Sandblasting is a way of smoothing and cleaning a hard surface by forcing solid particles on the surface of work piece at high speeds by using compressed air from the air compressor.

With aggressive blasting, sand moved against a surface. With shot blasting, on the other hand, small metal balls or beads are propelled or moved against a texture. The beads are often made of stainless steel, copper, aluminium or zinc. In the case, all of these metals are harder than sand, making shot blasting even more effective than its aggressive blasting equivalent.