Anyone use Tractor Supply Black diamond fine blasting abrasive?

[alloy]

I usually use glass beads in my pressure blast cabinet and order them from Home Depot, but it's on back order. Doesn't seem to be any other suppliers within 75 miles of me that has any.

I routinely bed blast aluminum transmission housings. Some of which are irreplaceable.

Is the coal slag friendly on aluminum?

 

[jbobb1]

Where I used to work, we used a coal by-product medium and it could easily destroy aluminum if you didn't watch your psi.

 

[alloy]

That's what I was afraid of. The housings are customer parts and they aren't made anymore. Can't take a chance on damaging them.

Harbor Freight says they carry glass beads but no one in 100 miles has any in stock.

 

[Gaffer]

I don't know how soon you need it, but my HF stores nearby were out of nozzles for my blaster. I ordered them from HF online and received them in about a week.

 

[alloy]

Well I wanted to go pick it up today if possible. The closest HF store that has them is 109 miles.

Usually when I order them from Home Depot it's about 2-3 days. But with the pandemic everything seems to be affected.

 

[Gaffer]

Bummer. 109 miles each way eats up the day. Best of luck.

 

[682bear]

If you have a dust filter on your blast cabinet... then I would say no... don't use the coal slag.

I used it in my cabinet for a while... the dust completely clogged the filter and is next to impossible to clean out... I ended up replacing the filter.

I use the garnet sand from tractor supply now. It is a little more expensive, but lasts longer and is much easier to clean out.

-Bear

 

[reds]

I used about 45 bags of the fine to blast the bottom paint of my fiberglass boat. Paint was about 1/8 inch thick. Did a nice job

 

[alloy]

I have a big filter with hanging bags. They are super expensive to replace.

 

[Nutfarmer]

I used glass beads on an aluminum vw engine case and the glass embedded in the aluminum and came loose. You guessed it the engine was total loss. Live and learn. I haven't used glass beads on anything aluminum sense .