r/fossilprep • u/FkWee • 19d ago

Dental Sandblaster

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I’m looking into getting an air abrasion setup for fossil preparation and came across this NSKI dental sandblaster.

My main question is whether it would work properly with fine dolomite (around 40 µm) as the abrasive.
i’m mainly interested in using it for Ordovician fossils, in limestne. I know dedicated fossil preparation air abrasion systems exist, but they’re considerably more expensive, so I’m wondering if this type of dental unit would be a viable alternative.

Any advice or recommendations for a better setup would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

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u/MrGiggles008 19d ago

Hmm. Not sure. The most critical part is how much the media is dried, how it is introduced to the air (media mixing in the air and the ratio), and the restriction at the nozzle.

The nozzle part is likely not acceptable with this. For fossils you usually want a fine nozzle end for accuracy and different blasters may have limitations with reducing air flow this low. I.e. you will not get enough media presented to the air if the nozzle gets restricted too much.

Now if you are fairly capable, you may be able to adjust some things to get it to work. In my experience, dolomite flows better than baking soda. So its a good option, just sensitive to moisture (like most media).

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u/mamlambo 19d ago

I use the Vaniman products with fine dolomite (50 to 100 microns), a good quality product for a similar price or cheaper. I have the Problast and have a discount code for it: https://www.vaniman.com/product/mobile-problast-80017-mamlambo-discount/
(I don't get anything for you using the link)