bringing better blasting to industry
Did you know:
"At least 44% of all infections--and the majority of community-acquired transmissions--occur from people without any symptoms (asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people).
You can be shedding the virus into the environment for up to 5 days before symptoms begin."
The above quote is taken from this article , which is very informative - and just one of many interesting things to know, to keep you, your coworkers, and families safe.
Reduce BlastPrep Time to Reduce Exposure
+ More Safety Tips & Products
A Bigger Picture
- Why Your Low Tech Blasting May Be Less Safe Nowadays
Whether it is coronavirus or the common flu, it comes down to transmission via airborne droplets or contaminated surfaces, plus a factor many don't consider: exposure in confined areas over time.
According to a CNN report, "Growing evidence suggests that Covid-19 infection, like with other illnesses, is related to prolonged time exposed to the virus. The longer you stay in an environment that may contain the virus, the higher the risk of getting sick." Confined rooms are worst.
Blasting operations are commonly crowded into a separate "dirty room." There, I've frequently seen half a dozen or more workers in close proximity laboring away for most of the day. It can become like a meatpacking plant - and as we have learned on the news, those factories have occasionally been forced to shut operations!
We’ve become accustomed to outdated blast prep. But under-productive blasting not only puts you at a competitive disadvantage, you may also be risking health. We can do better!
According to Fox News:
"When inside, it might be a good idea to take a few more steps back...
In a perspective article published in the journal Science, three experts wrote that aerosol particles can accumulate and remain infectious in indoor air for hours, while being easily inhaled deep into the lungs…
It is particularly important to wear masks in locations with conditions that can accumulate high concentrations of viruses...with reduced ventilation."
Mark Hanna's recommendation:
Let's make blasting a part time job:
Get in / Get it Done / Get out.
It's a lot easier than you may think!
Practical tips, practices, and products
for the wellbeing of blast prep workers.
Talk to us about improving the safety of your blast prep operations.
We’re available via video chat, email, and in the Northeast, a personal visitation.
You might find it beneficial to visit our state of the art blast lab, too!
You're Stuck With a Mediocre Blasting Process!
Unwittingly, that is - if you're like a lot of shops I have visited.
Speed it up!
Five Examples of Mediocrity That Are Easily
& VERY Inexpensively Fixed:
1. Your cabinet uses the same siphon blast gun that came with the machine - why is that? Some newer style guns are actually a lot more productive - and simple to retrofit. So, right now your worker stands at the machine most of the day, but he could be done by noon if you only spent a couple hundred bucks. Well, now you know (and here's a link to a favorite blast gun)!
2. Similarly: Are you just buying the same old same old blast nozzle? With thoughtful consideration, you can unleash the power that's already at hand and ready to serve you!
If your air compressor has the capacity, go with one size larger nozzle and find your 8-hour blast shift was "magically" reduced to just five hours! You may not even require a different blast hose, so - considering you'll need to replace a worn nozzle anyway, it often costs nothing to do so, in the end! (Consult an expert first, though.)
Even better: upgrade to our XL Performance Nozzle, and you can find yourself saving 40% on labor - with NO increase in compressed air consumption (and keep the same hose) - and be 'on your game' with scheduling your final finish - paint, powder coat, plating - whatever it is. And you've saved thousands of dollars a year for a few hundred dollar investment - it's super easy to attain a fast ROI!
(It comes down to physics: E=1/2mV2 ...and increased acceleration!)
A fan nozzle might not impact as hard, but it can cover a lot of real estate - it can be ideal for some applications, like this automated Wet Tech (see photo of orange nozzles to the right).
3. The blaster eats abrasive and is a dusty mess. Here there may be several solutions:
Are you buying the same 'cheap' media you always have? Instead, try a durable replacement. More likely than not, your shop will become cleaner, and production and finish consistency (quality) will improve, your overall costs will go down, and so will shipping and disposal fees. All workers near the machine will see an improvement to housekeeping and health, too! It's a truism: Cheap abrasives cost the most in the end. Faster is almost always cheaper, considering labor costs. For additional and very practical ideas, articles, and tips, browse around this website - your source for Better Blasting!
4. Maintenance: Not many on your staff relish the thought of repairing the old blaster to get you through the shift - especially on a hot day where itchy media clings to your skin and expensive eyeglasses become scratched with abrasives. Emergency repairs suck. The solution is regular preventive maintenance, to replace parts prior to their eventual demise. And do it on your time (like early morning, once a month) instead of "Murphy Law's" time. It's a fact: abrasive machines eat themselves, so plan accordingly. Is your manpower lacking, or you simply hate this kind of work? Then, farm it out to experts - like the service techs from Dawson-Macdonald Company.
5. Training: Nowadays, anyone is thrown onto any machine to "just make parts" - whether they know the ins and outs or not. Factories are typically understaffed and the help is, well, often lacking. But if you make blasting a 'professional' job and have the local blasting supply distributor professionally train your workers, problems seem to magically disappear. That's why it is good to partner with a local blasting expert; and pay him with ongoing business loyalty.
Follow these five inexpensive, easy tips
& surprise yourself with the true speed of fast blasting!
Innovations like Torit's "iCUE" monitor the dust collector for you, and send you real-time alerts, to free maintenance personnel. Ask for details.
Low Hanging Fruit -
Sometimes, faster blasting is as simple as trying a different nozzle - like this wide spray version for Empire's popular MH-2 and MH-3 suction guns.
