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round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2017 11:56 pm
by PremalChheda
Most of us are using the round glass bead. Does anyone have any experience using the sharp glass bead and a comparison to the round?

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:26 pm
by Sasquatch
I have no idea what I have. I suspect I may have just filtered/sized ground glass rather than "bead".

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2017 1:53 pm
by oklahoma red
Sharp glass "bead" is a bit of a misnomer. Glass beads are just that, glass that has been processed to form a smooth spherical "bead". Ground glass is everyday glass that has been recycled by grinding it down into fine particles of varying sizes. It is much more aggressive (similar to AO or silicon carbide) than beads and breaks down faster which would cause one to be constantly cleaning and recharging the blast cabinet. Normally it is not used in cabinets but rather as a one-shot media in a pressure pot and utilized outside or in a large blast room for industrial cleaning.
I have no personal experience in using it to blast briar. It is cheap, however.
I have used a mix of AO and glass beads with success.

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 8:24 pm
by PremalChheda
oklahoma red wrote:Sharp glass "bead" is a bit of a misnomer. Glass beads are just that, glass that has been processed to form a smooth spherical "bead". Ground glass is everyday glass that has been recycled by grinding it down into fine particles of varying sizes. It is much more aggressive (similar to AO or silicon carbide) than beads and breaks down faster which would cause one to be constantly cleaning and recharging the blast cabinet. Normally it is not used in cabinets but rather as a one-shot media in a pressure pot and utilized outside or in a large blast room for industrial cleaning.
I have no personal experience in using it to blast briar. It is cheap, however.
I have used a mix of AO and glass beads with success.
It's $10 for 50 lbs so one time use may end up being close to or a little more than the beads that can be recycled a few times. I'm curious as to the performance. AO is way too aggressive and will not really make a better blast, just faster.

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 05, 2017 11:49 pm
by oklahoma red
I guess the question I would ask is exactly what are you looking for inre the final result of the blast?
And, on second thought, one might see life of the media beyond one pass since briar is not as hard as a lot of surfaces that ground glass is used upon.
To coin a unique acronym: TIAFO :lol:

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 11:05 am
by scotties22
For $10 I'd give it a go. I've spent far more money on a lot dummer stuff. I do agree that I don't see it breaking down quite as fast on briar as it would on metal.

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2017 5:50 pm
by pipeguy
I've used it, like Red said its more of an outside media. I could blast mabey three pipes
With 3 16oz. Cups in the hopper with fairly the same result as round bead but round bead lasts
Longer FWIW :?

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 11:30 am
by E.L.Cooley
Hey all, can someone recommend a good bead and where I might find it. I have had a cabinet for almost a year. But the pipe I am working on now is asking to be blasted so I need to get it set up.


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Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:55 pm
by scotties22
I get mine from a local rock house (Sturgis Materials, Inc). They have quite a few different media types and sizes. Look for someone around Laramie that sells to companies that do industrial painting or like I did and find a landscape/countertop rock yard that sells it. More than likely they will have what you need (extra fine glass bead, though I don't remember the sieve size).

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 12:56 pm
by scotties22
If you want to get expensive with it Grainger sells as well. They are a lot more expensive than what I pay at Sturgis, like a 50lb bag for $35

Re: round glass bead vs. sharp glass bead?

Posted: Sun Feb 12, 2017 2:53 pm
by E.L.Cooley
Thanks Scottie. I will look around. I guess I'd better update my location. Left Laramie a few years ago, lived in San Francisco, now in southern Colorado. I get around. [FACE WITH STUCK-OUT TONGUE AND WINKING EYE]thanks again


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