting Media for Rust Paint Removal Blast Cleaning

www.sandblasters.co.uk

I mostly use JBlast superfine and recycle until it's mostly dust. When I eventually dump it and replace with new I can't believe how much more effective fresh sharp media is.

I use a blast pot and a blast cabinet as I find it works better.
When full, I empty the used grit from the cabinet, sieve and fill into the blast pot again.

 

[Keithmac]

What's best blast pot to use out of interest?.

I have a cabinet but was going to use a seperate pot rather than the built in gun which isn't up to much..

 

[marlinspike]

I've now realised that if a description says 'expendable' that means you can only use it once. Shame as Frost Restoration near me do aluminium sillicate quite cheap.

Do you mean brand wise, Keith? I think the cheap ones are pretty generic and I'm not sure they are any different to say the Clarke ones. One down side is I couldn't find any online instructions for my Mattis pressure pot whereas Clarke etc have all their docs online.

I'm quite impressed with the quality of the Mattis pot. Likewise I bought a Frost cabinet and it's really sturdy but will just be a rebadged one.

 

[dave h 2]

Aluminium oxide lasts well in a cabinet, top up with new as the old wears smaller. Unlike one shot stuff when the grains crack they make new sharp edges that can get into smaller rust pits. When you start fresh grit it seems a little poor till the mix size gets 'right'.

 

[marlinspike]

Thanks, that's a good tip. They've just sent me a 5% off voucher after I signed up for emails last week.

 

[brightspark]

i jall I've ever used is kiln dried sand.....the countries where I have lived nothing else was available easy.....

sieved it can be used for more delicate parts.....
I have a b/cabinet for the small and delicate parts and a big press pot for norm use....

i use it all the time just everyone bitches on about its got silica in it .used in a cabinet with a 4 inch wood chipper extractor that can pull more air out than the compressor can supply and for open blasting using an airfed blast helmet its hardly likely to damage my health

 

[Keithmac]

I've now realised that if a description says 'expendable' that means you can only use it once. Shame as Frost Restoration near me do aluminium sillicate quite cheap.

Do you mean brand wise, Keith? I think the cheap ones are pretty generic and I'm not sure they are any different to say the Clarke ones. One down side is I couldn't find any online instructions for my Mattis pressure pot whereas Clarke etc have all their docs online.

I'm quite impressed with the quality of the Mattis pot. Likewise I bought a Frost cabinet and it's really sturdy but will just be a rebadged one.

Yes I just want a nice reliable system.

Is this what you are having good results with?.

 

[brightspark]

the grit metering valve is a ball valve and a pain in the ass to keep regulated . the jet on the end isnt up to much and also unreliable. with mods to both the difference is unreal

 

[Keithmac]

I have a Sealey one as well and that is rubbish, I might look into modifying the gun. It's either all or nothing, no real adjustment.

 

[brightspark]

I have a Sealey one as well and that is rubbish, I might look into modifying the gun. It's either all or nothing, no real adjustment.

cut the end off and buy a strait through carbide jet and operate the pot from the shut off valve on pot supply

 

[Erie Fred]

For some guidance, look to Clemco, and maybe order a free copy of "Blast off 2"

Product Brochures - Clemco Industries Corp.

Clemco's Product Brochures for our Contractor and Industrial Product Lines

www.clemcoindustries.com

Under "books" IIRC it's a free download after registering.

 

[marlinspike]

It's this one, Keith. Dual pot but smaller than the single ones. Means you can do soda without an adaptor kit supposedly.

Got mine used on Ebay very cheap. I've only briefly tried it but I was impressed. It came with some unknown sand so only had a brief go so far. Haven't tried the soda side but we have some paint staining on our brickwork that I might try soda on at some point down the line.

The company in your link, Sandblasters.co.uk, have a few YouTube videos on how to set up pressure pots that I found useful.