It’s easiest to blast large panels in a blast room. Yes, it means putting on all that gear, but the advantage is to be right on top of your glass piece, being able to see clearly what is happening as it is happening. I often opt for holding a light in one hand to accommodate this process.
Also, since there are no limiting factors such as mounted gloves in a cabinet, I am able to blast across a large panel uniformly with even speed without having to stop to move the glass panel in order to be able to reach a certain area. This speeds up the overall blasting process considerably and also reduces the risk of damaging the glass piece in the work process.
-Ruth Dobbins, EtchMaser