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Glass Abrasive Blasting Abrasive Supplier
Manufacturers of glass bead blasting abrasive media, use recycled glass as a feedstock. Recycled glass for manufacturing glass beads is ground into a powder and heated to melting point. This causes the powder particles to change from a jagged shape to a rounded sphere. Grading of glass beads into select sizes takes place after heat processing and forming into spheres.
Glass bead blasting abrasive media is less aggressive than blasting with sand or steel grit. Blasting with glass bead does not remove heavy coatings and rust. The main application for glass bead blasting is on softer, non-ferrous metallic surfaces. Glass beds produce a bright satin finish on materials such as stainless steel and aluminium. The finish on items blasted is even and is ideal for items that will not be further coated.
Other applications for glass bead include cleaning, e.g., engine heads for reconditioning, deburring, e.g., taking rough edges off punchings, peening of high stress components (to expose any cracks likely to be hidden surface contamination) and surface extension (preparing a flat surface for enameling or lacquering by increasing the surface area that they can bond onto).
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- Manufactured glass abrasive
- Miniature, translucent glass spheres
- Spherical beads impart a satin or matte 'shot peened' finish to the work surface
- Widely used in hand cabinets for surface cleaning rather than surface etching
- Can be recycled
Items that are often blasted with glass bead include food processing machinery, abattoir equipment, stainless steel platforms and walkways and architectural fabrications. Glass beads are iron free and will not stain the surface, either from impingement or if retained in an inaccessible area that is difficult to remove spent abrasive from. Blasting with glass bead has a slower production rate than blasting with more aggressive sandblasting media. Normally this isn’t a problem as the surface area requiring blasting with glass bead is usually limited.
Glass bead is available in a range of sizes – from #20 – 30 to #270 plus. Special grades are available for blasting to military specification and peening.
