Local places for sandblasting media?

[bignissan]

What type of places usually carry SB media? I don't want to order on-line to avoid shipping XX lbs of sand and such. What do you use? I am going to use it for cleaning rusty tube and such. Thanks.

[cnay20]

Any good automotive paint supply shop should carry it (silica sand).

[Old Scout]

Any sand,gravel,rock supplier will have it. Just open the yellow pages. :flipoff2:

http://www.carolinasupplies.com/N5Content/images/Blasting_Sand.jpg

[Aces'n'8s]

I buy my sand from a place that supplies the local brick masons with their materials. It's already washed and sifted and fairly inexpensive...as compared to the price per volume from Eastwood or even the local companies selling "sandblasting" sand.

You might try building supply shops. A few of them around here sell sifted sand by the 60lb bag.

Unless you desire media to clean precision parts, etch glass, peen metal, or clean alum., dry sand is all that you need to clean steel.

[frankenfab]

I buy quartz blasting media from Home Depot. I think it was around $4 for an 80lb bag last time I bought it (a couple years ago).

[freds40]

Depends on the media you want to use. If you are looking for crushed walnut shell, then it's a pretty speacialized dealer that will cary it. You're looking for sand and I've been able to buy good sand from Orchard Supply. Otherwise, look for stucco, masonary, concrete material supply houses.

[trainrech]

You should be able to find sandblasting sand at just about any home improvement store (Lowes, Home Depot, local lumberyard, etc.). Don't ask for sandblasting sand, ask for sand. They don't "sell" sandblasting sand, apparently due to liability concerns.

As a contractor we used to purchase medium grade sand directly from a supplier (Quikrete). They have since changed their policy so we have to go through a retail outlet, even though we purchase 7 to 14 pallets at a time.

[bignissan]

i went to Home Depot and they had "play sand" but I wasn't sure if it was too coarse or not. I'm gonna check the phone book and make some calls to see what I can find.

[BumpyDodge]

X2 on what Old Scout said for sand.

I know TSC (Tractor Supply Company) and Northern tool also carry SB media if you don't mind paying retail and you have a store nearby.

It's possible to blast with kiddie play sand, but it clogs often even when it's dry and it won't even touch heavy scale. I don't recommend using it - it's a waste of time. I looked in HF's "returns" bin once (it's in the back next to the bathroom at our local store) and I noticed that every returned pressure pot sandblaster had kiddie play sand in it... maybe that says something about how well it works. Don't even try it with a siphon feed blaster, you'll be :mad3: in about 5 minutes. The headaches spared and the time saved justify the cost of using good media IMO.

If you can find "Black Beauty" that's my favorite stuff to blast with. It's slag- based and cuts very quickly compared to quartz-based media and it's very consistent. It's always black colored because it's made from slag, not tan like regular sand - hence the name. It's the sharpest media I know of. Note: It's also marginally safer to use than quartz-based if you breath it on a regular basis.

I used some garnet based stuff once and it also worked pretty well. I haven't seen it for a while and I remember it was relatively expensive when I got it. It came in a small cardboard drum instead of a bag. Maybe that's why it was so expensive? If you come across any of it in your travels - it works pretty decent for stuff where using Black Beauty would be too aggressive.

[bignissan]

thanks.....to the yellow pages

[Brandon]

i went to Home Depot and they had "play sand" but I wasn't sure if it was too coarse or not. I'm gonna check the phone book and make some calls to see what I can find.


no, not the play sand..

they have something else, I forget what they call it but it's not the play sand

[CrustyJeep]

I used play sand just this morning :D
It worked great in my little HF gravity feed mini blaster that I paid $15 for. Much more aggressive than the 70 grit blast media I over paid for at HF.

I didn't have any problems with clogging until the air compressor started pushing moisture (after blowing about 45 lbs of sand). Now I just need to get another air dryer I guess... The one at the compressor hardly collected anything.

I think it wouldn't work for shit with any sort of syphon feed. This stuff is irregular as hell, from dust to small pebbles.

[bignissan]

no, not the play sand..

they have something else, I forget what they call it but it's not the play sand


multi purpose sand? they had that too, but seemed very coarse with a lot of pebbles.

[motobum]

I buy mine at harbor frieght. I have a local store around here.

[zz4x4]

We use these guys here in Dallas but they have sites thoughout Texas.. They ship / deliver too.
http://www.surfacepreparation.com/xq/asp/af.1/qx/family.htm

[red85toy]

I built a Sandblasting Cabinet recently and I didn't like some of the prices I found for blasting media. So I bought 2 bags of play sand from Home Depot and 2 bags from Lowe's.
I use regular fiberglass screen material to pre-sift "or filter" the sand into a 5 gallon bucket. Doing this catches all the large pebbles/rocks so it doesn't jam in the gun.

I have found the Home Depot Play Sand to have the least amount of large pebbles.

I need to buy different types of blasting material, but those first 4 bags went well and the cost was very low!

[Brandon]

multi purpose sand? they had that too, but seemed very coarse with a lot of pebbles.


no, it is called fine grain or something or other - might even say for blasting on it. I'll look next time I am at the depot..

[Brutpwr]

I have bought media from Snap-On before...good stuff but not cheap either!

Jason :)

[outlawcrewcab]

look for a northen tool aound you they carry it

[ironpig70]

used silica sand from home depot to do my frame. wear a respirator:D