[Rockhounds] air abrasive units - sticker shock!!!?

[Justin at the-vug.com]

Hi Tim,

Oh, the trade secrets...
Crystal Mark in Glendale California makes a nice air abrasive unit that is, 
get this, under $600.00.  Throw in a sand blasting cabinet, an air 
compressor, shop vac, and a car filter and for under $1,000 all together, 
you have a nice microabrasive unit.  The only problem with the el' cheapo 
unit is that glass beads get kind of clumpy real quick.  I miss the self 
agitating units, but for Dolomite, Sodium Bicarbonate and the like, this 
model works great.  I doubt you would be using glass beads on fossils 
anyway, I find Dolomite works wonders on most everything.

Oh, and tell them The-Vug.com sent you.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tim Jokela Jr." <tjokela at execulink.com>
To: "Rockhounds at drizzle.com: A mailing list for rock and gem collectors" 
<rockhounds at lists.drizzle.com>
Sent: Sunday, April 20, 2008 7:20 AM
Subject: [Rockhounds] air abrasive units - sticker shock!!!?


> Living fifteen minutes away from a superb fossil locality, I've 
> accumulated a modest collection and have begun looking into how to 
> properly prep them.
>
> Micro air abrasive tools look fabulous, and their versatility is 
> intriguing, but the $2,000 bare minimum price tag kind of puzzles me. All 
> this thing does, as far as I can see, is add powdered abrasives to the air 
> stream. Why the huge price tag? Are there some expensive components in 
> there, or some advanced technical wizardry? Do you really need to budget 
> three grand minimum for a complete air abrasive system?
>
> What are the options if one wants to get into air abrasive units without 
> spending a small fortune? Are there cheap units that work as well as the 
> Swam Blaster and the Comco units? Any DIY possibilities here, or is the 
> system too complex? Are museums using these multi-thou units?
>
> Any info would be most appreciated!
>
> Tim Jokela Jr., tjokela at execulink.com
> Business: http://www.element51.com
> Pleasure: http://www.ontariominerals.com
>
> -- 
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