ABRASIVE GRADING CONVERSION CHART

Steel abrasives are often measured in grit size indicating the number of particles in a specific area, whereas mesh sizes measure the particle size passing a woven wire screen.

Non-steel abrasives larger than 40 grit also use the direct pressure delivery blasting cabinets to pneumatically push the larger and heavier abrasives. Media Blast & Abrasive recommends the PowerPeen for these larger sizes.

Siphon abrasive blasting cabinets, i.e. the N-200 can also use steel type abrasives when the size is 80 grit and smaller. Normally a larger production gun is used to boost the siphon-feed of these larger/heavier abrasives. We offer additional information related to:

(This chart is only a guideline. Consult abrasive manufacturer for model-specific information.)

GRIT Mesh USS* Maximum Inches
Average
Minimum Maximum Microns
Average
Minimum
8 7 0.1300 0.0870 0.0650 3300 2210 1650
10 8 0.1300 0.0730 0.0550 2286 1854 1397
12 10 0.0900 0.0630 0.0450 2286 1600 1143
14 12 0.0750 0.0530 0.0370 1905 1346 940
16 14 0.0650 0.0430 0.0310 1650 1092 787
20 16 0.0530 0.0370 0.0260 1346 940 660
24 20 0.0430 0.0270 0.0180 1092 686 487
30 25 0.0320 0.0220 0.0140 813 559 356
36 30 0.0300 0.0190 0.0120 762 483 305
46 40 0-022 0.0140 0.0095 559 356 241
54 45 0.0195 0.0120 0.0080 495 305 203
60 50 0.0160 0.0100 0.0065 406 254 165
70 60 0.0130 0.0080 0.0050 330 203 127
80 70 0.0115 0.0065 0.0040 292 165 102
90 80 0.0095 0.0057 0.0035 241 145 89
100 100 0.0080 0.0048 0.0025 203 122 63
120 120 0.0065 0.0040 0.0020 165 102 50
150 140 0.0055 0.0035 0.0015 140 89 38
180 170 0.0045 0.0030 0.0010 114 76 25
220 200 0.0040 0.0025 0.0008 102 63 20
240 200 0.0033 0.0020 0.00099 85 50 25
280 ** 0.0028 0.00154 0.00075 70 39 9
320 ** 0.0024 0.00122 0.00055 60 31 14
400 ** 0.0018 0.00087 0.00043 45 22 11
500 ** 0.0016 0.00075 0.00039 40 19 10
600 **, ^ 0.0014 0.00063 0.00035 35 16 9
700 **, ^ 0.0013 0.00055 0.00028 32 14 7
800 **, ^ 0.0012 0.00047 0.00020 30 12 5
900 **, ^ 0.0009 0.00035 0.00012 23 9 3
1000 **, ^ 0.0009 0.00028 0.00008 23 7 2
* USS – United States Standard Sieve screen size
** Abrasives finer than 240 grit cannot be accurately screened. Grading is accomplished by hydraulic or pneumatic methods.
^ Microfine abrasives are typically only used in wet blast cabinets.