Bead Blaster/Cabinet

[Bosgarage57]

I want to try to get into refinishing some guns, but dont want to spend a whole ton. I've got parkerizing and bluing stuff coming. I was just going to use white vinegar and steel wool to get the current blue off, but someone mentioned a bead blaster is a whole lot easier. Where would I find one, are they fairly inexpensive (<200-250)? If it is way outa my league, is white vinegar the best thing to use to de-blue my gun.

Also my trigger guard is anodized metal, so I dont/cant parkerize it, I suppose I'll have to paint it, what kinda paint do I need to use?

[timcalhoun]

I want to try to get into refinishing some guns, but dont want to spend a whole ton. I've got parkerizing and bluing stuff coming. I was just going to use white vinegar and steel wool to get the current blue off, but someone mentioned a bead blaster is a whole lot easier. Where would I find one, are they fairly inexpensive (<200-250)? If it is way outa my league, is white vinegar the best thing to use to de-blue my gun.

Also my trigger guard is anodized metal, so I dont/cant parkerize it, I suppose I'll have to paint it, what kinda paint do I need to use?

Harbor freight has some pretty cheap options for blasting cabinets. The air compressor is probably even more important than the cabinet itself. Bead blasting eats air like crazy, so you really need a compressor that can keep up. I got a harbor freight stand up cabinet and bought a really good compressor (80 gallon 2 stage). Works great!!!

[Guest chrisdridley]

I have two bead blast cabinets in my shop....I run an auto restoration shop.....if it is something that you are going to be using quite often, go with a quality stand-up cabinet with a good vacuum like from sandblasting equipment including sandblast cabinets, abrasives and accessories - Ace Automotive Cleaning Equipment with a quality compressor that is large enough to run the cabinet. Your will be able to re-use your media over and over again, saving yourself money in the long run and you can produce great results with the right combo of air pressure and media size.

[Bosgarage57]

What about this: The Barrel Blaster

We have a 20gal compressor, might not be big enough......

[Guest chrisdridley]

What about this: The Barrel Blaster

We have a 20gal compressor, might not be big enough......

You need to check the cfm rating of your compressor....an undersized compressor will not produce the results you need.

I don't know anything about this one....my only concern would be that all the seals are tight ( door, windows, hopper ) hard to tell on the net

[Bosgarage57]

yea thats true, is there anywhere local, Knoxville-ish that sells these types of things?

[Dolomite_supafly]

As long as the compressor has enough flow it will work fine. I have a 35 gallon compressor but is has a twin cylinger pump. It produces 15+ cfm at 90 psi and works well with my cabinet.

Another option that I have been looking at is the cabinets at Tractor Supply. They have a very, nice cabinet for $199. It doesn't include a stand but I mounted my current one to the bench which is something you could do as well.

A media blaster is one of those items that once you buy one you wonder how you ever managed without one. I am going to be setting up two real soon. One for aluminum oxide for heavy removal as well as roughing the surface. The second on will have walnut hulls for cleaning and paint removal without damaging the metal.

They no longer sell the comressor I have but it uses this pump:

145 PSI 5 Horsepower Twin Cylinder Air Compressor Pump

And like I said it is only 35 gallons but with this pump it keeps up with anything I need to do.

Dolomite

[Bosgarage57]

hmm thank you Dolomite, I'll check out tractor supply. Is this the one you are refering too: JobSmart® Benchtop Abrasive Blast Cabinet, 32 lb. Capacity - 3951103 | Tractor Supply Company

[Dolomite_supafly]

That is it. It be aware that the max pressure is 80 psi. Shouldn't cause issues with how it functions but if you forget and leave the compressor at 100+ it may blow a hose.

You can see by the reviews it is a decent cabinet. I have a $100 harbor freight cabinet and it is junk. It leaks everywhere so I am constantly vacuuming up after it.

Dolomite

[Bosgarage57]

Thank you. So if I go get that is that all I need besides beads? What's the difference between sand blasters and bead blasters? Just the nozzle?

[Dolomite_supafly]

DO NOT USE SAND!!!

There is a very nasty lung disease that you can get from using sand.

