Vapor Blasting for Shaping and Finishing Metal and Metals

While there certainly are many good reasons why dry or wet vapor blasting is preferred over dry blasting, generally speaking, two key characteristics make vapor blasting superior to dry blasting: first, by mechanical flow of water-borne abrasive into the spray no impact is caused on the finished surface; and second, vapor blasting a dry medium is generally much more a sterile process than a wet one. To understand how this is so let's take a look at dry blasting in its purest form. When dry blasting steel or aluminum it usually involves pouring a large amount of water into an aluminum tank, which is then allowed to cool and solidify over a period of time. You can get more details about vapor blasting machine on this page.

When the water dries out, it creates what is called "chimney dust" which can be very hazardous. Indeed, one can easily get hurt by even the lowest levels of chimney dust. By contrast, when doing vapor blasting operations it is necessary to utilize water only as a means of delivering abrasives into the spray no matter how thick or how wide the spray may be. Water is used as a means of creating a fine spray that contains very fine particles of abrasives. The reason for this is that the solvents which are typically used to complete this dry blasting operation don't have much staying power on the material being bombarded - particularly in terms of abrasives.

One way to protect oneself when doing dry blasting operations is to use a sedimentation filter. A sedimentation filter is designed specifically to remove solvents from the spray in order to prevent damage to the equipment and the person working in the area. This sedimentation filter also ensures that the spray is free of particles that might otherwise be dislodged from the an abrasive bag. Without such a filter it is quite possible that tiny particles from the bag could become lodged in the air system and cause damage to sensitive machinery such as blowers and mixers.

Many companies perform vapor blasting operations - but many others outsource it. Outsourcing makes perfect sense when you consider the fact that the machine operators do not have to understand anything about working with water or what happens to surfaces when they come in contact with it. They are just the machines - and they act only in response to a signal sent from a human part. Water acts like a stimulus when in contact with certain parts surfaces and then the part's surfaces swell due to water actuation - that is why you often hear about "frozen" parts and "frozen" seals when they are working under water.

When performing vapor blasting, it is important to remember that the actual speed at which the machine shoots the water is very important. Some blasters shoot the water at a very high velocity to get the abrasives and sediment out of the surface. This results in very fast action of the nozzle and rapid contact of the abrasives and sediments with the surfaces. The result is often an uneven finish on the surface of the parts or a white streak. While this certainly looks nice, it also leaves a large white mark in the center of the area. The faster the water is shot the better the finish will be. Find out what is vapor blasting and how the operation is done here.

For parts surfaces that need to be finished quickly the fastest speed at which the material can be shot into the part is important. At high velocities the water acts as a puncturing agent and penetrates quickly into the part, which requires additional pressurized spray to assist in the dispersion of the abrasives and water. At lower velocities the opposite occurs and the water is slower in penetrating and helps to keep the material from freezing before it is needed. Vapor blasting is used primarily for finishing metal, ceramics, brass, aluminum and more. Get more info about this topic at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodablasting.