sandblasting

[68_Gladiator]

going to be sandblasting my frame soon hopefully and cant seem to find a suitable sand. lots of people said to use quikrete commercial grade fine sand http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/SandCommercialGrade.asp problem is i cant find it locally. Ive sandblasted before but never had to choose or buy the sand, kinda stumped here, any advice?

[Charlie_B]

I found that the cheap black beauty (coal slag) worked the best for me. Originally bought some more expensive stuff and it took waay longer.

[threepiece188]

If you are not able to reclaim the sand than I would certainly not spend much on anything exotic. Most any fine white sand works well.
Dan

[Woodchomper]

I have a supplier in St. Louis that sells Dupont Starblast http://www2.dupont.com/Titanium_Technologies/en_US/products/starblast/MI_B_H_60159_2.pdf for $9.00 for a 50lb bag. This stuff is supposed to be 95% silica free. However, I wouldn't even think of using it without a respirator.

I use the 100 grit size and spray it all day long with a Harbor Freight 40 lb blast pot. With my setup I have a Sears 5hp 60 Gal air compressor in my basement. I run a 50 foot 1/2 hose from the compressor to a 15 foot 3/8 hose to the blast pot.

I tried coal slag but my whimpy setup could not handle it. I could run for about 30 seconds before I clogged up.

The only modifications to the HF blast pot was a different nozzle http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_32188_32188 from Northern Tool. I also bought a screen http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200320831_200320831 to sift the sand.

So far the setup has worked good. When I sandblast I just put a tarp on the grass and blast the part. After I'm done I sift the sand (whatever I recover from the tarp) and put it back in the blast pot.

[Austin 4x4]

i just use the fine "play sand" you can get at any hardware store. you have to be carefull as the sand creats more heat than other medias so it's not recomended for sheet metal.

[68_Gladiator]

Not going to Do sheet metal. Just the frame and axle housings. It's already stripped to the frame. It's only 5 bucks a bag for sand at home depot, maybe ill get a few kinds and see what works best. And I probably won't be able to reclaim it. Thus home depot.

[tgreese]

Beware of silicosis, both for you and your neighbors. Inhaling fine silica dust will give you the sandblasting equivalent of black lung. I'd advise against using silica sand (ie play sand, or silica sand).