where do you guys buy sandblast glass media from?

[Tripwire]

Amazon/ fleabay is expensive and HF does not have the size i want to try...

I am using glass as it seems to perform better in my HF handheld blasters than the silica stuff - my needs are meager and blasting far between so a small setup is all i need

the thing i hate is if you use glass you get one shot - no recycling/screening for re-use

I tried #6 50-70 grit.....too aggressive for me

I tried #12 140-230.....nice finish but takes too long and uses too much up

I want perhaps #9 which is 80-120 grit.... I am NOT paying 30 dollars for 10 Lb which will last perhaps 5 minutes

Help me Obi Wan..................

Steve

[FleetFox]

Tractor supply or Northern Tool? I started with coal dust and moved to Shark bite. It was "cleaner". less than $10 for a 40-50# bag of each. can be recycled a few times. \

Fleet Fox

[SJTD]

I think I got some stuff from Grainger or maybe McMaster Carr. It was local so didn't have to ship it and not too spensive. Wasn't glass though so Idunno what that costs. Now HF carries it.

Maybe try a finer coal slag or some such?

Used to use beach sand way back when when the other stuff was hard to get for a small potatas guy like me. And before I learned about silicosis.

[threepiece]

My previous supplier went out of business. He had an array of choices. I now get from automotive paint supply, there are two in this area that are priced widely.

They only stock one product, it is called Arena Sand. It is white and looks and acts just like silica sand. I consider it an overall good product. It cleans well, leaves a desired prep surface on the metal for painting, can be cycled three times and costs about $10 for a 50 lb. bag.

[tgreese]

The slag at Tractor Supply is inexpensive. Any form of silica has health risks.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/black-diamond-fine-blasting-abrasives?cm_vc=-10005

[backroadin']

Here's an out-of-the-box idea: I have no idea on the cost of these, but at work we use the glass "geodes" that they spread on the highway paint lines to give the reflectivity, since we have a bunch on hand. It's basically little round glass beads, and comes in 50# bags - we get it on a pallet from highway paint / road sign suppliers. We use it in a small blast cabinet and it recycles well, except for the lack of a filter on the thing to keep the nozzle from clogging.....
We only do small stuff, and if you had to strip a wheel rim, say, it would take a while.