I had a guy come into our shop yesterday and he was telling me he is getting ready to paint his bike. He said he was going to sand/glass bead his plastics. Can this be done without damaging them?

 

Sounds bad to me. sand blasting as far as I know is for metal unless there is some new procedure I've never heard of

 

Theres tons of differnet products out there now from plastic beads to walnut shells so it is possible. Keep in touch with him see how it turns out.

 

Yea he wont be sand blasting them. Thatd damage the plastic. Like the above poster mentioned theres a ton of media to blast with that wont hurt the goods...

 

I used to be a professional sandblaster. I have blasted anything from wood to metal to plastic and glass. For every surface there is a media specifically designed for its blasting as well as a blasting machine designed for the same use . We used to use something called a glove box for that kind of item. As long as the person blasting knows what they are doing you should be alright. For the more fragile surfaces you will probably be using silica. Its not necessarily the media that will do the damage to the product but its the surface tension which builds up heat from the friction and that heat is what you have to watch out for. Make sure to keep you arm moving and do not stay in one spot for too long when blasting delicate surfaces.

 

Well I asked him to let me know how it turns out. If he does I will find what type of media he used and of course the results of the job.

Chris

 

Yeah he shouldnt be using glass bead on plastic for sure. It would contaminate it