Hello all, I was wondering if one can use airbrushing tools to
sandblast on metal? Kind regards from Turkey, Oya Borahan
Hi Oya,
For several years I used a graphics product called an air eraser,
which is similar to an air brush except it sprayed a fine aluminum
oxide powder. I think it is used for removing mistakes from vellum
type papers, but I used it with limited success texture metal. It
could be run off of a regular air brush compressor and I made a
blasting cabinet out of a plastice file storage box. The downside
was that you could only run limited fine abrasives through it so your
texturing ability was limited. It was available at most art supply
stores. Unless your budget is extremely limited, I would suggest
trying to get ahold of one of the micro abrasive blasters sold
through most jewelry supply houses, as it will provide you with a
great deal more functionality. Good luck!
John
I have to chime in here. I also use an air eraser only I use the
blasting material available through the jewelry supply houses. I have
had very good luck doing very precise texturing but larger areas are
a pain.I found the aluminum oxide leaves a very flat and lusterless
finish and the materials designed for jewelry leave a much better
texture that is flat but not lusterless. For small quantities ,
precise blasting , or economy it is usable. Frank Goss
I have bought airbrush “Hobby sandblasting gun” part No:6320029
from Princess Auto in Canada http://www.princessauto.com for about $17
CDN.It came with all connections and supply of fine blasting
sand.Since then I’ve changed charge in to more course /from
jew.supply store near by/ .I didn’t like open air blasting ,so I’ve
attached my gun into 2.5 L squarish clear bottle from V8 juice , cut
the bottom off and tape large HD rubber glove,cut top of screwtop and
secured fine cotton sleeve for trapping dust.I’m using my contraption
rarely but it works just as best of them.once clear plastic becomes
dull from sanding , I have to gulp down another bottle of goodness in
liquid form and soak bottle in warm water with detergent to get label
with glue off. 10 min later I’m ready for jet another blast off. If
my description isn’t clear enough , I’m willing to send photo to
help out.