beadblasting O1 hardened steel HELP!

AJH_Knives

Well-Known Member
hey guys, was trying to beadblast one of my blades today. I am using glass bead, i do not know what the grit is. It is not really doing much to the blade, is my blade too hard? do I need to use different media? looking for a nice matt finish on my blade. The hardness of the blade should be around 58 to 60... any help will be appreciated.

Aaron
 
You probably will get better results with a tumbler and ceramic media.
The more you abrade the O-1 with any blasting, the more surface area you'll be introducing to rust. The tumbler will give you a matt finish without abrading the blade.
 
Blasting hardened steel will usually require a different media.....like Aluminum Oxide or Silicon Carbide. What many don't realize is that using glass beads on hardened steel "shatters" the glass beads, and they become less and less effective, and eventually are nothing more then dust.

I agree with Rudy that tumbling is a good option, but unless you're already setup to do it, doing it right can be pricey. I've often thought about going to a tumbler, but cost return ratio isn't there for me.
 
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