Sand Blasting Sand...

Without perfect pre-treatment or shot blasting, powder coating never stays for sufficient time and the entire expenses is wasted. As we are specialized powder coaters in London we are very particular about this pre-treatment process.

Proper shot blasting would ensure removal of rust, previous paint coatings, and mill scale and make the metal surface completely bare. A powder coating on any surface other than bare is never durable. By technical standards, metallic surface ratings have been fixed at SA 3, and SA 2.5 to be judged fit for powder coating. We stringently follow this standard at Metal Works London.

Ways of Shot Blasting

Shot blasting essentially involves firing of minute particles under total control. This helps erode or etch away surface contamination that exists in the form of solids. Our expertise lies in the use of proper abrasives in terms of size, shape and metallic nature of a particular item. Sand blasting could be carried out in large dedicated rooms or even in specially built cabinets. A typical blast room measures about 23 feet x 11 feet.

Both manually operated and automated shot blasters are used for pre-treatment of metallic items

Blast cabinet – This is a closed loop arrangement wherein an abrasive could be recycled after being used. Blast cabinet is an assembly of four separate functions, viz., a cabinet, blasting system, abrasive particle recycling process and, waste particle collection. The cabinet uses both dry and wet processes of blasting; the dry process based on suction and the wet system based on injecting liquid abrasives. Wet process of blasting is used when there is possibility of damage to a metallic surface from the heat generated from friction in dry procedure.

Blast room – The blast room could be considered a giant adaptation of a blast chamber. A blast room contains all but the recycling facility of a blast chamber. Recycling for a room is done manually with shovels and sweeps.

Abrasive Components Used in Blasting

Abrasives are a vital ingredient of shot blasting. Silica in form of sand is the commonest of the abrasives used in blasting. However silica being prone to conversion to dust results in health hazards for blast chamber operators. Commercial varieties of silica used for blasting is often coated with resins to control dust emission. Garnet is a more expensive though safer abrasive as it produces dust in limited quantities.

Steel shot, copper shot, zinc shot, aluminium shot, cut wire, and grit are also used as abrasives in shot blasting.

At Metal Works London we offer shot blasting as a pre-treatment service for powder coating. We put special emphasis on this pre-treatment process as it is the underlining factor for a perfect powder-coating job. As in all our services offered we never compromise in this service too. We are among the leading shot-blasting service providers in London.