Sandblaster sand and grit Where do you get it

As well as all that, it is highly illegal to steal sand from the beach.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JDNSW

Do not under any circumstances use beach sand in a sand blaster. This presents serious health risks to both the operator and anyone in the area. Beach sand (in Australia anyway) is almost always silica. When it impacts with the work or the nozzle at high speed very small pieces of all sizes break off, and if breathed in they can lodge in the lungs and cause the disease known as silicosis, which is progressive and eventually fatal. Beach sand itself is safe because it is in too large a grains to get anywhere near the lungs. The problem is largely the chemical composition - most other materials either dissolve into the bloodstream or are inert, and although these can cause problems if you breath enough, but silica does not dissolve but does cause scarring of the lung tissue which continues to increase over time without any more silica getting in. It is only particles in a certain size range that are a problem - smaller they just pass straight into the blood, larger they don't get as far as the lungs, and and you cough them up.

I have found you can get safe grit (of various types) for sandblasting from tool hire places.

John

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by isuzurover

As well as all that, it is highly illegal to steal sand from the beach.

---

Not if you do it a shoe load at a time. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ace

Isnt it called media blasting now? I thought the moved away from sand to something else

---

It probably is - when it isn't called bead blasting or grit blasting or something else. I've never heard the term media blasting - sounds like someone giving their opinion of a TV current affairs interviewer.

But it is probably not a good idea to use the term "sand blasting" as it encourages people to use sand.

John

http://www.burwell.com.au/default.asp?id=14

These guys will have everything thing you need Reads.;)

And they have an office in Brisso.

Brisbane Address:24 Trade Street
Lytton, QLD 4178

Address:
Tel 07) 3348 5700 Fax 07) 3348 5755 Email:mail@burwell.com.au

It is called blasting media and comes in a wide variety of materials and grain size, from coconut husk to steel shot

G'day All, I have used Burwell's for the past 7 years, (Tomago outlet NSW)using mainly Ilmenite and Aluminium Oxide, Ilmenite is filthy messy stuff but it does do a good job, all you need is a decent sized compressor and somewhere to work, your neighbours won't be impressed with you if you are doing it out in the open as the dust and grit tends to travel considerable distances, where I get mine done the work area is covered with Ilmenite and Slag for around 100 meters either side of the work area anyway thats an industrial site cheers Dennis

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dinty

G'day All, I have used Burwell's for the past 7 years, (Tomago outlet NSW)using mainly Ilmenite and Aluminium Oxide, Ilmenite is filthy messy stuff but it does do a good job, all you need is a decent sized compressor and somewhere to work, your neighbours won't be impressed with you if you are doing it out in the open as the dust and grit tends to travel considerable distances, where I get mine done the work area is covered with Ilmenite and Slag for around 100 meters either side of the work area anyway thats an industrial site cheers Dennis

---

Yes indeed, Dinty. Do not do it at home unless you have a particularly large property. You may even find performing media blasting in the open anywhere not approved by council for noxious industry is very naughty and attracts large fines. It is not just the media but the possible toxicity of the crap you are blowing off.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

It is not just the media but the possible toxicity of the crap you are blowing off.

---

Quite likely lead, for example, if you are using it to remove old paint. No toxicity if it is [B]only[B] rust.

John

Lead is one of many nasty compounds used on and under vehicles. Many are toxic, many are carcinogenic. A friend had a fly by night operator sandblast a weatherboard house whichhad not been painted for many years and my mate decided the preparation was too hard and looked hard and long and found a guy who would sandblast the building for folding. This was on a 28 perch block in an inner suburb of Brisbane. He said the job was terrific, all cracked and weathered paint gone, putty on nailheads gone, weathered timber cleaned to a sound surface, and, the crux of the matter, the bloody house and ceiling containing masses of infiltrated blasting media. Massive internal cleaning job. So too were the adjoining houses. The neighbours on one side were bloody furious, dobbed to council, and never spoke to my mate and his handbrake again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

Lead is one of many nasty compounds used on and under vehicles. Many are toxic, many are carcinogenic. A friend had a fly by night operator sandblast a weatherboard house whichhad not been painted for many years and my mate decided the preparation was too hard and looked hard and long and found a guy who would sandblast the building for folding. This was on a 28 perch block in an inner suburb of Brisbane. He said the job was terrific, all cracked and weathered paint gone, putty on nailheads gone, weathered timber cleaned to a sound surface, and, the crux of the matter, the bloody house and ceiling containing masses of infiltrated blasting media. Massive internal cleaning job. So too were the adjoining houses. The neighbours on one side were bloody furious, dobbed to council, and never spoke to my mate and his handbrake again.

---

And if it was an old house, as you imply, I'll bet the paint on it was lead based! I can't imagine anyone sandblasting a house anywhere, let alone in a built up area.

You can do a reasonable job by pressure washing with "media" introduced into the water at the nozzle - just makes a mess over a lot smaller area and is reasonably safe, as almost all the nasty stuff ends up on the ground not in the air. Downside is that steel will rust almost immediately when wet and clean.

John