Abrasive Blasting 101
Updated January 2022: Piston air compressors are often used with abrasive blast cabinets because they are efficient and cost effective. Available for purchase at many “Big Box” stores, there are a few tips and tricks that you should know before purchasing any piston air compressor.
Updated January 2022: Almost all of our blast cabinets are able to use glass bead abrasive media. Most operators and manufacturers know when to use glass beads and why. We’re sharing some tips that we’ve picked up over the last 50+ years in this industry remember Media Blast manufactures more than 180 machine models.
Maintenance Tips
Dust collector maintenance variables play a large role in how often you need to service your machine. Unfortunately, ongoing and preventative maintenance for blasting cabinet dust collectors is not a black and white issue. A fixed maintenance schedule won’t work for every machine and every application, but knowing how these ten variables affect dust collector maintenance can help you establish a maintenance schedule that works for your needs.
Daily Duty Cycle (DDC) is the amount of time a blasting cabinet can operate before it needs to be serviced. We measure DDC using the gun cfm, the dust collector blower, and the filter storage area. Consider this, a 5% DDC typically translates to less than 30 minutes of total operation in a single 8-hour period. If your application requires more than 30 minutes of machine operation you may need to size-up your dust collector. And…
First there were tubular cloth dust bags, second there was enveloped cloth dust bags yielding about 10 times the filter area in the same footprint. Finally came cartridge filters which double the filter area of envelope dust bags. More dust filter area means fewer dust collector cleaning cycles per day. Which means less dust collector maintenance and higher machine output. Increased filter dust storage can improve dust collector efficiency by slowing down the speed of…
Thanks to these vacuum blower tips, buying a vacuum blower operated dust collector doesn’t have to be another “you get what you pay for” life lesson. Instead of assuming more horsepower and cfm are always better, an educated buyer understands the engineering behind the four common classes of blowers. If you need a quick refresher on how blowers work, read this post before you go on.
Updated January 2022: The first dry blasting machines relied on siphon abrasive delivery method which uses an abrasive media gun to siphon, or pull, the abrasive to the blasting nozzle where it is then boosted in particle velocity and injected into the cabinet. Think of this like using a cue ball to hit the eight ball into the side pocket. While it gets the job done, some energy is lost when the two balls come in…
Buying an air compressor for a blasting cabinet can seem like a daunting task, we know. Media Blast manufactures the largest line of Wet Blasters, Dry Siphon, Gravity Feed and Direct Pressure models with categories for Light Duty, Automotive, Sandcarving and Industrial abrasive blasting. Depending on what model you purchase and where you’ll be operating it, there are a few components that will affect your air compressor needs.
Updated January 2022: Do you often wonder why your blast cabinet has abrasive flow problems after roughly 30 minutes of operation? It’s a common issue that we field questions about, and we’ve compiled a list of the five most common culprits. Read below for our media blasting troubleshooting for our sand blasting tips.
If you’re experiencing static shock from sandblast cabinets, you want to implement a quick and easy solution as soon as possible. This blog gives a simple explanation about how and why static electricity happens, and how to minimize it when you’re sandblasting.
