Blasting Abrasives

When looking for the right blasting abrasive for your project it is important that you find the right grain for your application.  You may want an abrasive that has a maximum amount of  hardness for the material you are working with to cut faster and give you a higher production rate which will then allow you to cut your abrasive cost.   Or you may want a milder abrasive for your more delicate work.

Here is a list of different grains and their qualities and applications

Aluminum Oxide Aluminum Oxide has superb physical properties which make for faster cutting and surface smoothing; shorter work cycles and increased production.   It can be used for almost any blasting abrasive application such as marble, glass, granite and ceramic and can be used over and over again.   It falls very high on the MHO hardness scale.  It can also be used to prep surfaces before painting and bonding
Sodium Bicarbonate As this is a food grade abrasive it is excellent for many commercial applications where a biodegradable abrasive must be used such as food processing equipment.  Although it is water soluble it has excellent degreasing properties and  is great for removing grease and oil.  Other applications include graffiti removal and fire and mold restoration work.  It is best used with a wet blaster and cannot be used over again.
Garnet Almandine Garnet is the most widely used Garnet around the world. Its by far the heaviest and most resilient garnet available.   Garnet cuts fast, has low consumption, low dusting and can often be used 3 to 5 times which keeps production cost down.  It can withstand higher cutting speeds and has lower dust levels. Garnet also works well in water jet cutting applications.
Corncob Corn cob abrasive blasting grit is great when working with delicate parts.  It is also the preferred grit for log homes and other wood surfaces.   Corn cob grit will remove surface contamination, debris and coatings without hurting the materials surface. It’s great for polishing many different types of plastics.  It is virtually dust free, resistant to break down and can be used many times.

Emery Emery is an ore that is rich in aluminum oxide and is a natural composition of corundum and iron oxide.  Emery is a very dense, non-porous fine-grained aggregate.   It’s mainly used in buffing compounds, mostly for chrome plate, as a loose abrasive in ball grinders and as a tough additive for anti-skid flooring applications.  Some applications include concrete non-skid surfaces in conjunction with concrete or epoxy resins, barrel finishing, pressure blasting, coated abrasives, tumbling and deburring media, lens grinding and lapidary work.

Glass beads blasting can be used on a wide range of materials including metal, glass, plastic and rubber. Glass Bead blasting removes burrs, feathered edges, from parts in a precision operation.  Glass Bead blasting guarantees that no base metal from the surface is removed. One of the benefits of Glass beading is that it produces no change to the metal surface and no embedding of contaminates or residue left on the metal surface, unlike other cleaning and finishing methods.
Silicon Carbide
Walnut Shells
Steel Shot/Grit
Plastic Media