Around 1870, he invented the Sandblasting process and filed a patent for it in the US (US patent 108,408.), detailing many of the applications for which this technique is uniquely suited, such as sharpening files, engraving bottles, cleaning boilers or bringing out the grain in wood.

Why is sandblasting banned?

Prohibition of Silica in Abrasive Blasting

Because of the high risk for silicosis in sandblasters and the difficulty in controlling exposures, the use of crystalline silica for blast cleaning operations was prohibited in Great Britain in 1950 [Factories Act 1949] and in other European countries in 1966 [ILO 1972].

Who invented sandblasting?

When Was Sandblasting Invented? This process is older than you might think. It was invented in the later 1800s by an American soldier named Benjamin Chew Tilghman.