Finally when and picked up my rear from a local guy who was supposed to sandblast it a month ago, only never did. I found a professional sandblasting and painting buisness about 20 minutes away from were i live that will do it for 35 bucks so i dropped it off to day and will pick it up tomorrow, need to get it done so i can weld on my 4 link brackets . While i was there i asked if he did truck cabs and such and he said yes and that he uses crushed glass, he said its the best thing going for cabs and sheet metal parts because it removes all the rust from even the smallest pits in the metal without leaving that little bit of rough finish that other blasting material can leave . When i asked about sheet metal warpping (cab talk) he said he has never had any warp yet. Has anyone ever heard or experienced this type of blasting before? I know he's a "profesional" and does it for a living but you just never know!

 

Glass is great. We used to use it for finishing stainless tube and sheet. It leaves a nice clean matt finish.

 

Glass bead peening is used (like shot peening) to compress the surface of metals. This adds compressive stress to the surface being peened which changes the shape of metal if it is in sheet form (like a cab). I haven't heard of using crushed glass, but I don't see a big difference.

I wouldn't do it.

 

Crushed glass haas a sharp edge which eats away the rust and paint faster which in turn does not create lots of heat. A rookie can still warp sheet goods with crushed glass and bead if not properly used. CG does indeed make for a nice finish. See my cab in gallery. ...Jon

 

If you just want to take the paint off your cab to see what you have then you can use baking soda. Best part about baking soda is you don't even have to take the glass out of your cab IF you don't want to. It won't take bondo and real heavy rust off though. But it is great to take the paint layers off to see what you really have under them. My uncle tried it on his 55 and it worked great. I'm going to use it on my 48 F1 just to save me some time on sanding, and plus just to try it myself.

Scott
1948 F1
1946 F1
1955 Ford Fairlane 2 Door Hardtop

 

When I was researching this a couple years ago one place I talked to said they use the glass from busted car windshields. The fact that it's tempered allows it to cut better and last longer. And it's a cheap source of materal. Stu

 

Another word of caution on glass bead. I've used it for years in my motorcycle restoration hobby and have been careful not to use it for parts which contain bearings, oil passages, and the like, like engine housings, wheel hubs..
The fine glass beads embed themselves in the nooks and crannies of the part, are almost impossible to clean out, and later find their ways into the working parts of the engine, tranny or rear end.. with disastrous results. For these parts, stick to soda, plastic or walnut.. much more forgiving.

 

first, no windshields are tempered glass, all are safety glass.
second I'd suspect the blaster is funnin you about blasting with tempered glass shards. FWIU crushed glass blasting media is made from foamed glass (like the black blocks used to clean commercial grill tops) which makes it crush easily and produces a multitude of sharp edges that cut and then pulverize.
I'd take the blaster a test panel to do before giving him free rein on your truck. Walnut shell, plastic media, and baking soda are the media of choice for the pros. Sand would be suitable for your rear axle housing to clean it for welding since it will remove even heavy rust as long as you mask off the machined surfaces.

 

I'm having mine blasted with melamine plastic, then they're using aluminum oxide for any rust removal. I've also read that glass beading actually hammers the metal. The deal on plastic is it generates almost no heat.

 

There is a difference between crushed glass and glass beads. Bead blasting is a surface conditioning (hardening) treatment and not a cleaning process as stated. It should not be used on sheetmetal. Aluminum oxide is "sand" no blaster that values their health uses real sand (silicon dioxide) anymore. Home blasters: DO NOT use playground or masonary sand in your blaster or cabinet!!!! Death is permanent!

 

Regarding the health issue of plain sand, what level/type of repirator would eliminate the risk?

 

To you or to those downwind?

 

Off the subject---sort of......But when you throw a brick through a window, you just broke glass with glass. So......it does come down to its formation and how it came to be. The points previously made are righteous in that all glass is not really the "same." Silicon is the most plentiful material on earth so its amazing all of the things it becomes.

 

Technically a brick is not glass, but you could break a window with a marble. You are correct there are a miriad of compounds and mixtures that contain silicon, from quartz sand and gemstones to computer chips.

 

Actually, glass is an amorphous inorganic in molecular structure and by that definition, so would be a brick. The contents, all or part, of silica was what I was referring to.

Do you believe glass is a liquid or a solid?