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Glass blasting process and satin plating [India] 

October 1, 2009

Dear Sir,
I want to know about glass blasting process.
Is it similar to sand blasting or what is the difference betn these two?
On which components we should do glass blasting process?

Prashant Mahajan
Engineer Development - Nashik, Maharashtra, INDIA.

Well you are saying (glass blasting) so I'll assume that you are using compressed air. Sand blasting and bead blasting or glass blasting are all done more or less the same way.
A media is forced onto the work piece using compressed air to achieve a desired finish or, it is often used to remove rust, paint or any number of things that are deemed undesirable from the surface of the work piece.
Any number of different medias can be used from sand, steel balls, glass beads, micro balloons to nut shells the list is endless.
The best way to find out what you need is to locate an organization that sells the media and explain EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO DO IN THE GREATEST DETAIL POSSIBLE. From that they can recommend exactly what type of media you should be using and other recommendations such as air pressure, nozzle sizes etc. Doing this will save you a tremendous amount of time on experimentation.
When ever I say glass beading some university degree always corrects me and says (surface peening). I suppose it really is surface peening but that opens up a whole different number of venues such as tumbling in glass beads, sand, steel balls etc or using the same or other medias in vibrating units.
I have even used a process where a gun barrel is held rotating counter clockwise in the center of a 45 gallon drum that is laying on its side and rotating clockwise. There are fins in the drum that carry 1/4 inch steel balls to the top and drop them onto the surface of the rotating barrel.
The surface of the finish can best be described as some sort of psychedelic tortoise shell and I have seen people stare at that finish for hours trying to figure out how it was put on.
Talk to someone that sells the media! Be sure to give them every bit of information that you can gather describing exactly what you are trying to archive. I really hate to say this but glass peening is one of the most brain dead chores you will ever do but it requires an enormous amount experience to set it up to work in a fast and efficient manor. A rocket scientist to set it up and a monkey to do the work for lack of a better description.

Rod Henrickson     gunsmith Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Most answers are meaningless until you see the results.
Find a shop that does one or more of the blast finishes and visit them to see for yourself.

James Watts
- FL