Media blasting-abrasive vs. beads

[Justin King]

I have only used the abrasive type media in my cabinet so far but am considering trying glass beads for a smoother finish. I am wondering what kind of performance and longevity they give when using them on hardened blades, though. A blade at 59 HRC is actually harder than many kinds of glass, it seems like the beads might shatter, chip, or at least wear very quickly in this type of use. Any experience or thoughts on this?

 

[Tinbasher]

I use the very fine glass bead, depends on how big or how much air you can use, I can only use 80psi, it works well on TI and standard blades but won't touch INFI, not tried it on scale from the forge yet.
If your outlet will alow you to crank it up a bit then it should work just fine
Richard

 

[combs6136]

Richard, Where can you get the very fine glass bead?..........thanks..........carl