Okay, I have ordered both these sizes before and I thought that something that says Extra Coarse would be larger than one that says Coarse. However, I swear the Walmart beads I got last time seemed slightly smaller than the ones I got the time before from Grainger. Someone who understands this please tell me which one of these is the larger bead?
I don’t know if this will help or not but I buy the size 4 from this place. The size 3 is the same size as BB and the 4 is a bit smaller. My local place only carries the 4 and higher so I use the 4.
http://www.marco.us/abrasives/glass-beads
The chart on here might help.
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This chart is helpful and tells the grid size that corresponds. I buy BT-3 and it is NOT containable by many layers of nylon stocking.
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Ok so the larger the sieve the larger the grit size, correct?
The opposite…think about the sieve as “how many beads will fit through a hole (sieve)”. The larger beads will have less beads that can fit.
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I get the #3 glass beads from the Tacoma company an the way he explained to me the smaller the number the bigger the beads. but here are the ones I buy anyway. Hope it helps https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/252330071946
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I buy from Tacoma also. They used to carry a specialty bead #1 and it was AWESOME!! But they stopped carrying it I guess it wasn’t used for preening too much. So now I buy the #3.
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I also buy number 3… 20-30 grit.
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I believe that’s the size I used to get, too. They were perfect!
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This is what I normally get from Grainger, Angie -
This is an old picture so I do not know if the price has changed…
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We probably have a different sizing system here but I use GB2 from our Abrasive Blasters over here…I buy in bulk of 110lbs at a time… They are lovely round beads - not too small and not too big…I use them in the limbs, body and head
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I get them on ebay in a box of twenty pounds, but it goes right through a stocking. I want a different type. Of interest in the bead category…I used a non-latex exam glove for the beads in my Summer Rain head, and when I took her head off to root her hair, there were two or three teeny tiny holes in the glove and had leaked some beads out. I guess the glass was too abrasive?? ANyhoo, I use sewn cotton t-shirt fabric pouches for my sell babies, so I guess I’ll stick to that.
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These look lovely Starr. It’s nice that you can buy them in such a large quantity.
Carmen, are these the ones that are very powdery rather than actual little tiny glass beads? Harbor Freight has some that I purchased and took back because they looked like a powdery stuff. I order from a blasting company now and get the glass beads. I have been trying to find them somewhere closer to home but so far no luck.
If you go in to a sandblasting place, they will have all the different grits so that you can look at them and select the ones you want. The ones I buy in 50 pound sacks are exactly the same as the ones sold by BB and it’s so much cheaper to buy in bulk like that. I always get the whole years supply at one time and then it’s one less thing to think about.
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That’s my problem Helen, I haven’t been able to find a place kind of close to me. I’m still trying!! Not giving up.
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Where do you live? I would think there would be places like this almost everywhere. If not, they can be ordered online, but you’d have to get that grit size question satisfied because who wants to buy 50 or 100 pounds of glass beads that you can’t use.
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Same problem here, Lynn.
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Are you looking up sandblasting places? Do you live near a larger city?