SandBlasting Equipments & Supplies

Question:

Hi folks. My question is short and sweet. I need to know if regular sand can be used to sandblast. I have a small project in a few days and I do not want to spend too much money. I understand that the sans I’m gonna use must be completely dry, but can I use regular sand instead of industrial sand?

Answer:

Well, it depends on the grade of quality you require, but in my humble opinion its not advisable. You need sand that is uniform in size; both for the nozzle of your blaster (it makes it run better and cleaner) and for you to better control the effect of the sandblasting.

Grains of regular sand are not of predictable size and may produce uneven finish; sand used in pro sandblasting are of more even size and will produce more even finish.

My recommendation is clear. Spend a little bit more and use milled silica sand for blasting. It is a consistence size, while it is more expensive then blow sand it is by far the fastest way to achieve optimum results.

Question:

“I want to sandblast some strips of wood that are 12mm wide and 1m long. Basically, I need the whole top surface remove, and importantly the wood needs to be completely level after the sandblasting has been completed. I was wondering if the sandplasting could be completed in one pass, and also aproximately how long would it take to sandblast one strip?”

Answer:

Sandblasting will gouge the wood. For example take a piece of pine; it has white wood, and darker wood. The dark wood is harder than the white (sapwood), so it will resist the sand more–but the sapwood will get dug out. You are much better off chemically stripping the wood, or running it through either a planer, or a belt sander.

Question:

“I am painting my bike a different color so I am sandblasting the metal parts from my bike. Do you think it would be safe to sandblast the gas tank? Do you think it would build up static electricity and if it sparked that it would blow up? How should I go about sandblasting the tank? Any help is greatly appreciated, thank you!”

Answer:

Sandblasting is a very secure industrial technique if you follow a minimum security requirements. if you’re going to sandblast the tank: remove all the gas from it first, take it off the bike and then blast away bust don’t get too deep or else you’re likely to puncture it and cause leaks, then be sure to clean it really well before you put gas in it or else you’re going to have scarred cylinder walls