Expendable abrasives
In principle, expendable abrasives are used in so-called ‘open’ blasting applications. The abrasive is only used once because recycling is too complicated, expensive or simply impossible.
Expendable abrasives are mostly angular shaped and therefore have a good "chiselling" effect to remove rust, faulty paint and all sorts of other contaminations. With the correct abrasive size and blasting pressure, expandable abrasives are also widely used for cleaning and restoration jobs.
Many manufacturers have given brand names to their products but some expendable abrasives by the basic material name are: Coal slag (aluminium silicate), Glass granulate, Olivine sand and Garnet sand. Stay safe and only use approved blasting abrasives without the health hazards from free silica.
Do not use expendable abrasives in blasting systems in which these are recycled, like blasting cabinets or vacuum blasting machines. The dust load with expendable abrasives is too high for these systems and will lead to poor blasting results and dust problems for the surroundings. Recyclable abrasives should be used instead.
Which abrasive is best for your job is determined by the blasting application itself but also by the availability (of a certain size) of the abrasive in your area. Gritco and its experienced distributors can assist you with choosing the correct abrasive for you.
