Abrasive blast systems are used for cleaning, surface preparation, and light deburring. Blasting is not the best if you are looking for heavy duty deburring equipment but in areas where you just need a little work done it can be done while you do your surface preparation.
The most common type of blasting system is sandblasting. Technically sandblasting uses sand (of course) but the term sandblasting is also used as a more general term for all abrasive blasting. Sand is a good choice for cleaning, paint removal, and removing scale from a surface. One of the gentle abrasives it will not do a lot for smoothing or roughing a surface but the surfaces will be protected while being prepared. Since sand is such an easy to come by media it is one of the cheaper ways to strip or clean a surface.
An uncommon gentle abrasive is corn cob media. Corn cobs are biodegradable and come in a variety of sizes. It is frequently used for the wood of log cabins. Corn cob is of course the tough woody center of an ear of corn; the cob can be broken down to media of a variety of grades and is tough enough to be reused. Because cob media is organic the cleanup is of a non hazardous method and if some of it is left behind it will not be a big deal.
One of the most abrasive of blasting media is steel. Steel media is generally used for roughing a surface to ensure proper adhesion for whatever type of finish that is being put on the surface. Steel media is very durable and can be reused many times in the blasting process (or tumbling or vibratory deburring) before having to be replaced.
Enclosed blasting systems aka blasting cabinets are used for smaller more manageable parts that need cleaning. Using an enclosed blasting system will keep the dust down and the surrounding area clean and safe.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Thermal Deburring
The process of deburring using heat is called thermal deburring yet another option when it comes to deburring equipment available. The material being finished is placed into a chamber and the oxygen and fuel in the chamber is ignited which deburrs or deflashes the material within. This deburring system is one of the gentlest methods around. The defects in the object are removed with no damage to the product at all. Tumbling machines can occasionally leave burrs behind or if you are working with extremely delicate parts can leave scratches or defects behind.
This method of deburring is used with most, but not all, metals. It does not take much time for this process to be completed and it is safe for the metal to be oxidized in this way.
One of the best reasons to use heat deburring is that all parts of the material being worked on is finished at one time. The heat is not only on the surface but gets to all the small and difficult to reach areas. As technology advances and parts become smaller and more intricate in order to achieve the smoothest product thermal deburring is often the best way to go.
When the oxygen and other flammable gases fill the chamber they are then ignited which sets off a wave of heat which will clean most metal objects of burrs because they are normally very small and thin they are oxidized before the object on which they are on is damaged. The temperature of the item that is going through the process goes up some but very little in comparison to the temperature of the thermal chamber.
The temperature of the chamber gets upwards to 7000 degrees and in 30 to 35 seconds the part is finished and burr-free.
There are many other methods available, such as tumble or vibratory deburring, but few if any of these can actually get into the tight internal spaces that are sometimes required. Other systems work great if you are dealing with a lot of flat surfaces but they can leave burrs in slots and cuts of the part being worked on.
A nice little acidic cleaning and your part will then be ready to go.
Thermal deburring has an expensive start up cost if you are interested in having an in house system but the improvement in quality and the speed at which parts can be completed will help to recover those costs. If the volume done does not lead to purchasing the equipment there are many shops that do finishing and they can be located easily.
This method of deburring is used with most, but not all, metals. It does not take much time for this process to be completed and it is safe for the metal to be oxidized in this way.
One of the best reasons to use heat deburring is that all parts of the material being worked on is finished at one time. The heat is not only on the surface but gets to all the small and difficult to reach areas. As technology advances and parts become smaller and more intricate in order to achieve the smoothest product thermal deburring is often the best way to go.
When the oxygen and other flammable gases fill the chamber they are then ignited which sets off a wave of heat which will clean most metal objects of burrs because they are normally very small and thin they are oxidized before the object on which they are on is damaged. The temperature of the item that is going through the process goes up some but very little in comparison to the temperature of the thermal chamber.
The temperature of the chamber gets upwards to 7000 degrees and in 30 to 35 seconds the part is finished and burr-free.
There are many other methods available, such as tumble or vibratory deburring, but few if any of these can actually get into the tight internal spaces that are sometimes required. Other systems work great if you are dealing with a lot of flat surfaces but they can leave burrs in slots and cuts of the part being worked on.
A nice little acidic cleaning and your part will then be ready to go.
Thermal deburring has an expensive start up cost if you are interested in having an in house system but the improvement in quality and the speed at which parts can be completed will help to recover those costs. If the volume done does not lead to purchasing the equipment there are many shops that do finishing and they can be located easily.
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