What You Never Knew About Sandblasting in Umatilla County, OR

Sandblasting, also occasionally referred to as abrasive blasting, is one of the most popular types of surface treatment processes, and can be used in many different applications and industries. During the sandblasting process, an abrasive media such as sand, walnut shell, corn cob, ceramic grit, crushed glass, baking soda, copper slag or silicon carbine, is pushed at a high rate of speed through a blasting nozzle with the use of compressed air. The abrasive that gets used can vary based on the surface treatment required.

The type of abrasive you choose depends primarily on the type of treatment you wish to apply to the surface. Selecting your abrasive media is a crucial decision, because it will affect your blasting processes. Different types of abrasive media, as listed above, have different shapes, densities and hardness, and you’ll also find each of them in a variety of different particle sizes. It can be necessary to go through some processing to be able to arrive at the right type and size of media for your project.

In addition, the equipment you’ll use to perform sandblasting in Umatilla County, OR can vary depending on the industry—there are completely robotic systems that have closed loop process controls, and there are hand cabinets that operate a little more mechanically and manually. The machine you use will depend on the surface treatment you’re applying, as well as what you’ll be using the resulting component for.

The technology for sandblasting has evolved significantly over the years, and it is now a common and vital part of rust removal and surface cleaning. It prepares surfaces for high-performance coatings, and also treats final products to provide them with a better luster and texture as desired by the customer.

Uses for sandblasting

Now that you know a bit about the sandblasting process, the various types of media available and the selection process for that media, you might be wondering what sandblasting is most commonly used for. Here are just a few examples:

• Surface preparation: Before any painting, bonding or coating operations can be performed, the surface must be properly prepared and rid of any rust, debris or undesired buildup. The sandblasting process is crucial in this preparation, as it is highly effective at getting rid of paint, sand, scale and rust. It also is frequently used to make industrial gas turbine engine component surfaces rougher in anticipation of them being thermally spray coated.
• Burr removal: Sandblasting is vital for the removal of burrs and for edge profiling of machined components.
• Finishing: Sandblasting helps to provide a matte cosmetic surface finish on many types of consumer products. It also is a great way to offer some surface texturing for tooling, and molds to alter the appearance of stamped or molded products.

For more information about sandblasting and what you should know about everything from the selection of media to the types of applications you can use the process for, contact the team at NW Metal Fabricators Inc. to discuss sandblasting in Umatilla County, OR.

Categorised in: Sandblasting

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