Unlike other abrasives, Glass Beads remove no base metal, leave no embedment, will produce better finishes and seldom require masking even precision parts. Any wet-blast or dry-blast equipment may be used. Glass Beads are impinged upon the surface being treated by a fluid stream, through a nozzle, to mechanically treat that surface. The nature and degree of treatment are controlled by the size of Glass Beads used, fluid operation pressures, and exposure time. Special chemical treatment of the glass provides constant disperson of the spheres. The glass beads are lead-free and possess qualities enabling them to withstand the rigors of blasting and resist shattering. They function without imbedment, pick-up, contamination or other damage to the surface under treatment.

The effects of Glass Beads can be classed as mechanical surface reformations. Three major categories are involved...cleaning, peening and finishing. Glass Beads' effective range in each of these areas is all inclusive. Tough mill scale can be removed from raw titanium...yet the finest finish may be applied to precision gear teeth. The capabilities of Glass Beads are almost inexhaustible. Their use will add life to dies, bearings and shafts...will blend tool marks from machined parts...perform light deburring...finish magnesium. Base metals treated with Glass Beads offer chemically pure surfaces.

Typical Glass Bead Applications

Finish
Provides uniform, controllable surface character. Blends high spots...improves any metal finish.

Close Fits
Wear, binding and high spots can be greatly reduced with Glass Beads treatment.

Anodized Aluminum
Improves adhesion, provides decorative finish. Will remove anodize.

Machining
Blends machining marks; reduces stress risers

Dies
Production life is increased.

Brass
Increases wear and lubricating qualities; smooths and levels. Improves adhesion of plating solution.

Non-Metallics
Matte-satin finishes on plastics, ceramics, woods; stone and other non-metallic materials may be achieved with Glass Beads. It is particularly effective in producing special decorative effects.

Plating
Leaves no foreign matter or contaminants. Produces a fair bonding surface.

Rollers
Increases service life and imporves performance of all types of rollers.

Shafts and Rotating Parts
Reduced friction and binding, increases RPM. Lubrication and wear qualities improved.

Surfaces
Does not alter dimensions. Smooths and levels the surface leaving it chemically pure, free of imbedment or contamination.

Missles and Aircraft (Airframe)
Corrosion removed without distrubing dimensions. Stress relieves, reduces air friction, increases fatigue strength.

Cold Working
Produces fine finish; stress relieves, work-hardens, levels and finishes

Heat Treatment
Surface character of heat treated components can be imporoved without affecting heat treatment.

Fatigue Life
Glass Beads level surface irregularities, cause of many fatigue failures.

Heat Treat Scale and Discoloration
Will remove scale and discoloration. Will straighten tempered parts and imporve surface. Will not alter heat treat qualities.

Cleaning
All dead metal...all foreign matter is removed without dimensional change. Chemically pure, smooth surface remains; ideal for welding, plating, painting, etc.

Molds
Will not damage or change dimensions of molds. Offers quick, safe removal of residual deposits from rubber, plastic and glass molds. No contamination...no imbedment...increased production life.

Rejected Parts
Parts rejected because of tool marks, improper finish or minor surface imperfections can possibly be economically salvaged with Glass Beads treatment.

Welding
Prepares surface for fusion, bonding. Completely removes flux, welding residue...stress relieves and smooths weld.

Aircraft Parts
Ideal for precision controlled cleaning. Increases fatigue strength, reduces wear and friction, stress relieves.

Burned Areas
Removes all scale and residue caused by fire; smooths surface.

Tool Marks
Easily removes thread hairs and blends tool marks into smooth level surface. Up to 50% improvement in surface rms.

Deburring
Removes feather burrs, thread hairs...levels subsequent surface.

Inspection
Glass Beads treatment exposes otherwise undetected cracks and flaws to visual inspection. Can eliminate machined parts that would be rejected by final inspection.

Sizes: Sieve/Microns
A(20-30)/(841-595)
B(30-40)/(595-420)
C(40-60)(420-250)
D(50-70)/(297-210)
AA(40-70)/(420-210)
AAA(25-45)
AB(50-80)/297-177)
AC(60-100)/(250-149)
AD(70-140)(210-105)
AE(100-170)/(149-88)
AF(100-200)/(149-74)
AG(140-270)/(105-53)
AH(170-325)/(88-44)
AI(170-DWN)/(88-Finer)
AL(270-DWN)/(53-Finer)
AQ(325-DWN)

Mil Spec Sizes:
#3(20-30)
#4(30-40)
#5(40-50)
#6(50-70)
#7(60-80)
#8(70-100)
#9(80-120)
#10(100-170)
#11(120-200)
#12(140-230)
#13(170-325)

Steel shot and grit are ideal for a wide range of high production applications, even those with the most critical requirements.  Steel media is available in a variety of hardnesses.

Applications:
Cleaning and descaling ferrous or non-ferrous castings, forgings, steel mill products, weldments and heat treated metal products.
Etching steel mill rolls.
Bonding rubber or enamel to metal.
Preparing surfaces of fiberglass products.
Dressing Grinding Wheels
Shot peening to impart residual compressive stresses to improve fatigue properties of metal products.
Cleaning hot water tanks for glass linings.