The media is what makes a blaster different. Bead blasters refer to glass beads. They produce a less aggressive finish than aluminum oxide. I have never used glass beads personally but I have a friend that uses it. He said it is aggressive but does not change the surface metal much. He uses it on automotive parts.

Medium grit aluminum oxide, which is all I use anymore, will remove bluing and will give steel a dull finish when blued. Almost like a parkerized finish. It also provides an excellent surface for coatings like Duracoat, Gunkote or any of the ceramic type coatings to stick to. It should also work well with parkerizing even though I have never parkerized anything. With stainless it will give it a dull gray, non glare finish. On aluminum it will give noticeably rough finish and can even it aluminum if left too long in the same spot or if the pressure is too high.

This all depends on the pressure as well. You can turn the pressure down to lessen the results but it will still dull the finish.

I also have started using walnut media because it is a lot more gentle on parts. I actually use it to clean carbon buildup on parts. It also works to remove paint without damaging the underlying metal. It is not aggressive enough to harm aluminum but easily takes off paints.

I am getting ready to buy another cabinet and it probably will be the TSC one you linked or the stand up one. The advantage of the stand up one is it has a deep funnel for the media to fall down into for the pick up tube. The desktop models sometimes have the media gather away from the pickup tube because they aren't as deep.

I think 80 psi is plenty for what you are going to be doing. Even at 110 psi the steel is not damaged in any way but does have a decent surface to adhere to.

A few more things. Like someone else said get some sort of vacuum to evacuate the cabinet. If you don't the cabinet can fill up sith dust making it impossible to see your work. The smallest shop vac is probably enough because all you want it to do is pull air and dust out. And make sure it has a filter.

Make sure you have and get exrta window film for the inside of the cabinet. The media is abrasive and will dull whatever it hits, including your glass window. The protective film keeps your glass from dulling. You basically peel off a layer when it becomed difficult to see.

As far as nozzles goes you are probably not going to need a replacement for a while so don't buy extras. I bought extras when I got my cabinet a few years ago. I lost the spares before I needed them.

Dolomite

[Bosgarage57]

Thank you for all the info. Im gonna go to Tractor Supply tomorrow and see if they have it in stock. I didnt want to use sand anyway, I heard beads are much more forgiving. Also have you tried plastic beads? Only thing I want to do is get the nasty old bluing off so I can park or reblue. I think for the price difference Im gonna go with the table one.

Edit: after looking up info on my air compressor the specs are: Single stage, 3 1/2 HP, 6.1 CFM @ 125 Max PSI 20 gal. Seems like it'll work, but might be boarderline.

Edited January 2, 2012 by Bosgarage57

[timcalhoun]

I use glass bead and it does a great job taking old bluing off etc... I use a medium size bead and it is just aggressive enough to remove bluing or to matte stainless steel to a beautiful finish. My shop vac works great to keep the dust down.

[Bosgarage57]

Thanks TIm, when you say medium size, I've found no 80 grit abrasive glass beads. Will that work?

[timcalhoun]

Thanks TIm, when you say medium size, I've found no 80 grit abrasive glass beads. Will that work?

That will work just fine. I mostly ran that grit @ 90psi.

[DaveTN]

Most any bead blaster will work for what you want to do. I used them a lot in Tool & Die work and have blasted many guns.

The most important thing is the media. You want the finest glass bead you can get. It will remove bluing or paint without damaging the metal. The key to bluing is the polish you put on the gun prior to bluing it, so you don’t want to rough up the metal. I have even used it to strip wood stocks.

I had to order ours from MSC. It almost feels like powder. I doubt Harbor Freight will have anything this fine. Here’s a link:

Loose Abrasives for Sandblasting Equipment - Blasting Media | MSCDirect.com

You need to place it somewhere that is easy to clean up. When this stuff gets on a floor it is like walking on ice.

Here’s a S&W Model 19 that I stripped in a matter of minutes. No chemicals to mess with and I easily got into all the corners. The polishing takes long enough without adding to it by using rough media.

The close-up of the yoke shows what it looked like after blasting. You don’t want it any rougher that that.

The key to high quality bluing job is the quality of the polish you put on after blasting. You are going to need a good bench buffer and different grades of polishing rouge.

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