We use silicon carbide (SiC) for our sandblasting designs. It is a non-ferrous reusable blasting abrasive with a hard, edged grain. "SiC" is the second hardest mineral following diamond. It is characterized by a high lifetime and can be used several times in a closed circulatory system.
While sandblasting glass the silicon carbide is absorbed by the Venturi effect and is shot through compressed air (approx. 3,3 bar) at the surface of the glass. During the impact on the surface the glass splinters sharp-edged pieces (hexagonal or rhombohedral), whereby the SiC grains become continuously smaller with each sandblasting process without losing their sharpness. The attached evacuators of our systems are adjusted to retrieve as much reusable material as possible and to lead it back into the circulatory system. Not until after 5 - 10 processes the grains are small enough to be filtered out. Accordingly we don't sandblast with a pure 120 µm grain, but with a mix consisting of 120 µm and 240 µm grain. As a result we achieve a haptic-smooth surface with a small roughness depth. The roughness depth of the processed glass increases when using a larger grain size. We use a 60 µm or 40 µm grain at a pressure of 6 bar for the deep sandblasting technique.
For the purpose of recycling the entire powdered blasting abrasive is returned by us to our supplier.