What is a Mediablaster?

Are you familiar with the term Mediablaster®? You should be! Because mediablaster is a more correct term for what many people call a sandblaster.  

When Media Blast® & Abrasives started, the term to describe a blasting cabinet was: Sandblast Cabinet. Unfortunately, there are some significant problems with sand as a recycled abrasive.

Three Issues with Sand as a Recycled Abrasive in Mediablasters

1. It has a low mineral hardness so it explodes at low impact pressure
2. The abrasive particles produced upon impact can quickly plug any cabinet dust collector
3. Sand can release free silica into the environment, which is a known to be a health hazard  

Transitioning from Sandblaster to Mediablaster

Q: So, what do we use in sandblasting cabinets if we don’t use sand? 

A: Abrasive media! 

Media Blast & Abrasives chose the terms Media Blast and Mediablaster almost a half century ago to help clear up the misconceptions about the abrasive blasting industry. And our name reflects what is actually used inside our cabinets, abrasive media.  

Since abrasive blasting cabinets are built to recycle media, one-time use abrasives should not be used in mediablasters.Single-use abrasives should only be used with portable pressure pots in open areas.

Abrasives with Poor Recycle Rates

Mediablasters should not use abrasives that do not recycle well. Even though some of these abrasives do not contain free silica, their shape and hardness can still create problems. Some of these are:

1. Sand
2. Slag
3. Garnet

ProTip: Mediblaster operators often turn up the blasting pressure and exceed the maximum abrasive impact velocity to decrease cleaning time. Unfortunately, that’s the most common reason for a messy area around a cabinet because poor quality abrasives explode and turn to dust and plug up the dust collector.

Low-quality Mediablaster Abrasives Make Bigger Messes

Now that we’ve explained the relationship between high-quality abrasives, which rank high on Mohs Scale Hardness, are impacted by blast pressure. For example, buying the correct dust collector filter area for your DDC, Daily Duty Cycle, helps cut down on the mess of blasting. Many people call Media Blast® to replace their Tool House machines. Nobody wants abrasive media finding its way out of the cabinet into the workspace.

To Sum It Up

Media Blast & Abrasive Inc. has registered trademarks for Mediablaster® and Media Blast®. Also, our registered Brand Name has become a Trade Name that used by almost all manufactures of Abrasive Blasting Cabinets today. Which all stems from creating the term to inform a buyer about the importance of using quality abrasive media and never sand.