Graniteguy

Sandblasting!

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Folks:

 

      I would like to start a thread about sandblasting in all of its glorious forms.  I recycle excess granite and marble from counter top makers.  Some of my products are pet memorials, pavers, garden stones, scripture plaques, trivets, signage and I just started making business card holders.  I sandblast graphics on the stone using Anchor's Anchorblast lite t226, which I purchase from US Cutter.  My sandblaster is a Harbor Freight cabinet siphon unit and I blast with silicon carbide grit.

The plotter I use is an Ioline Super 88, driven by a Dell PC running XP.  My graphics software is SignGo Lite. Soon I hope to upgrade to Imigaro Z Professional to process my graphics with.  My graphics are obtained from various sources:  Dover is a big one.  Often I take an image off the internet and torture it with Paintshop Pro and InkScape to produce a vectorized image.  Imigaro will eliminate many of the steps I have to take.

     I've doing this for about 3+ years now, and I have learned most of the sandblasting and graphics on my own.

 

      So.  I would like to hear from other sandblasters:  What do you make, what is your equipment, how long have you been doing it, what have you learned, what do you like, etc.

 

JT

 

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I would like to see some examples of your work.  I too use the harbor freight cabinet.  I have an SC cutter from US cutter and use my scrap vinyl for etching/blasting.  I don't do a ton of it but added the service as I live in a small town and no one around does it.  Most of the stuff that comes in is glassware that they want names and dates on (Weddings etc)  I piddle with small mirrors a bit and Serving platters with Large initial and name in it (got that idea right here on the forum) they do well at Christmas for me.  

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Add me to the list that is looking forward to experienced blasters posting here.

I have the small H.F. cabinet and an SC cutter.  So far I have been doing quite a few glasses and some few mirrors.

My biggest problem with small text is leaving in the inner parts, like on an "8", small cap "e" and such.

Cal

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I would like to see some examples of your work.  I too use the harbor freight cabinet.  I have an SC cutter from US cutter and use my scrap vinyl for etching/blasting.  I don't do a ton of it but added the service as I live in a small town and no one around does it.  Most of the stuff that comes in is glassware that they want names and dates on (Weddings etc)  I piddle with small mirrors a bit and Serving platters with Large initial and name in it (got that idea right here on the forum) they do well at Christmas for me.  

 

 

Add me to the list that is looking forward to experienced blasters posting here.

I have the small H.F. cabinet and an SC cutter.  So far I have been doing quite a few glasses and some few mirrors.

My biggest problem with small text is leaving in the inner parts, like on an "8", small cap "e" and such.

Cal

Great!  We're off to a good start.  You can see one of my pieces in the introductions part of this forum, the thread is "New to this forum".  I'll get some other shots together and post 'em in the gallery.  Most of the photography is on another comp.  I'm watching the Seahawks/Vikings game with a laptop on my lap.  

 

JT

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Glass is something I've wanted to try, especially carving some really thick stuff.  What are you guys using for resist?  Weeding can be a real bear for me too.  I usually use a fine pick and magnifiers.  Try holding down the little parts with the point of your pick while pulling up the letter or number.  I've also found that weeding after putting the cut stencil on the item to be blasted, makes weeding fine detail easier.  The backer is made to

release the resist pretty easily.  The resist's adhering to the backing depends on the amount of surface area.  Little pieces don't have much area to keep them on the backing.

 

JT

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OK, I've started an album in the gallery.  I'd like to see examples of everyone's work, too.  As I said, I am interested in what's possible with glass. I hope you all are enjoying a football game today.

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OK, I'm in. Been blasting for a while. Most of my pics are on the other PC, with the bad HD.

Bummer.  Been there, too.  It might just be the electronics.  Maybe you can switch the board on the drive.

 

What kind of media do you sandblast?

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I checked out your album graniteguy very nice work.

Thank you for your kindness.  I still have a lot to learn.

 

JT

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I was hoping that Bob would come in on this!  Nice work for sure...

Cal

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Thanks Cal. I need to start taking more pictures. I just need to get a better camera

Bob

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Yowzah!   Nice work, Bob.  Tell us more about your techniques.  What resist do you use?  Are you using ALOX or SiC blast media?

 

JT

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Graniteguy I usually use avery paint mask for my resist but on some stones if I am going to blast deep I may use anchor 117. On very small detailed thing I use Rayzist sr3000 photomask.. The media I use most is 180 ao at about 20 to 30psi because I find that I can do more detail carving without eating away the resist. The stone with the rose on it was done with paint mask at 20 psi. Here is a 2 stage I did with paint mask for a friend that has a couple of birds

post-6565-0-48846600-1384888169_thumb.jp

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That's really beautiful.  What kind of gun are you using?  From the pressures you mentioned, it sounds like a pressure fed one.   I find the rayzist interesting, but I just don't have the setup.  I'm not sure how it would work on stone, anyway, but the glass!  Wow!  How hard is it to work with?

 

JT

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