Glass sandblasting

Sandblasting is a general term used to describe the act of propelling very fine bits of material at high-velocity to clean or etch a surface. In processing glass, sandblasting is a wonderfully popular technique, with few substitutes. The sand blasting process is done to drive away sharp-edged particles by air, water or a blast wheel to remove rust, mill scale, paint or contaminants from surface materials. In glass etching, abrasive is blasted at the glass lightly to turn the glass semi-opaque. Glass is carved by steadily sandblasting the surface through a stencil with differing depths and angles of cuts creating an array of lighting effects that may be quite beautiful.

Abundant materials such as powdered quartz, emery, and iron globules are generally used as the abrasive materials in sandblasting. The sandblaster consists of a simple container or a hopper that holds the sand with abrasive material. This process is carried on by a hand held gun. When the nozzle releases compressed air creating a vacuum few inches away from it where the sand tube is attached, the sand is sucked by the vacuum into the compressed air stream throwing out a mixture of air and sand. The mixing of the air and sand happens a few inches below the sand hopper. The sand/air mixture travels through a hose until it leaves at the nozzle.