Creating a smooth, clean surface on a cabinet or other product can be a challenge if you’re not working with the right material. Certain blasters are meant for certain material, so if you don’t know how options work, you may end up with a bumpy, scratched surface. It also doesn’t help that restricted blasters limit your options for materials to smooth out.
Luckily for those who are new to the blasting world, bead blasters will have them covered with a wide range of material and be able to get the job done with as little issues as possible. This guide aims to let you know what a bead blaster can do.
Makeup
In order to figure out when bead blasters can be useful, we must go over their composition. The beads used in this process often consist of lead-free, soda-lime glass so that they don’t have too rough of an impact on the surface. People who are environmentally conscious about what they use will be happy to know that this makeup keeps the beads from harming the environment or any water that they can get left in and washed away with.
Despite not being the hardest option for blasting, bead blasters are durable to the point where they can easily be picked up after you’re done blasting. A vacuum can be used to get the beads off the rug or floor if you’re doing some blasting indoors. The beads are recyclable, which makes the cleaning process quick and easy, as some material needs to be disposed of in more complicated ways than just throwing it out in a garbage or recycling bin.
Process
Bead blasting is able to clean and smooth out surfaces with a high level of air pressure. Because the beads are as small as quartz sand and silica, there’s less of a chance that the pressure will cause any harm to the surface. Removing material that can be harmful to coating and polishing up the surface with a bright sparkle are among the common uses for bead blasters. Typical materials used in the process include small, spherical particles of glass and beads made of stainless steel and silicon.
It is important to make sure that your beads are on the smaller side so that there is less of a chance of leaving a scratch or other mark. You can get a smoother finish on the surface if the beads are ball-shaped, and ground quartz comes in handy if you’re focusing on a shiny surface, which could be easier to paint afterward.
Equipment
Certain gear is needed in order to operate bead blasters efficiently and safely. Your bead blasting gun should have a canister so that the beads are kept together in one place. The canister will be tasked with circulating compressed air so that it hits its target. If you’re trying to smooth out smaller objects such as jewelry or toys, you can use a blasting cabinet which is portable in case you need to move around a bit in your station. If you’re working on cars and similar-sized material, then you’ll want to get it done in a blast room.
You’ll need to wear thick work gloves in order to keep a strong hold on the blasting gun. It’s important to keep every part of your body covered, which entails wearing long-sleeve shirts, jackets, jeans, boots, and a helmet. This will keep hot glass from damaging your skin. Masks will prevent you from inhaling paint, rust, and residue, and protective ear muffs will keep your ears safe from the loud noises that these machines can produce.
Benefits
Unlike most blasters, this option provides a variety of surfaces to work with because of the emphasis on being gentle enough in the smoothing process. The surface will also be more electrically conductive, which explains why the auto industry uses these blasters so much. Beat blasters have an easy time with stainless steel, titanium, aluminum, silver, copper and brass surfaces. This means that you can provide a new look to objects in a huge range in size, from earrings, rings and other pieces of jewelry to your car or truck in the garage.
As mentioned earlier, painting your car, construction equipment, kitchen cabinets or other material won’t be as much of a hassle afterward because the surface will be flat and smooth. The beads were recyclable will also save you money on extra material for cleaning the area up, and you will be able to use the blasters for a few cycles before they need to be replaced.
Keep this guide in mind so that you can use bead blasters to bring that sparkle and shine back to your old jewelry or car.