Sizes Available:
S-70
S-110
S-170
S-230
S-280
S-330
S-390
S-460
S-550
S-660
S-780

Aluminum oxide is an inorganic compound formed through the fusion of alumina ore in an electric arc furnace at temperatures in excess of 2000°C. It registers at 9 on the MOHS scale which is just slightly below the hardness of silicon carbide. Aluminum oxide is very hard and does not dull quickly. The difficult-to-fracture crystalline structure of an aluminum oxide makes it an ideal abrasive for a variety of uses. It has the capability of producing fine, scratch-free finishes on a broad range of ferrous and nonferrous metals, various types of glass and other hard materials.

Recommended Applications: Optical finishing, precision polishing, bronze, brass, quartz and steel lapping, bonded and coated abrasvies, microblasting, plasma spray, hard surfacing

Sizes Available:
8
12
16
20
24
30
36
46
54
60
70
80
90
100
120
150
180
220
240
280
320

Measuring 9.5 on the MOHS scale, silicon carbide is one of the hardest abrasives known to the industry. Silicon carbide is unique in it's ability to cut or grind ceramics, silicon, quartz and other extremely tough materials. The inherent ability of the sharp crystalline structure assures the continuous exposure of new cutting edges to produce a fast and clean cutting action. The finish is inferior to that produced by Aluminum Oxide. It is not generally used in the last step before final polishing because of the difficulty of removing scratches.

Sizes Available:
16
20
36
50
60
80
90
100
120
150
220
240
280

Garnet cleans faster with a smaller grain and lower nozzle pressures giving low consumption per unit area cleaned, normally 50% less than other common blast cleaners. Garnet's superior cutting properties mean that it is up to three times faster than silica or waste slag abrasives. This allows greater productivity and improved quality control with reduced overhead costs.  Blast cleaning with Garnet means low dust emission, as a result of lower blast pressures.   Garnet is rapid settling which is due to it's high specific gravity. This insures minimum disturbance to adjoining operations and excellent operator visibility.

Sizes Available:
8
16
36
50
60
80
100
120
150
250

Green Diamond has a MOHS hardness of approximately 6.5 and has low friability with excellent cutting power. It is produced using state-of-the-art washing, dust collection and screening equipment to remove fines and dust before it gets to your blast hose. Because of the very low levels of trace metals and low solubility, Green Diamond is California Air Resources Board certified.

Sizes Available:
16/36
16/50
20/50
30/60

Starblast is valuable in removing mill scale and light rust from metal, paint films, and for cleaning dirt and stains from masonry surfaces. White metal finish, which is difficult to achieve with many abrasives, is readily achieved with starblast. Near white, commercial, or brush-off finishes are also easily achieved by working faster or using greater nozzle-to-work distance.

Starblast is often chosen to clean critical equipment such as pipe destined for hydraulic use. Here the rounded grains of the product eliminate the problem of abrasive embedding in the metal and later coming loose and creating problems. It is also chosen by some power companies for maintenance work where critical equipment such as electric motors cannot tolerate exposure to large volumes of dust.

Starblast will work in all air-blast equipment designed for loose abrasives, but generally at a much leaner abrasive/air ratio. Normally, it is better to feed too little starblast than too much. The correct amount of feed can be obtained by starting the blasting operation with the abrasive feed valve in the closed position then slowly opening until the abrasive stream is just visible. At this point, the feed valve is slowly closed until the abrasive stream can no longer be seen. The proper abrasive/air mixture has now been obtained and blasting can begin.

Walnut Shells were originally developed and are still used for cleaning gasoline and diesel engines.  It's toughness and lack of silicon or other grit allows it to clean metals, alloys and plastics without scratching or pitting the surface.  Walnut Shells are carefully manufactured to eliminate any possible metals or mineral contamination which could damage fine finishes.

Blast cleaning with Walnut Shells quickly caught on as a way to eliminate hand scraping, brushing or grinding, and the use of hazardous solvents and high temperature chemical baths.  Walnut Shells will remove paint, lacquer, rust, scale, carbon and chemical deposits.

Applications:
One of the largest uses for Walnut Shells is the deflashing of molded plastic parts.  Other uses are:

Blast Cleaning:    Jet Engines
                            Baking Pans
                            Industrial Fans
                            Iron Core Boxes
                            Turbine Generators
                            Plastic and Rubber Molds
                            Tanks, ducts and other inaccessible areas
                            Metal, glass and wood surfaces for refinishing

Deburring:             Metal Stampings

Deflashing:            Metal Castings

Polishing:              Gems and Jewelry

Texturizing:           Plywood (Blasting to Raise Grain)

Tumbling:              Plastic, hard rubber, and metal parts.

Walnut Shells can be used in air, mechanical (wheel-type), vapor or liquid blasting systems.  It is recommended that Walnut Shells be used in an automatic closed system for both good house keeping and good economics.

Sizes:
Walnut Shells are available in several sizes from very coarse, for cleaning large parts rapidly, to super fine for cleaning delicate electronic parts with fine openings and grooves.

Sizes Available:
4/6
4/20
6/10
8/12
12/20 (AD-3B Equivalent)
14/30 (AD-4B Equivalent)
18/40 (AD-6B Equivalent)
20/30
20/40
30/40
40/60 (AD-7B Equivalent)
40/80
40/100 (AD-9B Equivalent)
60/100
60/200 (AD-10.5B Equivalent)
100/finer