Structural Steel FAQ, Part 10 – Blast Rooms for Touch-Ups
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When it comes to shot blasting complex weldments
like the chassis for construction equipment, excavator booms, and wind power
components, sometimes even the best turbine placement may not clean all the
nooks and crannies of the work piece’s surface.
Surface finishing experts such as Rosler Metal Finishing have solved this issue with the addition of manual blast rooms to automatic shot blast systems.
This installment of our Structural Steel FAQ
series will answer When are blast rooms behind turbine blast machines required for manual
touch-up?
Blast Room Basics
When complex parts or structures prevent effective
cleaning due to shadowing, manual touch-ups may be required to achieve the desired
surface preparation for the subsequent painting process. The addition of a pressure
air blast room that is directly connected to the turbine blast chamber is the
most effective way to provide the secondary step.
These manual blast rooms are always part of the overall shot blast system, sharing the blast media and media recycling system with the blast turbines. The blast room walls use rubber-clad walls and doors to reduce the noise and minimize wear of the walls. The media recovery system feeds the used media from the blast room back into the common recycling system. The air or pressure blast system is fed from the media storage hopper. The dust collection system is also shared between the two sections of the machine
Manual Manipulation
Rerunning a work piece through the shot blasting process would over clean or expose adequately cleaned areas and may still leave other areas in need of further attention. In these cases, the most economical way is for an operator to spot treat areas in need of additional cleaning or finishing using a handheld blast gun. The blast room ensures that blast media is properly contained to avoid injury, keep wear and tear to a minimum, and recover the blast media for re-use. Individuals must wear protective suits, breathing apparatuses, gloves, and helmets for safety within blast rooms.
Built-in Rooms
Rosler
offers air blast systems from simple blast cabinets to very sophisticated shot
peening systems. While Rosler does not offer stand-alone blast rooms, we do
include blast rooms with large hanger type, spinner hanger, and roller conveyor
machines. The parts remain on the same transport system until the manual blast
operation is completed, eliminating additional handling and transfer.
The Rosler WayWhatever your structural steel needs are, you can count on Rosler Metal Finishing to help you find a better way and the best machine. Contact us today to discuss your unique challenges.
The complete Structural Steel Series includes:
- Part 1 – Why Surface Preparation is Necessary.
- Part 2 – Methods of Surface Preparation.
- Part 3 – Evaluating Rust and Mill Scale Pre- and Post-Blast.
- Part 4 – Evaluating the Presence of Dust.
- Part 5 – Assessing Surface Profile.
- Part 6 – Blast Media’s Influence on Surface Profile.
- Part 7 – Comparing Commonly Used Blast Machines.
- Part 8 – Are All Turbines Created Equal?
- Part 9 – Removing Residual Blast Media and Dust.
- Part 10 – Blast Rooms for Touch-Ups.
- Part 11 – Preservation Lines.
- Part 12 – Material Handling Options.
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