Different people have written; <<an ordinary sand box sand will let you experiment... The bead-suction tube... Learn to sense the feel of the beads flowing through the gun>> These statements appear to indicate that sand or glass beads are acceptable media for blasting actions. They are not! On old chairs and wrought iron fences, well - why not? But no decent mechanic would suggest that one bead blast around even sealed bearings that will remain in place, and it amazes me that anyone would suggest using blast materials that produce highly abrasive dust on actions with all their delicate centers. I thought I would see lots of suggestions for harmless blasting material, ranging from almond shells and walnut shells to cracked rice and ground corn cobs. (all of these will clean up an action) For clarity. I suggest action blasting be done with ground and graded almond shells, available from sandblast suppliers. Called "Shellblast", this material can be re-used for years and will not harm the action as sand or glass beads will. Seems like a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Bill Simon Phoenix P.S. - In medieval England there was a period in which diamonds were becoming known. They knew a little bit about them, but not enough. In ignorance, they commonly confused hardness with toughness, and the test for diamonds was to put one on a rock and bash it with another rock. If it shattered, it wasn't a diamond! One can only imagine how many diamonds were erroneously destroyed. Then as now, a little knowledge was a dangerous thing. P.P.S. - Diamond dust would also be a lousy medium to blast actions.
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