The background information for this research covers : the general development of blast cleaning as an industrial process and industries research to understand and improve on the application of the process to metallic surfaces, inquires to the manufactures of blast cleaning equipment and abrasives and those responsible for blast cleaning research in the art conservation field, and finally the confirmation that blast cleaning could be used as a valuable tool in the conservation of metal. The experimental equipment is very thoroughly described in order that it function and operation are understood. This followed by a careful explanation of the testing procedure which includes briefly: the testing of sixteen abrasives in the blast cleaning operation on two different metals, where the equipment adjustments of propellant pressure, angle of incidence, nozzle to target distance, and abrasive flow were carefully controlled in several combinations. Each of the four equipment adjustments was limited to two specific values, producing sixteen tests for each metal and a total of thirty-two tests for each abrasive. An accelerated corrosion test on a representative series of specimens followed the blasting operation. Discussion of the results includes: an examination of the general trends of the abrasives tested, and itemized list of the salient characteristics of each abrasive, six inter abrasive comparisons and the corrosion tests. Conclusion identified sodium bicarbonate and the vegetable materials walnut shell and corn cob grit as the only abrasives tested that were suitable for use in conservation treatments. Recommendations for the application of blast cleaning in reference to the abrasives hardness and shape are provided. A list of proposed topics for future research in the use of abrasive blast cleaning on metallic surfaces concludes the report.