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You are kidding, right? }:-) Depending upon what sort of blast media you use, of course, a sandblasted surface provides one heck of a surface for paint. The choice of media is the primary thing; when I first recieved my sandblaster (pressure-type) I couldn't wait to try it out so I sifted some of the kids play sand to use- oh man did it do the trick on old paint and rust. I blasted one of the running board supports from my '53 Ford tractor (it was handy) and the blasting process left it looking better than new. Again, choice of blast media is paramount. Fine graded sand leaves a clean, matte surface that is... somewhat rough to the touch. Rough is too harsh a word, here, lets just say you can feel the texture rather than see it. Does this make sense? A primer/surfacer may be necessary when using graded sand as a blast media. Blast media such as glass beads leaves a satin-smooth surface. Different media are designed for different applications, of course. Graded sand is not a great choice for thin sheet metal due to heat build up; crushed walnut shells or plastic media is designed for this sort of application. There are also silicon carbide and aluminum oxide abrasives. These are very aggressive medias. It all gets confusing, so I will suggest going to the experts- TIP Tools and Equipment @www.tiptools.com. I will include a link, below. TIP will send you a free catalog that will answer most of your questions about blast media/pressure blasting. SAFETY- if I understand correctly, you will be using a wet-blast technique? This, I assume, will virtually eliminate dust? Blast media dust is WAY bad, man. Glass bead dust is not for breathing. The dust from using graded sand is almost as bad, believe it or not. Silicosis, a fibrotic respiratory disease caused from inhalation of silica, is no joke. Intense exposure to silica may result in disease in a year or less.
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