Sandblasting
Sandblasting is a generic term for the abrasive media blasting process. A rapid flow of propulsion air carries media at a high rate of speed onto the surface to be blasted, abraded, scoured, cleaned or profiled (in rapid succession) by breaking away small pieces of undesirable coatings, corrosion or other substances. It is the amount of a acceleration, amount of media, and impact of media on the work surface that produces the desired results.
There are two basic types of media "soft" media and "hard" media.
Hard media is used when the material is to be profiled and oxidation removed. To achieve this, Becker's Powder House recommends and uses aluminum oxide in both our blast cabinet and blast room.
Although aluminum oxide is an inert substance that poses no health hazards one should always take care not to breath the dust created while sandblasting. Aluminum oxide has many other advantages as well. It does not breakdown as readily as other blast abrasives and can be recycled. Aluminum oxide is a tough, sharp angular cutting abrasive which produces a rough, uniform matte finish and sharp texture. Aluminum oxide abrasives produce an etched or "anchor pattern" for better adhesion of coatings. It removes heavy foreign matter, burrs, and scale. It is fast cutting, especially on tough, high tensile materials. Aluminum oxide is recommended for the following applications and results:
Application Description
bonding and coating surface preparation for adhesion
metalizing surface preparation for coating
heat treating, forging, welding remove scale
friction components impart texturized finish
decorative "frost" etching, especially on glass
monument stones letter cutting, etching, frosting
cast and molded parts remove flash, blend imperfections
machined parts remove burrs, sharp edges, marks
painted/coated parts remove coatings, especially rust
general purpose remove rust, scale, paint
Soft media is used when the material is to be cleaned, scoured, and abraded. In realty, soft media is used as more of a cleaning agent than an abrasive. These media are generally used where the substrate to be cleaned and/or stripped cannot be profiled.
Becker's Powder House also recommends and uses plastic media blasting in our pressure blast cabinet. Plastic media is also an inert substance that poses no health hazards. Plastic media blasting is a dust free, dry stripping method, which means it is environmentally safe and provides for a superior surface finish.
The plastic media is specially formulated to give it high tensile, compressive and flexural strength, with a comparatively low hardness. This allows it to be pneumatically conveyed at a much lower air pressure. Plastic blast media can be used to safely and effectively remove paint and other coatings from almost all substrates, so gently that you can watch the finishes come off the parts layer by layer.
Our plastic media blasting process can be used to remove coatings from metals without pitting, stretching, or metal loss. The process is very effective in tight corners and hard to reach areas. It will produce a uniform surface on complex shapes with minimal removal of material from the components, and leave a brighter finish than other blasting processes.
Becker's Powder House has a 19' x 28' climate controlled blasting room. In this room we use aluminum oxide to strip coatings, rust, bondo, etc. and to etch metal in preparation for powder coating, liquid coating, welding and body work. Project vehicles only - non-drivable only accepted.
Our Clemco Pulsar cabinet is a siphon fed aluminum oxide booth. It has a cyclone filtration system which removes spent media and paint dust from the usable media to be recycled.
With our MBA pressure blast cabinet we use plastic bead and can effectively strip previous coatings off any metal more efficiently than other media.