Sandblast Equipment

View A Video on Sandblast Equipment - A Quick Introduction

In addition to sand media blasters, sandblasting equipment like shot blasters, grit blasters, bead blasters, shot peening equipment and soda blasting equipment can use ceramic, metallic, glass or other particles of varying shapes to treat surfaces. Those surface treatment tasks include coating removal, smoothing or roughening, etching, carving, degreasing, deburring, deflashing and descaling. Such treatments are applied to all manner of metal, wood, glass and plastic products, and each different process requires variations in machinery, blasting technique and blasting media. Two sandblaster configurations account for all of the sandblasting processes in existence: compressed air and pressurized water. The surfaces and products that sandblasting equipment treat can be as small as nuts and bolts or as large as ship hulls. To accommodate this range of products, an equally wide range of blasting equipment is necessary. Automated blasting systems and sandblast cabinets allow large scale treatment of small products while portable sand blasters, which can be taken from one work site to another, make single treatments of large surfaces possible.

Two main varieties or sandblasters, dry and wet, are widely used in the surface treatment industry. Wet sandblasters blast surfaces with a combination of blasting media and pressurized water. Only a small minority of blasting projects use pressurized water compared to compressed air blasting projects. Pressurized water is used mostly for the treatment of surfaces that need to be cooled during blasting. Dry machines use air compressors to generate a powerful stream that propels abrasives against surfaces. Three dry blasting configurations, gravity-fed, pressure pot and siphon systems, are the most widely used blaster configurations. Each design involves an air compressor, abrasive particle supply and a nozzle to direct the blasting stream. In each of the three configurations, though, the relationship between the components is different. Gravity-fed systems use gravity to direct abrasive into the compressed air stream. These systems work well for small projects, especially in portable blasters. Siphon systems function by passing the compressed air stream next to the unpressurized abrasive store. The change in pressure siphons abrasive into the stream of compressed air. The pressure pot system is identical to the siphon system except that its abrasive store is negatively pressurized to allow for a more efficient combination of air and abrasive.

Both wet and dry machines are applied in automotive, marine, construction, agriculture, industrial cleaning and processing, aerospace, decorative design, woodworking and glassworking contexts. Industrial fasteners, engine components, tractors, watercraft, cars, aircraft, heat exchangers, bridges, building components and printed circuit boards all make use of sandblasting equipment for cleaning and refurbishment purposes. In each treatment context, sandblaster configuration is only one of several considerations to make in advance of treatment. Blasting media shape and composition have as much of an impact on treatment process as does blaster configuration. Most varieties of blast media fit into two main categories: angular or sharp-edged particulates and rounded beads. Angular materials are used for deburring, descaling, paint and coating stripping, surface texturing and cleaning. Rounded media may be used for these applications as well, but they can also be used in shot blasting and peening applications in which compressive residual stress is conferred upon a metal surface by repeated, intense collisions with shot; this stress strengthens the surface. Smooth, bead-shaped media are usually ceramic, glass or metal, though they are sometimes also made of other materials. Angular sandblast media can be made of flaked aluminum, carbides, ceramics, copper, glass, iron, gold, plastic, steel, wood, acrylics, baking soda, silica and even nut shells and fruit kernels. Because of the variability of effects produced by different media blasters and blast media, abrasive media treatment professionals should choose their equipment and materials carefully before beginning treatments.

As is true in every industrial context, every reasonable provision for employee safety and process sustainability should be made when undertaking a sandblasting project. Since the industrial revolution, neglect for such responsibilities has had extreme consequences for workers and for the environment; sandblasting poses its own list of risks to both if undertaken carelessly. Silica sandblasting, for example, has been shown over the last several decades to cause a debilitating, incurable lung disease in workers who endured unfiltered exposure to it over long periods of time. Simple changes to sandblasting workspaces like the introduction of enclosed blasting cabinets, protective clothing, respirators and workspace ventilation make silica blasting safe for workers. Also, advances in residual blast media collection allow for recycling and reuse of used particles, saving materials expenses and mitigating environmental degradation simultaneously. Other provisions for project sustainability are available as well. Use of organic blast media like crushed walnut shells, ground corn cobs and baking soda reduce risks to air quality, pollution caused by residual blast media and contamination of water sources in the weeks and months following an outdoor blasting project. Assuming these precautions are taken, media blasting can be one of the most valuable industrial processes in existence.

