doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DIY Gunsmithing @ doublegunshop.com Bead blasting….

How many of you have incorporated a blasting cabinet into your tool repertoire?
What type of media do you like and for what type of jobs?
Any special advice on how much pressure you run your gun with your preferred media?
How often do you change your media?

I’ve never used one, but am thinking hard about getting into it for various reasons.

One guy I talked to uses strictly fine aluminum oxide media another only uses super fine glass beads at low psi. These two fellas do quite a bit of blacking, on all kinds of guns.

I’m talking about gun work, not so much about doing car parts, fencing or concrete, etc.

The only time I've ever employed this on a gun was to get a matte finish on a muzzleloader barrel that was intended for target work. The Laurel Mtn Brown really "bit" in that resulting finish. I'm sure it would be a time saver for you doing prep work, but I'm wondering how the guys you spoke with keep it from getting too aggressive, and having to do a lot of hand polishing afterwards. Maybe fine glass beads just don't do that.(?) I have heard of using baking soda, as the media, to limit the aggression on the metal.

I have one and use it for cleaning things mostly. Works great on ribs for removing corrosion and old solder. I do not use it for much else. My machine is full of aluminum oxide media, I never change it, maybe I should. You can control the aggressiveness of the process through a adjusting the PSI at the machine.

I believe it may be the least used machine in my shop but it can be helpful.

Thanks, Steve. That’s what I understand, using low to moderate pressure with pretty fine media is the way to go. If I did get a cabinet I’d be using it for the things you use it for. I’m thinking a fine glass media like #13 lead free glass beads for cleaning, doing stainless pistols & parts etc. metal finish on certain rifles, pistols, shotguns, etc., it would be fairly handy.

I don’t know about glass beading “fine” gun parts. My glass bead cabinet was purchased for automotive/motorcycle/bicycle work, and any gun work that was done in it was to pumps that were rode hard and put away wet, decades before I got them. I’ve run black slag (aggressive as hell) aluminum oxide (pretty hot as well) and glass beads. My cabinet has a hinged bottom, that allows for quick abrasive changes, but, I had to learn to get all the aggressive stuff out before going to glass beads, as you end up with glass beads mixed with something hotter if you aren’t thorough in cleaning the other stuff out. For purely gun work, I’d likely stick with glass beads. You are also going to need to think about your compressor, a glass bead cabinet takes as much as an air file or a DA sander. I have a Quincy two stage QT 5 pump driven by a Baldore 3 horse single phase 1750 RPM motor, with a magnetic start off the pump control. I would advise you to stay away from the 3200 RPM special service motors that seem to come on the home owner versions of compressors these days. Do not think you are going to run a cabinet on a single stage compressor, you will end up with wet media, even with in line filters. It is important to have drained gravity drops in your manifolds that lead to whatever filtration/regulation you are using to allow you to get some of the liquid moisture out of the system. I’ve shot a lot of automotive paint out of my system, and did that work before I bought the cabinet, so, air supply/regulation/filtration issues were pretty well sorted. The cabinet was a natural fit for car stuff. I use a doubled up piece of old hardware cloth to sift big crud out of my media, and a junky shop vac to collect the dust from blasting.
Back when I was building a motor or two, here and there, I would rent a parts washer from the Safety Clean route salesman, usually intending to have it around for a month or so, but, the dang things were so handy to have around the I’d extend the contract, often for months. Gentle cleaning that doesn’t tear up the surface, really good for non ferrous parts. it is nice to have both options on hand, but, not always practical. The guy shows up and services the solvent on a regular schedule, and his solvent is the best.

Good luck.

Best,
Ted

Call Craig Smith at Circle Fly Wads. When he was refinishing damascus barrels he told me that was what he used to clean them up. The finished product was fantastic! And the engraving on the rib appeared u touched, not a bit of softening. Wish he was still doing it.

Small wire wheels for a dremmel work wonders on ribs and engraving, no softening but removes the old finish nicely.

Steve, which Dremel wire wheels do you prefer for that? And, thanks ........ great tip.

I have used this style in the past with great success:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363138050066?hash=item548cb6e812:g:jqUAAOSwmRVfg7M4&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAA4AwaLdXQ4KYZpCxtcB4Hse6cwvuULoJbB55pIYz9ONmdIsnGF9LJvs%2FFDgW95jRpAFw%2FkglMJW%2BjsSVFLAFlpFLM0v%2BQrtWWcoeF%2FmcuL7fKAeL14xuyCRRqE8%2BshEuqhoKW%2FUH%2FkY%2F9SEiRfWlzJfdZ%2BOzXLyLO01YBcL2k1DUzUf9Lb%2B0%2FuSMGreJdq8FB8xSwtV29izt2Qx5we3oj4q91O90B0P8U6HLO1aN1eBEBqFD22p97RckJmtfj1L%2F9dYlbMiojFNdb9gdR6uyZwVLdyvaNUeIOlLGb9zQjenYw%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6z5vevNYQ

I just ordered a batch with 3 different styles. I will report back once I have tried the new ones.