Blast media recommendo

[vulture]

Got a huge blast cabinet, and a monsterous compressor. God, what do I fill it with? I will mostly be cleaning up steel frames pre-paint stuff, no paint removal or repair stuff, and finish-finishing on TI frames. I suppose the media will be different for steel and ti. And...discuss.
Thanks

[Tom Kellogg]

80 grit glass beads for many years. Like you, we use it primarily for pre-brazing cleaning and pre-paint prep. Does a wonderful job without doing damage to the frame materials. Of course, if you are going to sit on one spot for long enough, you can do damage, but there is no need for that. Another useful thing is that it gives any surface a matte finish. This is especially useful when we are shaping our lugs, not the borders, but the surfaces. After working with a DynaFile, files and sand paper, the shiny, sanded surface distracts the eye from surface defects. Giving the lug surface a quick blast shows EVERYTHING. Nice little trick. Since we do all of our steel building and painting here, I can't imagine whet we would do without our blaster. Finishing one of our steel tandems without the blaster simply could not be done properly without it. Congrats on yours. By the way, we run a nozzle pressure of 80 - 85psi. Higher and you will break down the beads too fast, lower and it is not effective enough.

[Rody]

Wade,

I mix it up a bit more than Tom...

I use a 40/60 Aluminum Oxide mix for all pre-paint work, 120 psi for post chemical strip cleanup on restorations to catch the lingering bits of paint in the nooks and crannies, 85 psi for new frame pre-paint prep.

For Titanium, I use a medium grade glass bead at 100 psi to give a consistent finish. Though I run a bit higher pressure than what Tom recommended, I don't get an abundance of breakdown/dust.

I swap out the media dependent on the material and process, taking time to brush and then blow out the cabinet each time to prevent cross contamination of the media. A bit more work, but I like the consistent results the differing medias achieve.

Starting to get your paint groove on?

cheers,

rody

[Jason Musgrave]

Corn Flakes

Only 1/2 kidding btw. A client used to work for Kelloggs, he told me once they use dehydrated Corn Flakes in all of their blasters. I'd go with TK's recommended 80 grit glass beads.

[gltapley]

I like to use medium glass bead or garnet, though glass bead tends to be easier to get. That is if the frame is bare. If have to remove paint then of course something a bit more aggressive just make sure you are carefull and move to a different area once the paint is cleared off.

[VertigoCycles]

Wade, I don't know exactly what you're after for ti but Eriksen and Moots use Potters Quality AH grade beads for blasting ti. From memory (not trustworthy) I think it's the smallest size they make. It knocks down the shine on ti without it getting super dull and grey.