Image Provided by Empire Abrasive Equipment Co.

Image Provided by Guyson Corporation of USA

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Types of Sandblast Equipment

• Automated blasting systems remove contaminates, coatings and debris from parts in a manner similar to batch processing, conveyor-type systems.
• Bead blasters utilize high pressured streams of spherical abrasives to clean or otherwise resurface parts and components in industrial, commercial and domestic settings. 
• Grit blasters are machines of varying size and design that utilize high pressured streams of abrasive materials and slurries to clean or otherwise resurface industrial parts, products and components.
• Media blasting is a process that removes coatings from metal, wood, fiberglass, and other substrates using pressurized streams of abrasive materials.
• Micro-blast or micro-jet machines are specialized machines for applications needing selective surface preparation, material removal and finishing.
• Portable sand blasters are mobile machines of varying size and design that utilize high pressured streams of abrasive materials to clean or otherwise resurface parts and components.
• Sandblast cabinets are enclosures in which items are placed to be abraded. Blast cabinets are useful in containing the blasting operation and preventing exposure of the blasting media to surrounding workers.
• Sandblast media are the variable abrasive materials used in sandblasting equipment to remove coatings and unwanted debris from the surface of metl, wood, plastic and glass industrial components.
• Sandblaster use forced sand particles to clean or finish a surface.
• Sandblasting equipment is a term that applies to a number of devices designed to clean or resurface industrial products and components through the use of pressurized abrasive particles.
• Shot blasters are machines that heave shot at a high speeds toward an intended surface in order to remove paint, debris and buildup from the surface.
• Shot peening equipment is used to mechanically and cosmetically modify the surface layer of metals.
• Soda blasting equipment is a specific type of media blasting apparatus that uses pressurized streams of sodium bicarbonate to clean or otherwise resurface industrial parts, products and components.

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Sandblast Equipment Terms

Abrasives - Media used for blasting, grinding or polishing. Abrasive materials are either in loose form or formed together into wheels, files or bricks or adhered to cloth or paper with resin or glue. Natural abrasives include sand, baking soda, garnet, emery, flint and corundrum. Metallic shot, grit and plastic material are also used as abrasives in cleanings of castings and surface preparation.
 
Abrasive Grains - Tiny, individual particles of an abrasive mineral used in sandblasting.

Abrasive Blasting Respirator - A continually flowing air line respirator fabricated to cover the shoulders, head and neck of the wearer. Its purpose is to protect the worker from recoiling abrasive from the sandblasting equipment.

Aluminum Oxide - Hard mineral formed from the chemical reaction between oxygen and aluminum; the creation of aluminum oxide on the surface of a metal prevents future occurrences of oxidation. After the material has been sandblasted by the sandblasting equipment.

Deburring - Procedure involving the use of abrasives such as coated or bonded abrasives to remove burrs, jagged edges or protuberances on the surface of an object created during industrial applications.

Dwell Time - The amount of time that a blasting nozzle of sandblasting equipment remains fixed upon a particular area. Extended dwell times may cause excessive heat generation and damage the product.

Emery - A naturally-occurring abrasive containing aluminum oxide and iron oxide used in light applications rather than industrial processes because of its low hardness.

Friability - The extent to which abrasive grains break or split apart upon impact or under pressure; friable abrasives fracture relatively easily and posses a shorter lifespan.

Shot Blasting - A rapid, dust free process that leaves the substrate clean and dry. Shot blast machines hurl shot toward the intended surface at a high speed, removing debris, paint and buildup from the surface.

Shot Peening - A procedure used by sandblasting equipment that prepares a part or surface to withstand stress or fatigue breakdown.

Slurry - A pasty liquid mixture containing suspended solids.

Superabrasives - Category of hard mineral abrasives consisting of diamond and CBN; superabrasives maintain tremendous hardness.

Zirconia Alumina - Tough, artificial abrasive used in heavy sandblasting applications involving various forms of steel.

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