Choosing a sandblasting abrasive for your auto parts

Abrasive blasting, commonly called sand blasting, is effective for cleaning auto parts with layers of paint, rust, or other coatings. This can be done with a few different types of abrasive blast media, like sand, aluminum oxide, garnet, and glass beads. However, new superoxalloy abrasives (discussed below) offer several advantages over other types of blast abrasives.

Which abrasive is best for autoparts? 

The tricky thing about abrasive blasting on auto parts is that the abrasive being used should be carefully considered, depending on the auto part being blasted. Some abrasives — like aluminum oxide, for example—are stronger and sharper than others, which may affect the underlying surface if it’s a softer metal. Other blast media—like corn cobs or walnut shells—are softer, and may not work as effectively on thicker coatings.

More specifically, solid steel parts of the car’s underbody can be blasted with most forms of abrasive blast media. The actual car body, on the other hand, is thinner and should be blasted with a softer material to avoid warping and damage of the metal itself. 

With 10X’s superoxalloy abrasives, however, you shouldn’t need to spend so much time considering the best kind of media to use for auto parts blasting. 

These abrasives will remove rust, paint, or most other coatings in just one step without leaving any embedded particles in the surface which can trigger rust bloom or make it difficult to apply a new coat of paint. 

They’re clean with no free silica, beryllium, or heavy metals, meaning that they’re safer for both you and the environment. 

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.