Sandblasters: There’s More than Meets the Eye, Especially Safety Wise

One of the most popular methods used to clean surfaces in DIY projects, automotive restoration projects and home renovation projects is sandblasting. The first abrasive material used to remove rust, corrosion or pain was sand. However, the dust caused by sand can be extremely harmful to the user and everyone around him, so nowadays, there are better alternative abrasive materials used. Some of the more common abrasive materials used nowadays are copper slag, walnut shells, steel grit, coconut shells or a variety of powdered abrasives.

If you’re new to sandblasting, and want to purchase a sandblaster right now, there are a couple of things you should know before doing so. If you want to save cash, look for a sandblaster sale online, or in local hardware stores. Moreover, buy safety equipment because breathing the dust created by this cleaning method can be very harmful to your health.

For instance, a helmet and clean air supply are essential. Protective headphones and a full body suit is also advised. If you think that you aren’t ready to use a sandblaster, it’s best you hire a professional to do the cleaning for you. Better safe than sorry! There are companies nowadays that offer sandblasting services exclusively.

However, if you’re going to need something sandblasted frequently, it will be extremely expensive to hire a company to do it for you. If you need smaller items cleaned, like hand tools for instance, you can also get a sandblaster cabinet that you can get as well on a sandblaster sale. That way, you can just put the items you need cleaned inside and have them sandblasted effectively. There are two popular types of sandblasters, depending on the method which they push out the abrasive materials with – gravity-fed and pressurised.

Pressurised sandblasters require the use of a canister filled with pressurised abrasive material. The guns of the sandblaster are linked to the canisters and with the press of the trigger, the abrasive material is pushed out to clean surfaces. These models are the most simple ones, and may have the lower initial cost, but you cannot reuse the abrasive material, so you have to keep buying new canisters of abrasive materials.

Gravity-fed sandblasters are powered by an air compressor. They have a container which is filled with abrasive material, and by pulling the trigger, air from the air compressor gushes it out. Typically, the container is located above the nozzle, and in some cases, the abrasive material can be reused. If that’s not the case, you’ll just have to re-fill the container with brand new abrasive materials.