5 Steps to Better Blasting

Abrasive blasting can be very costly if left unchecked in today's world of “get it out the door regardless of what it costs”. It is my belief and experience that it is better to keep the process and equipment well-maintained, and far less costly than having to rebuild or replace the equipment to get the desired results. These five (5) simple steps will get you further down the road with your current equipment. Better yet, complete the following Contact Form and I’d welcome the opportunity to review your process with you and analyze means to help you increase the profitability of your blast operation.

Step 1. Blast Pattern Effectiveness: It really doesn't matter how efficient your blast wheel amps are if they are not targeted properly. Take the time and establish the desired work envelope coverage from your blast wheels. You can verify using the following method. My favorite is a 14 ga. hot spot test sheet mounted in same location as work object – burn (blast) it until blue, and then note down the wheel # and date on the sheet when set, or use a thermal imaging camera plugged into an IOS or Android smart device.

Step 2. Wheel Amp Efficiency: Customers often use the amp gauge as a gas gauge to add fuel or abrasive to the machine. This way of adding abrasive can be very detrimental to maintaining consistency and will cost you far more by way of quality of finish, time and abrasive consumption to get the work done. To get the most cost effective blast process, you should always add abrasive in small quantities, and frequently to maintain the desired amps. Note that I said ‘desired amps’ and not ‘full load amps’? Sometime a process dictates a slower speed if the process downstream to the blast machine is unable to keep up on a continuous line. In such cases, wheels running at full load amps will cause damage to the workpiece. The key is finding what works the best for your process and dialing it in with the abrasive control valves and maintaining that with proper abrasive additions.

Step 3. Operating Mix Efficiency: The abrasive operating mix is often one of the most neglected aspects in abrasive blasting. The development of the correct operating mix starts with using the right abrasive for the process. In my 17 years of working with blast equipment, I have come across numerous situations where a customer was using the wrong abrasive (size, shape and type) either by an improperly made choice or by following the suggestions of an inexperienced abrasive sales person. When you understand the kinetic energy equation in conjunction with the current system operational parameters such as horse power, diameter of the blast wheel, speed (rpm), distance to work object and the type of work being performed, you’ll appreciate that selecting the right abrasive and developing the correct operating mix is critical to cost effective blasting. Railcar Coating removal can be one of the most challenging abrasive blasting jobs depending on the type of coating, the thickness of the coating and age of the coating. Customers who do not control the development of the operating mix will see results varied from one rail car to the next. Slugging the machine with all new abrasive can cause the blast pattern to shift and lead to the loss of valuable, mid-size abrasive impacts. Starting with the correct abrasive and maintaining the correct operating mix will lead to reliability and consistency in abrasive blasting and cost. All of us in the coatings industry are aware of the fact that the life of a coating is only as efficient as the pre-treatment process. Therefore, spend some time developing your pre-treatment process of shot blasting.

Step 4. Controlling Abrasive Wastage: Abrasive wastage is a pet peeve of mine and I’d like to help educate my customers on this. Abrasive Media is often one of the top five when evaluating the operational cost of manufacturing or repair facilities. Understanding natural consumption vs. waste of abrasive can give you a target to shoot for. The four (4) main aspects that contribute to natural abrasive consumption are (a) Volume of abrasive being propelled (b) Velocity of the abrasive being propelled (c) Size of the abrasive being propelled and (d) Hardness of the abrasive being propelled. All these will contribute to the natural consumption of the abrasive, including other aspects such as distance to work object, hardness of work object or even the temperature of the work object and process. Wastage is a factor of simple neglect. Abrasive leaks, improper separator settings, airflow, carryout in work object cavities or even flat surfaces also contribute to abrasive wastage. Controlling this cost starts with identifying problem areas and this can only be done with timed samples from all discharge points including dust collector for good usable abrasive. Make the proper adjustments and improve the process to save money.

5. Analyzing Operational Cost: It often amazes me that so many customers, hit the run button and fail to analyze the cost and believe that running the equipment longer or slower will save money vs. just doing it right in the first place. Elimination of re-blast will save you money (and time). A Process Controls program that I’ve developed evaluates the actual cost by getting Purchasing, Maintenance & Operations Management all on the same page with each fully realizing what the other department sees when it comes to the blast process. To appreciate the ’big’ picture, it’s pivotal to understand the roles played by other stakeholders in the process. Every single one of us or the companies we work for are in business to make money. Understanding the implications of doing it wrong such as 1. Higher maintenance / operation cost 2. Inconsistent quality 3. Loss of productivity 4. Client dissatisfaction and 5. Margin erosion, should force us to take attention to the actual cost and care about it enough to implement changes.

This is my goal and singular focus when it comes to customers. I am doing my job only when I help customers understand the cost drivers of their process. I invite you to contact me to discuss how I can help you establish a sound blasting operation and help with your productivity and profitability goals.