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I have several projects that will need "sandblasting" to fully clean and prepare for further work. One company in Canada sells a material they call "K2" which turns out to be potasium sulphate I understand. Are there any of you out there that have had work done using this product, and are there sources to buy this material more directly. Any sandblasting company is going to have to mark it up a batch just to pay for inventoring it and so on. Also the "K2" stuff is supposed to be the least problematic for cleanup after the blasting is done. Is that true? Any other info on this product would be appreciated.
That stuff sounds like the fine material used in electronic chassis rehabilitation. It is not the sort of an abrasive I would use on steel at all, more like for cleaning circuit board connectors or mild aluminum chassis areas (in electronic assemblies).
Normally glass beads are the preference of choice, and they are readily available.
Both potassium and sulphur are water soluble, but they are also potentially CORROSIVE. Sulphur readily forms sulphuric acid under some conditions and Potassium can combine into a salt. These are not desirable materials at all in large scale operations, because cleaning would have to be very thorough in order to prevent any left over material from hiding out in crevices to potentially become much more damaging than the original rust.
Glass beads on the other hand are inert - glass is a form of silicon.
If you want to remove paint i would use glass beads. If its rust you should try aluminum oxide. I use this in my cabinet for small parts it works great. Cost about $32.00 bucks in the Detroit are (50 pound bag). For my larger projects i use silica sand its cheap.
Watch when your blasting those body parts. Its real easy to warp a body panel..
I had my 68 Vette stripped last year and they used glass bead ($800.00).
Unless it's from an inland lake, sand from the ocean front is loaded with salt - an underbody/frame's worst enemy. In theory you can leach the salt out of it, but why even bother?
Potassium sulfate is a chemically unstable compound that deteriorates readily on exposure to oxygen, moisture or carbon dioxide. Unless they have some method of stabilizing this compound, which would add cost, there are sure a lot of cheaper alternatives. This compound is also known as Sulfurated Potash. When exposed to air it produces a distinctive odor of hydrogen sulfide, that lovely rotten-egg smell.
What do the plastic beads look like? The only other stuff I have used besides silly sand is this black blasting crystal stuff. I don't know what it is really made of though. Another thing that might help is having a decent sandblaster. Are pressure blasters still $400. :-staun
Pressure blasters (smaller homeowner varieties) can be found at Harbor Freight Tools and Northern Hydraulics. I have a 40 pound pressurized unit from Harbor Freight #34202-1VGA that I bought for $75, they are $80 now. It is a very, well made unit and should still be around for my grandchildren, I am quite happy with it.