Glass beading of gun parts

[larrydavid]

I saw a short video on cleaning up gun parts using glass beads in a sand blasting hood.
Will this hurt any original engraving? Does it remove old browning?

[wmrike]

Bead blasting is slightly less aggressive than sand blasting.  It's a more careful way of removing corrosion and finish, and is good for very thin metals.  If you have any intention of preserving something of the original surface, especially engraving, blasting is not the way to go - everything will look, well, just blasted.  If you are looking for cleanup, I'd first reach for steel or brass wool.

[Birddog6]

It all depends on the grade of the beads & the pressure used.  You can get very fine beads that will just powder buff things & remove rust or corrosion but not much metal. (Such as used for cleaning aluminum pistons) However, the finer it is the less aggressive it is.

As for cleaning thin metals, you have to use Very light air pressure & find beads or it will bow the metal as the beads are like a million peening hammers.

With my glass beading machine I usually run about 80 psi. Over that & it starts shattering the beads & they don't last as long.  If I solder up a nosecap of brass & want to bead it before I put it on to get all of the crud off it, I turn the pressure down to about 40 psi as if I leave it at 80 it will bend the heck out of that brass.

I glass bead all of my barrels, lock parts, iron trim. before I brown them. It cleans the metal off well, opens the pores of the metal & makes the browning go faster & more evenly. IMHO   

[Scott Bumpus]

Due a search on the web for soda blasting.  I have not used this but have seen it done on auto parts with great success.  Might due what your after.  Seems to remove old finish and rust with out the "glazed" look of glass or sand blasting.