I put everything in any condition in my blast cabinet. I do alot of stuff with new or reclaimed metal that still has the mill scale on it. That all has to be blasted off to get good welds. Old lead paint, dirt of all kinds, comes right off and then with the vac on all the time, the dirt and dust is usually sucked out. About once a month I drain the sand and sift it. If I havent done too much that month, I put it back and add a little more. If I have been using it, I just toss it and put new in. At $6 for 80 pounds, its just prudent to put clean in every now and then.
Agree Caso and Tim.. it requires expenditures and space. I started this adventure 20 years ago with a few wire brushes on the end of a drill. I wish I would have saved the money and just broke down years earlier and got a blast cabinet and pressure blaster for outside work.
