The technique of sand
blasting has provided many different ways to clean up, strip, or even out the
surface of different materials. Although the ancient mode of blasting- sand has
now long been banned for usage due to its dangerous silicosis, there is still a
huge range of much safer substances that help to create a perfect finish- be it
the restoring of parts of a structure or just basic refurbishing of smaller
items.
Blasting is
essentially of two main types that are most commonly used, which include shot blasting and grit blasting.
Both the blasting techniques use different types of materials but are often
regarded as a part of sand blasting to provide an overall effect of their
purpose.
To provide a cost
effective and efficient blast cleaning operation, features such as a basic
understanding of the characteristics of the steel blast cleaning abrasives,
their selection as well as use and the knowledge of the blast cleaning
machinery, its maintenance and key process control features.
Industries in the
metal working business are the principal users of cast steel shot and steel grit:
·
Steel mills
·
Ferrous and Nonferrous Foundries
·
Forge shops
·
Metal Fabricators
Blast cleaning with
the use of steel abrasives is a vital and critical operation at various
different stages of the primary metal production.
Steel Grit and Steel Shot are two
sand blast Medias that are most commonly used in today’s industries. These can
be used for a huge variety of applications to meet different goal requirements.
The following article will help you build a strong understanding about both
these Medias.
What is Steel
Grit?
Steel Grit is available in a
variety of shapes and sizes that will allow in administering a variety of blast
profiles for obtaining different results. This type of grit is angular in
nature they way it has been created. This grit is ideal for helping to remove
the contaminants from the surface of various products and it also creates a
last profile for new coating to adhere to. The most common uses for steel grit
are removing of mill scale, removing different degrees of coatings from the
surface of products and a typical grit sizes that are most commonly used range
between G25 – G80. The larger the number of the grits, the smaller will be the
size of the actual particle of blast media.
These smaller particles then
create a smaller blast profile on to the product on the other hand the larger
particles (the ones that have smaller G numbers) will create a deeper blast
profile. In an addition to the depth of the blast profiles the larger particles
will show more effectiveness in the removal of heavy amounts of paint while the
smaller lot of particles will be best suited for removing contaminants on
lighter surfaces. The smaller particles with larger number like G80 grit will
leave a 1 to 2 Mil profile and larger particles like a G25 will leave deeper
profiles that range between 4 to 6 mils (this finding stands true when, all the
other blast equipment settings remain the same).
An additional benefit attached to
the steel grit
is that it has the potential to be used multiple times before the requirement
of replacing the grit arises. One can use mechanical blast media recovery
equipment if you want to recover and use the media again. This allows the media
to be used approximately 150 to 200 times before it needs to be replaced with a
fresh blast media.
What is Steel
Shot?
This shot is available in a
variety of different sizes but is always designed in a round shape. This is a
hard type of abrasive with a mohs scale of about 8.0 that is similar to the
hardness of the grit. This shot is used for a vast range of processes where the
primary use for its application is referred to as shot peening. Shot peening hahrdens
the surface of the product being blasted by repeated striking of the surface
with steel shot. These repeated
striking makes the metal to compress that increases its strength. Some of the
most common applications for this effect known as shot peening are
manufacturing of gear parts, springs, turbine blades and cam shafts. Apart from
shot peening the other areas of application that involve the use of such shot
include which require maximum levels of energy transfer to effectively create a
great surface profile. This includes applications such as concrete surface,
rubber build up removal, epoxy and adhesive removal.
Just like the grit, these shot
offer a lot of uses before the needing replacement mostly allowing about 150 to
200 cycles, depending upon the application one is using these blasting
techniques for and assuming that the professional uses the ideal blast media
recovery equipment. The sizing of the shots made from steel come in a large
variety of sizes that range between s 110 – s 330. In contrast to the grits,
here the larger the number of the shot, the larger will be the size of the steel shot,
which means a shot of size s 330 will be larger than s 110. The larger shot are
used for the removal of thicker coatings and for heavier steel peening too.
Thus to conclude, while selecting
a blast media it is extremely important to understand the product you are
planning to blast and the ultimate result you want to achieve after the
blasting process is done. Based on these factors the decision is made of
selecting the blast media as well as the blast equipment for a great execution
of the project. If you find yourself confused while selecting the ideal
blasting equipment or the media then Quality Spare Centre, a leading trader and
exporter of a huge range of metal shots and the associated set of machinery and
equipment will be proud to help you as they have been developing expertise in
the field since 1990. Also, their efficiency has become a large reason for
success in providing competitive services and machinery which makes us trust
their word even more.
