I believe it can use beads. The ceramic tip has a 1/4" opening. I've never actually used beads in mine, but I see no reason it couldn't be done, if they were small beads. Now I have a question, and don't think I'm just being facetious, I honestly don't know. Just how is it that beads do not remove material? The beads are going to slam against the surface and turn to sand, are they not? Surely this would cause SOME material to be removed, after all, it's just sand with VERY large grains?
As an aside, the OP could use, say, Walnut Shells to blast off the corrosion. There are many blasting materials that are commonly used for softer work. Some don't remove any material at all, depending of course on the piece being blasted.
Kev ========================== I'm pretty sure any media that will remove corrosion will remove some base material.
The glass, plastic beads, and walnut shells should remove less material at once and would be easier to control than sand on items like RC engines.
I've seen cast iron automotive intake manifolds sandblasted and glass beaded. Both methods came out very clean. Sandblasting left a rougher, more pitted looking, surface on the cast iron. Material removal really was not an issue on the thick iron.