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We believe in the importance of investing in the proper tools to make sure that you perform an excellent job in every task. With that said, it’s quite useful to be familiar with the different uses of your favorite tools to make the most out of what you paid for.

One such versatile tool is a sandblaster. This impressive device can be used in a myriad of ways, ranging from heavy-duty industries to art – and that’s truly remarkable.

If you find this hard to believe, then continue reading this article. Here, we will answer one of the most popular questions involving this handy device: what is sandblasting used for?

What is a sandblaster?

Before we dive into what a sandblaster can be used for, let’s first discuss what a sandblaster is. After all, some of you may be beginners who want to know more about this subject.

A sandblaster is a device that produces compressed air or a strong stream of media. It can be used to clean hardened stains, remove paint and rust, smoothen rough surfaces or blunt edges, or decorate hard surfaces.

They come in different shapes and sizes, allowing you to use it for various purposes. Whether it’s for a heavy-duty cleaning job or intricately designing glass surfaces, there’s a sandblaster that can help you get the job done.

What is sandblasting used for?

From what we’ve discussed, we can now see how a sandblaster works. This will allow us to understand how sandblasters can be used for different tasks. Here is a quick summary of the ways by which a sandblaster can be used.

Main Use	Specific use
Cleaning	It removes paint, rust, sand from concrete, and stains on metals.
Smoothen Out Surfaces	Rough surfaces and sharp edges can be smoothened out.
Treatment of Materials	It can be used to prepare enamel for orthodontic bonding.
Art	It can be used for engraving or lettering, as well as carving in intricate details.

Now, you already have an overview that answers the question, “what is sandblaster used for?” Continue reading to know more about the particulars.

Cleaning

One of the main reasons why sandblasting became popular is for cleaning hard or rough surfaces. Thanks to its steady stream of compressed air or tiny particles, you can easily use it to remove hardened dirt or any other material that’s latched onto surfaces.

Here are some of the ways that you can use a sandblaster for cleaning.

1. It can be used to remove paint. Old paint is tricky to remove. While most homeowners prefer to just paint in a new layer of paint on the wall, we all know that’s a bad idea in the long run.

Paint tends to chip and crack over time. Regardless of how many times you repaint the surface, these lines and cracks will always show up eventually.

Thus, it is strongly advised to remove the paint first before you repaint the surface. With a sandblaster, removing all the paint in one area can be done in minutes. This saves you more time than having to do so manually.

2. A sandblaster can also be used to remove rust. We previously mentioned that sandblasters can be loaded with various media. These media are the tiny particles that you use to blast onto the surface to either clean it or treat it.

In the case of removing rust effectively, you can simply choose between aluminum oxide, walnut shells, or tiny glass beads. The choice depends on how thick the rust is.

But regardless of which media you choose, there’s no doubt that sandblasting rust off of the metal is easier and more efficient than doing so without a power tool.

3. A sandblaster can help make cleaning concrete a lot easier. Let’s face it – cleaning concrete surfaces can be tricky.

Not a lot of people know this, but concrete is actually porous. As a result, dirt and other tiny particles easily latch onto its surface. At first, it may not be easily noticeable. But if you fail to clean it regularly, the build-up will be noticeable. And not to mention, hard to get rid of with ordinary cleaning tools.

This is when a sandblaster enters the picture. By taking advantage of its high-powered output, you can easily get rid of the buildup on your concrete floor, wall, and other similar surfaces.

This will surely save you a lot of time and money, especially if you’re considering it to be cleaned by a professional.

4. Aside from removing rust, you can also use a sandblaster to remove stains on metal. Not all metal stains involve rust. Nevertheless, a sandblaster can also be used to get rid of these stains to make it look new.

But we must note that not all stains can be removed by a sandblaster. It can, however, treat the metal to prepare it for the painting to improve its exterior.

5. You can also use a sandblaster for cars when it comes to removing junk and hardened mud on your wheel discs and holes.

We all love going on adventures. As long as we take the right vehicle with us, the possibilities are endless.

But once we get home from a week-long trip with nature, you’ll notice that the wheels can already pass as an ancient artifact that’s been recently extracted from the soil. The mud is simply too thick and too dry that it’s hard to get them off without damaging the wheel disc.

Fortunately, using a sandblaster to get rid of that hardened mud will be a breeze. It can do so efficiently, so you don’t have to worry about taking too long to get it cleaned. It also does the job without causing damage to your wheels, which is a huge plus.

Smooth Out Surfaces

Much like how sandpaper works, you can also smooth out rough surfaces with a sandblaster.

But while sandpaper can be used on smaller surfaces, a sandblaster is the way to go if you have to work with larger areas. This saves you a lot of time and energy than if you have to do so manually with sandpaper. Plus, think of all the sandpaper you won’t use.

This makes it a great way to give the material a smooth and polished finish that greatly improves its style. It also makes for an excellent prerequisite for further treatments.

Also, sandblasters are powerful enough to smoothen out sharp edges. You can use this tool to give these blunt areas a more rounded appearance for both safety and aesthetics.

Treatment of Materials

In some practices, a sandblaster is used to treat certain material, or as a prerequisite to treating a material.

An example is in dental practice, sandblasting is used to strengthen the enamel that’s used for orthodontic bonding. In fact, a study reveals sandblasting is a more efficient method of polishing the enamel without causing any damage.

Of course, this pertains to a smaller variety of sandblasters that are safely rated for dental use. These are small handheld devices that use the same sandblasting technique to prepare the enamel for bonding.

We must emphasize, however, that you should in no way perform this on your own enamel with a regular sandblaster. Not only because you’re not a licensed dental professional, but also because doing so is dangerous.

Art

Despite being a power too, you can also use a sandblaster for various artwork. Since the output is quite concentrated in a specific area, you can easily use it for lettering or engraving intricate details into metals, glass, and even into wooden pieces.

Since some sandblasters offer a variety of adjustments, you can create various textures and images with your sandblaster.

In fact, sandblasters are strong enough for you to carve out details into your chosen block of material. Depending on how powerful the sandblaster is, you can even carve out details into a block of marble! And that’s quite impressive.

In some instances, you can also use this technique to add details into frosted pieces of glass for added sophistication.

For an artist, this is a unique way to express yourself and get creative – but just make sure that you observe all the safety precautions necessary in operating one.

Conclusion

There’s no doubt that a sandblaster is one of the most useful tools you can have in your workshop. Because of how it’s designed to work, you can use it to complete a variety of tasks. This impressive versatility allows you to use it not only to clean hardened dirt on hard surfaces but to smoothen out rough edges as well. Some powerful sandblasters can even be used for cutting edges to make them rounder and safer.

In some instances, sandblaster can also be used to create beautiful art pieces. Its strong and consistent stream can be easily used to engrave letters onto a surface or to carve out intricate details into glass or wood – depending on the media you intend to use in your sandblaster.

The process of sandblasting is so useful that it can even be used as a prerequisite to treating metals and other similar items. This helps strengthen the material for further use. Thus, there are so many answers to the question: what is sandblaster used for? That’s why we believe it’s one of the most versatile tools in the market.