Aluminum oxide blast abrasive for polishing

Abrasive blasting can be done with a variety of different media and should be chosen carefully in regard to the project at hand. When polishing, for example, blast media on the finer side will likely achieve desirable results—rough abrasives, alternatively, will leave the surface with a more uneven texture. 

Aluminum oxide is considered one of the harder abrasive media. Glass beads and corn cob are on the softer side of the scale, which make them a good choice for polishing. The best all-around blast media is superoxalloy – discussed at the end of this article. 

Abrasive blasting—or, sandblasting—makes use of an air compressor to propel blast abrasive grains through a nozzle at high velocity onto your chosen project surface. This has a variety of applications, like being used to engrave stone for art, remove thick layers of paint or other substances, prepare a surface for another coating, or polish a surface. 

When looking to polish a surface, most professionals use glass beads. These are softer than many other abrasive media like garnet and typically leave a shiny and clean surface. However, since they are softer, they don’t work as quickly as other media.

Aluminum oxide is still an option when it comes to polishing, but it is important to choose a fine grit. A thicker grit size is more likely to warp or texture the surface, whereas a finer grit size will be more gentle on the structure and leave it with a smoother finish. 

The Best Blasting Media

There is another alternative—the EpiX and KinetiX abrasives from 10X Engineered Materials will polish the surface just as well as these other blast media. 

They are an engineered alloy of oxide materials that were created to resist breakage under mechanical stress. They can be reused multiple times and at varying PSI for a variety of different projects and results. 

They also work quicker than other abrasives because they are made up of polymorphous particles, meaning they can perform more than one step in a blasting job simultaneously. 

They’re safer than the alternatives with no free silica, no heavy metals, no crystalline structures, and no beryllium. 

Currently, KinetiX and EpiX are available from abrasive distributors around the US. If you don’t see a distributor near you, contact 10X and we will work with you to get you what you need. EpiX abrasive, which is best for precision applications such as powder coating and medical applications, is also available to purchase directly from the 10X Engineered Materials website.