More About Sandblasting - "Grit" vs "Mesh"

[ddavelarsen]

Spotted a sandblasting cabinet in HF yesterday and after having slept on it decided I'm going to pick it up today.

Now about media.

The Gun Kote specs say to sandblast with 140 mesh aluminum oxide at 40 lbs. In HF the only media they have is 70 or 80 grit, A/O and ceramic, respectively.

What's the difference, if any, between "grit" and "mesh"? Or should I just find a place to order exactly what Gun Kote specifies?

I know some testing is in order but since my cabinet is going to be dedicated to Gun Kote I may as well fill it with the right media from the start.

 

[aalbinger]

These sites may be of use:

http://www.reade.com/Sieve/grit_conversion.html

http://www.newportglass.com/grit.htm

-Andrew

 

[Mike Hull]

If you're using a marginal HP compressor(like me), you might have to mix the glass beads with AO.

I use a mixture of 60/100(BT-8) mesh GB, and 150 grit AO.
I use it in a 70%AO, 30%GB mixture. You can vary that mixture to get different results.
Most of those benchtop cabinets have a 10 pound capacity hopper, so use 1 gallon milk cartons sitting on a bathroom scale to mix 10 pounds total, and it makes life a bit easier.

I'm now eagerly awaiting(with baited breath) the next installment of the kal gard saga.