[Shop-talk] Blasting media

[Randall]

> I bought HF-s genuine Chinese imitation glass beads - one grade fits all.
> They work OK, but are the beads really supposed to be microscopic bits of
> glass dust ?  

That sounds like you got their "ground glass" media, instead of the "glass
bead" media.  I have their "glass bead", and it is recognizably balls of
glass under a magnifying lens.

I got it to use on soft aluminum (carbs & brake cylinders), for which it
works quite well IMO. But it is frustratingly slow at removing iron rust, or
healthy paint.

Haven't tried it myself yet, but I would think you could do a pretty good
job of cleaning up with just a regular air gun.  With my table-top cabinet,
you have to upend it to dump out the media anyway, so it's bound to make a
mess.

But if it's something really critical, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to
sacrifice some of the new media as a 'flush'.

-- Randall