For those interested in sandblasting their firearms.

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Playboypenguin

Moderator
I have been using a glass bead medium since I first started pressure blasting my firearms. The bead is great for giving that "pearlescent" finish to the metal but it just did not leave a flat enough finish to give the proper contrast on a two tone gun like a 1911.

I tried a couple different mediums this weekend and found one I think is perfect for that "flatter" matte finish I was seeking.

I ended up going with #100 Garnet. I think it gives the perfect contrast and roughness while still being very smooth and refined looking. It is a lot cheaper than the iron oxide and others I tried also.

Here is a pic. You will notice I got a little bleed on on the body of the slide's side. I will buff that right out in a short while. :)

garnetblast.jpg
 
Are you using a cabinet?
What is the rating of your compressor?
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No, I own a cabinet but never get it out. It is in a storage unit now. I do not reuse my medium so I do not mess with it.

My smallest compressor is a 6 gallon 1.5hp rated to 135psi. My largest is a 80 gallon 7.5hp model rated to 175psi.
Mask your flats.. The pits from bead blasting are deeper than you might think.
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I do, I just got a small bit of low pressure bleed under. It buffed right out without even sanding. :)
 
I finally broke down and bought a blast cabinet a couple months ago. The 120grit aluminum oxide gives a similar finish to that pictured above. Worked great for prepping for an epoxy finish. So far excellent adhesion. I can see it getting a lot of miles in the next ten years.
 
Most of the dental labs that I have worked at used 4 different medias. Walnut shell, kiddie play sand, 50 micron aluminum oxide & glass bead (I dunno what mesh, very fine). In my own lab, I only use the 50 micron aluminum oxide. I've done a couple of beater revolvers & they came out looking surprisingly good with cold blue. I'd like to try the glass beads, but I have no use for it in the lab & it would contaminate $1,000 castings that I use aluminum oxide to clean.

I use a pretty expensive dental abrasive blaster that consists of a pencil-type wand with a carbide blasting tip that is hooked by lightweight hose to a 2 pint "hopper/mixer". In the dental industry, it is used to blast casting investment and/or carbon from very small castings with the tip anywhere from 1/4" to 1" away from the surface being blasted. For my artwork (I use it to etch intricate patterns on glass) I hold it anywhere from 2"-4" away from the surface in order to get a consistent look/texture in the finished product. On glass or metal, it is important to do the entire job from ONE angle, kinda like an ink jet cartridge travels back & forth over the paper it is printing on.

A couple of notes- Aluminum oxide is a pretty aggressive abrasive, if you stall for a second it will eat right into a surface (I use 15-20 pounds pressure for light work, 25-35 pounds for medium work & up to 50-60 pounds for heavy work- all coming out of about a 1/2mm to 1mm hole). It leaves a sharp surface, much like very fine sandpaper. Glass beads kind of "peen" the metal, leaving a pearly feel (they can remove metal, but much more slowly then aluminum oxide). With any abrasive, it is better to go over the surface several times from a greater distance & with less pressure then to overdo it with too much pressure too close to the nozzle :)
 
I recently blasted my sp101 with glass bead. It looks just like the finish on your Colt PBP. I like the way bead-blasted stainless looks. :)
 
PBP, NICE work, looks good.
One trick I have used in the past is to install a sacrificial sight. With the throwaway in place you can blast away and still maintain the smooth mating surface on the top of the slide yet get full coverage.
When doing revolvers, I use the same principal but replace the screws and/or pins with space fillers. This stops the edges of the holes from dishing or abrading.

Joat
 
One trick I have used in the past is to install a sacrificial sight.
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I have never changed the sights on a 1911. I can strip them down and put them back together in my sleep but I have never pushed out an old sight and replaced it. I assume it would be pretty easy.
 
Sandblassting your slide

Back in the early 80's I had a guy who said he could "Parkerize" a 1911 slide for me. He was to cover the slide and bake it in an oven.
He covered the INSIDE and OUTSIDE of the slide and baked it. That made the slide un-usable and charged me twice what he quoted me for my ruined slide.
 
I always liked the whole gun blasted. The reason I usually did so, was because the "flats" are so easily marred and scratched when polished. Its a lot easier to touch up as the gun gets beat up too.

This is my old Colt Commander that had polished flats and was completely blasted. I used the same beads we used to park with. Not sure of the size, just that they were "glass". I just taped up the front sight and used an X Acto knife to trim and it worked out well. This is the only 1911 I have that doesnt have a dovetailed front sight, else I'd have removed it.

ry%3D320

ry%3D320
 
CraigC epoxy

Craig
What epoxy finish do you use...I'm doing a Makarov for a truck gun and like the idea a a bead blast prep!
Thanks
Dave
 
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