What type of media works best for sandblasting a frame?

[Mitch]

Leathernek,

Just finished the whole car. At Tractor Supply, its "Black Diamond" in 50 lb. bags. You will want to get the finer grit, which is marked 40-80 or 60-80 (don't have the bag in front of me). This will leave the best finish for paint and will run thru a 3/32" or 1/8" nozzle nicely. We blasted from 40-60 psi.

For the frame only, the 20-60 grit would work fine. It will require a bit larger nozzle to keep the grit from clogging the nozzle. And fresh air supply works best.

[Joe Young]

I am lucky enough to have a friend in the sand blast business. He uses nothing but black beauty and I get it from inside his large indoor blasting building. Fill up 5 gallon buckets and strain through window screen. The air supplied hood is a must if you do much blasting and it won't fog up. I use a meat cutters coat that my wife put velcro on the sleeves to keep sand out. I can sand blast for hours without getting material in my ears,
pockets or navel. If you have done much blasting without proper equipment you know what I mean.

[Honkey84]

Originally Posted by ford1

honkey 84, so is cigerette smoke, gas fumes, wood smoke, dust, cleaning supplies and almost every thing else you come across in every day life, the only difference from them and sand blasting is you breathe them 24 hours a day with out a mask, and sand blasting is only done once in a while and you have on a resperator and a dust mask, the odds of getting sick from sand blasting is a 1000 time less than all the other things i mentioned, especially second hand cigerette smoke

If you want to shave years off your life go right ahead! I simply stated that there are SERIOUS DANGERS to using the inappropriate media. You say its every once and while, but how many once and whiles is that over a life time? Think cumulative effects. I sure you don't handle asbestos every once and a while do you? So light up a butt at the gas pumps, and have a great day it's your life to live!

[jmeckel]

I also use Black Beauty media, Menards and TSC sell it around here. I also wear a good resperator as I already have major lung issues and kind of want to protect the old lungs! Be very careful if you use sand, it will cause lung issues, maybe not today, but it will at some point.... Black Beauty cuts rust and old paint very fast and leaves a very good finish to paint. I have also used it on metal yard chairs without causing any warping to the thin metal. I highly recommend it.

[TD]

I found that when using sand a good mask is a must and do it with your back to the wind and most of the dust is carried away. I spread a tarp same way and get much more sand to re use.