Sanding with a soda blaster

[Perry Holbrook]

I asked a similar question in CNC forum, will get more looks here. Has anyone used a soda blaster to "sand" carved wood? I have used a sand blaster to do some test before and with a low pressure the results are not that bad with dense woods. Since a CNC router can carve in very hard material, I am wondering what is the best method of sanding without losing detail. I've got all kinds of flutter/flap sanders and know that is an option. I know the soda blasters are not nearly as aggressive as sand blasting and since Harbor Freight has some cheap units I thought I would try it. But, if anyone else has experience with it, I would appreciate the input.

Thanks, Perry

[Josiah Bartlett]

The main issue with media blasting wood is that you don't have a reference plane for material removal- the blasting takes off all the wood in its path, not just the high spots. Its not going to smooth out the machine marks without also taking off a lot of the detail. You also have to figure out if the small amount of soda that gets embedded in the wood will interfere with your finish material, since soda is a caustic when mixed with moisture. You could also try walnut shells or dry ice blasting, if you can get ahold of the equipment.

[george wilson]

There is no quicker way to destroy accurately made surfaces than to blast them. The second fastest way is to use a "Mac Mop" sander on them.

[Keith Outten]

Months ago I tried blasting with walnut shells. The idea wasn't to remove any material it was to try to polish the surface and get rid of the fuzzies. It didn't work. I also tried glass beads at low pressure and it didn't work either. Neither medium removed any of the surface but they didn't polish it either.

I also tried small wood and Corian parts in a vibratory tumbler using a variety of mediums with zero success.
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[Perry Holbrook]

There is no quicker way to destroy accurately made surfaces than to blast them. The second fastest way is to use a "Mac Mop" sander on them.

I use a Mac Mop on everything that I make.

Thanks Keith for reporting your experience with the other media. I was actually looking for polish as well.

Perry