Glass beads are manufactured from lead-free, soda lime-type glass, containing no free silica that is made into preformed ball shapes. Glass beads produce a much smoother and brighter finish than angular abrasives. Glass bead blasting produces a clean, bright, satin finish, without dimensional change of the parts. Glass beads can be recycled approximately 30 times. Chemically inert and environmentally friendly, glass beads are an acceptable method of metal cleaning or surface finishing when properly controlled.

Glass bead blasting produces a clean, bright, satin finish, without dimensional change of the parts. Available in a wide range of sizes, glass beads are primarily used in blasting cabinets for honing, polishing, peening, blending, finishing, removing light burrs and cleaning most light foreign matter. For delicate thin-walled parts and thin welds, peening with glass bead abrasive material provides the right balance of stress relief without over-stressing and causing damage. Consider the size of perforations or holes through which the glass beads must pass when screen separating parts from media after use.