The walnut shells are pretty big as far a blasting media goes:
Carb_Restore_Walnut-10 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
My blasting setup isn't ideal for them, the compressor is on the small side, but I'm running it at about 50psi to keep from being too aggressive right off the bat. Here's the cabinet and gun, just a cheapo siphon hopper I got at HF, and it holds about a quart of media.
Carb_Restore_Walnut-11 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
The walnut shells did a job on the tape:
Carb_Restore_Walnut-12 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
But it did a job on the crud, too:
Carb_Restore_Walnut-13 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
The finish is brighter, which I like:
Carb_Restore_Walnut-14 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
But the anodized plug took a beating:
Carb_Restore_Walnut-15 by
clair_davis, on Flickr
The walnut shells definitely resulted in a nicer finish, and it doesn't really look like they affected the original texture much - if at all - but they are clearly aggressive enough to affect smoother or softer parts like the plug. They also took more work than the Eagle One. A compressor and gun set up to work in that media would have made life nicer, but I have to work with what I've got. Might be able to combine the two for a decent effect, and I might try that later. Have the wood bleach / oxalic acid to try next, hope to get to that this weekend since it's supposed to be below freezing for a couple more days...
Thanks for the suggestions so far,
Clair