bringing better blasting to industry
Choose a long-life nozzle.
What's available?
Using the wrong blast nozzle material can be costly! Not just in terms of the price of the nozzle, but more importantly, in terms of productivity and ongoing maintenance. A simple upgrade can save you big bucks.
Listen, no one wants to work on a piece of blast equipment more than they need to. So why use cheap nozzles that need to be changed frequently?
When nozzles are left in too long (because the maintenance department has priorities other than their blasting equipment), bad things happen.
An eroded nozzle no longer has the engineered shape to propel blast media most effectively. That wastes time, and can bog down production.
In direct-pressure blast machines, compressed air consumption skyrockets - and you probably know that compressed air is expensive! You can double your CFM requirements, and then some, easily.
Moreover, that extra air running through your blast hose speeds up tremendously - thousands of feet per minute. Now you know why you "blow through" blast hoses. It's not the fault of the blast hose; the nozzle opened up too soon!
All this can happen when you choose the 'cheap' nozzle. Or, you're still using the style you've always used, but now that the economy is simmering, you're blasting more. In the end, this is one case where status quo or "the cheapskate" in the business tends to pays the most in the end!
You know that the nozzle is a consumable, so why not leverage your maintenance dollars; and make them work for you.
Did you know?
-
Dawson-Macdonald has very good pricing on quality blast nozzles, and plenty of the most common styles in stock.
-
We can custom engineer blast nozzles for your application, at competitive pricing.
Select the nozzle composition based upon the media you use. Then fine tune your selection considering real-world factors, such as:
-
Will the nozzle be mishandled by the operator?
-
Are you running high production? Automation? Or very low production.
-
What material is available in the optimum nozzle style for my blasting equipment?
-
Should I look into a better blast gun, or more productive blaster itself? (Certainly, it could be!)
With all that in mind, here are some tips to help you select the right nozzle for your needs. Need some advice? I can help with details, such as style, shape, and holder. Just call or email me.
Nozzle Types
Ceramic: Best for low production and mild (truly round or soft) blast media only. Sometimes refered to as 'aluminum oxide' nozzles - the white or pink ones - are the “lowest hanging fruit” of all. They can incur low performance and rapid wear.
Tungsten carbide: Good for production blasting with glass bead, ceramic bead, steel shot, steel grit, slag.
SiAlON: An edge in longevity over Tungsten carbide, plus lighter and a bit more rugged. Available for blast rooms and portables. This is a relatively NEW material and has a lot of converts.
Boron carbide: Generally the optimum for aggressive media such as aluminum oxide, garnet, etc. Very lightweight!
Roctec®: Extreme life for aggressive media such as even silicon carbide. Great for ID blasting. Limited availability, and Roctec can be heavy to handle for manual operations.
Contact me to explore what is best for you. You will save labor, bottlenecks, needless maintenance, and high energy costs. All with one inexpensive and simple upgrade.
Mark Hanna
© 2014 Mark Hanna and BlastPrep.com
All Rights Reserved.
