"Play Sand" for blasting use?

Someone enlighten me - what is a PA Blaster? Thanks.

 

Play sand is exactly what I used on my wheels. They came out great and I just used a small sandblaster...



after...


primered...

 

Be careful using it to blast cast metal, sand embeds in it pretty easy.

 

If you have alot of pressure and a large nozzle, it probly wont clog. My HF blaster clogged right up. That was with a nice water trap installed too.

 

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=270519

You can find plans here:

http://www.pablaster.com/

"What is a PA-Blaster ???

The "PA" in PABlaster stands for "Pressure Assist" or the ability to control two atmospheres when sandblasting providing you with a no-clog system that can go for hours-on-end (depending of course on the amount of media your container can hold.) a 60-gallon storage container for example can go for hours and be used by one person providing you limitless time in removing rust from your object instead of clearing the blockage like most industry units today have a problem with. "

 

Normally i buy black diamond coal slag from TSC but in a bind I have used masonary sand with great results. I strain it using a food strainer. Masonary sand is not as fine as playsand.

 

All the bags of play sand sold at the box stores around here are in 50 lb clear perforated bags & are always sweating from the inside.
I buy 100 lb bags of #20 silica at a building supply for about 6 bucks a sack.
Hood & mask are a given w/ any sand.

 

this is me sandblasting with silica sand #20 on my dash it works just fine


this is how it came out


and now after the air brushing

 

Thanks for all of the replies and input guys. Helpful stuff.

It seems that many of you have had moisture problems but I'm guessing that possibly some brand names are better than others. The bags of sand at Lowes seemed very dry and had free-flowing sand that appears pretty consistent in size. Maybe I just got lucky this time. I will definitely look into the other sand types and grit sizes mentioned and I may just need to drive a little further to find some of these.

I had tried some "sand" in my blast cabinet once that I got at a building supply store. It looked more like cat litter and had a variety of grit sizes from dust to rocks. Bad stuff and when you tryed to blast with it, the dust was so bad you couldn't see your project!

Again, thanks much for your comments and experience.

- EM

 

I better keep that sand in the kids sandbox so I don't get exposed to that silica.


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I used to use the play sand till I read the warning on the bag. I still wore protection while using it. Take care Bruce.

 

I've used silica sand, blasting sand and Black Diamond. Black Diamond works the best in my opinion. I noticed that it comes out of the gun in a wider pattern and cuts better so it works faster with less waste. You can find it at TSC and Menards. I was given about 600 lbs of it from the guys that were blasting the water tower behind my building in South Dakota but I found they were using a much larger size that didn't go through my biggest tips so buy the smaller sizes.

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Play sand is like beach sand, or like sandblasting sand that is worn down by being used a couple of times. It works but not as sharp as new sandblasting sand.

 

Good time of year for this discussion to come up. There will be a lot of this going on shortly. I am anxious to get a bunch of this done this spring. I used to do a lot of it years ago but then the only thing available was sand from the cement company. Had to sift through a screen and throttle the bottom material ball valve every so often when it clogged.

 

I blasted a pulley and a couple of small parts today getting them ready to be powder coated. I am using play sand from Lowe's. I didn't see anything else there that looked like it would work; the play sand did. I have been using it for awhile and haven't had any issues with moisture. I do live in Colorado where the moisture content in the air is naturally low. I also have a very good moisture removal system on my air compressor. The play sand does wear out quickly and needs to be replaced when it quits cutting. I haven't had any excessive problems with dust but I have an adequate sized vacuum on my cabinet. I am happy with it and expect to continue to use it.

 

I'm going to talk like an expert..... but I'm not.
I think the "play sand" is packed in the bags somewhat wet to help with dust issues during packaging and what you're seeing is left over, residual moisture. Can it pick up more moisture? I don'no but maybe. I suspect it has a lot of dirt and fines in it. If you put a scoop in a bucket of water and the water turns brown, that's what I'm talking about. That silty, dusty dirt coating the grains could be a little gummy when damp. I believe I've seen "sharp sand" at the hardware/home centers which is suggested for cement and mortar, so that's another option but I doubt it's any "cleaner". Maybe not all play sands are created equal which could explain why conflicting opinions are being reported. Or maybe you just have to be sure to dry it out well.

 

I bought sand from Lowes and it was wet. Checked Home Depot and their sand was dry. Screened it and blasted body & frame with it - worked great. Recycled it 3x with no problem.

 

wear a good mask if you use sand for blasting. It can kill ya slowly....

 

If you don't take the time to carefully screen play sand it will wear the tips of your gun badly.

 

I buy from a sand supply, but used the fine sand in my blast cabinet from Tractor Supply
$8 per bag
has worked very well in the cabinet
play sand will work but make sure its dry
use a real dust respirator when using outside the cabinet

 

As a youngling I worked for a while at an investment casting shop and I have many happy memories of blasting various parts in this console sized sand blasting cabinet and getting an electric shock about every 30 seconds right through the thick rubber gloves. But the really special treat was standing with my crotch area too close to the chassis and bridging that gap every 10 minutes or so. 'Know what I mean, Vern?

 

Black diamond from tractor supply.