FAQs: How a Sandblasting Cabinet Works

If you want to know how a sandblasting cabinet works, look no further! We’ve been manufacturing mediablaster® cabinets for more than 40 years and we know the ins and outs of abrasive blasters.

Sandblasting Cabinets are Sandpaper and Sanding Belts on Steroids 

A sandblasting cabinet works kind of like sandpaper or a belt grinder. Loose abrasive for a blasting cabinet is much the same as the abrasive you find on sandpaper, grinding wheels, rotten stone (if you work with wood), and other grains like soda, plastic, aluminum oxide, and silicon carbide you find in lapidary polishing.

A blasting cabinet basically eliminates the paper and cloth used on belts to convey the grains and delivers it to the part being processed by one of three delivery methods:

• Wet abrasive delivery cabinets use water to captivate the abrasive inside the cabinet and eliminate the frictional heat that often damages delicate parts. There are many applications today requiring wet blasting only. The machine has to mix everything to suspend the grain in water and make it into usable slurry. Specific Gravity is important in wet blast cabinets because the abrasive must not float, rust or sink like a cannon ball.
• Siphon dry delivery, the all-around work-horse delivery method, is about 80% of the blasting cabinets found today. This method works with all abrasive sizes you see on common sandpaper. That gives you an idea of how course and fine the media can be when used inside almost any blasting cabinet.
• Direct pressure dry delivery uses compressed air to push the abrasive out the nozzle like a bullet out the end of a gun. This method is great for all abrasives, ideal if you need to push heavy shot or through a hole, and even better if you want to focus abrasive in a tight area to really increase the frictional heat.

How a Sandblasting Cabinet Works Technically

A sandblasting cabinet uses compressed air to speed up almost any type of loose grain (aka abrasive) to achieve a number of outcomes including sanding, deburring, polishing, texturing, surface removal and even coating parts with permanent lubrication blasted into the surface of the part. It is all done using only compressed air, what a unique idea!

To Sum It Up

There are many different types of grain delivery using compressed air. Lots of people think it’s easy enough to build their own sand blasting machines, but we highly recommend against that for a variety of reasons. The safest thing to do is to purchase a mediablaster from a reputable manufacturer. If you’re not sure what kind of sandblasting cabinet you need, check out our Buying Guide or contact us.