Some nozzles, like this XL-Series, are simply much more efficient - so the same operator gets the work completed early. (Who wants to blast a full 8-hour shift?!)
More details here.
Fan nozzles - which develop patterns several inches wide - might be ideal for fast work! Such as this Wet Tech automatic blaster.
Cheap blast guns can be slow -
Size the blast gun to your available compressed air supply and watch production increase - sometimes dramatically.
You might discover that you’re using an outdated blasting medium. One clue to this is that your blasting shop is dusty. More durable media are often blast much faster* and have an overall cost that makes investigation well worth the effort.
*Projecting dusty recycled media from a blast nozzle is very unproductive. Super fine dust doesn't make it to the surface, it takes up space of productive particles, impedes the worker's visibility, and taxes the equipment - prematurely wearing out hoses, nozzles, and filters. In addition, surface quality can suffer - as one hour you're blasting with fresh grit and the next you're blasting with fines and dust. Your finish quality is only as good as the surface prep that precedes it.
Well trained workers and regularly serviced equipment are two hallmarks of a smooth running, safe, and productive blasting operation. Pictured are service techs Sean Hubbard and Mike Pierce from Dawson-Macdonald Company.
Come Out of the Closet!
- That closed room where you blast.
We know why blasting is relegated to a remote "closet":
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Blasting is often perceived as the messiest part of the works!
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Dust exposure is unhealthy.
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Grit gets into the ways of expensive machine tools, and dust causes problems in CNC control panels.
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The mess can be embarrassing.
We can do better! These are all easily fixed:
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You may be using the wrong media.
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Your maintenance might not be on a regular schedule, and new-hires or temp workers are the ones 'relegated' to blasting.
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Your dust collectors might suck - poorly!
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You may be using outdated blasting tech.
Here's just one example that addresses outdated blasting tech - Wet Tech dustless slurry blasting systems offer precision industrial blast prep in a much cleaner and dust-free way!
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Wet Tech is often a simple replacement for common dry blasting.
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Slurry encapsulates each grain of media with water - so blast prep becomes dustless.
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With slurry blasting, there is NO dust collector (but we can add HEPA mist filtration, and often do). It's more compact and cleaner, with no dust collector to empty daily (which is often a major source of abrasive fines wafting through the shop).
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Blasting can be much better controlled if wet. In fact, embedment (FOD) is greatly reduced or eliminated with Wet Tech.
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Objections to wet blast can be overcome with education; learning from experts, and addressing your concerns (like oxidation) frankly.
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Wet Tech allows you to put blast prep right into the work-cell on the factory floor, right alongside expensive machining centers!
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No more routing jobs to the far end of the shop for blast de-burring, weld-prep, texturizing, shot-peening, etc. Slurry makes for a much more efficient operation!
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We might even totally replace blasting, with high-PSI water in a safely enclosed cabinet, and eliminate abrasive use entirely.
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Don't take one person's word for it. Let's set up a demo on your parts, and see how it works for yourself - and your operations! Contact us for more info on replacing outdated blasting with Wet Tech.
Wet Tech blasting can be an ideal way to free yourself of a cramped, and unhealthy, blast closet.
Mark Hanna says:
"Blasting is often at the far end of the factory, farthest from the entrance, the guests, and the CEO!"
Blasting In Your Work Cell
Do what a prosthetics manufacturer did and replace dry blast with Wet Tech blasting, and locate the blast prep machine right in the manufacturing work-cell! Concerned it will be a dusty mess – you probably needn’t be!
Work Cell
Blasting
can be an integrated robot, a more basic automatic, or a simple hand cabinet, like this new, economical Force 3 model.
Simple Steps to Cleaner, Safer, Faster Blasting
If you've decided to stick with your tried and true blasting method, it can still be made much more efficient and productive.
Make your dry blast cabinet earn its keep!
An average but powerful suction blast gun can consume about 7.5 compressor horsepower and yield decent results. It's simple and, for most, the way to go. But if you're spending hours 'attached' to the front of a blast cabinet, you can do much better - with that same 7.5HP. And if you own an Empire ProFinish cabinet, with a modest investment, you can kick operations into overdrive, simply. You'll most likely be in for a shock when you realize you toiled blasting at 90 PSI all day long - when it can be done in one quarter the time, at lower PSI, and reduce noise levels to boot! Just upgrade your machine with P/N 140397 (plus any recommended upgrades) and in a conversion that takes only a couple hours, you'll be off to the races.
You'll also be able to use specialty nozzles that aren't available for suction blasting machines - to widen the pattern, or even it for blasting thin sheet metal, or reach around corners of complex parts.
Ask for pricing and recommendations, just click contact.
Direct-Pressure Blasting
can increase production speeds up to 500% using the same volume of compressed air - they are simply that more efficient!
The Case for Automation, including Robotic Blasting
Automating the blasting process is a common way to reduce excessive labor cost, reduce the footprint of the blasting operations, and ensure higher quality and more consistent results. In these times, it will also eliminate congested blasting work rooms, making the plant healthier for all.
Automation is done with dry blasting or Wet Tech slurry blasting. It almost seems that there are as many types of automation as their are blasting processes - it comes down to a thoughtful analysis of your workpieces and your needs by a professional in the field.
Automation typically employs many blasting nozzles, which often traverse over a moving workpiece. Several styles of centrifugal wheel blasting machines can also be investigated - and for the right process they not only speed blasting dramatically, they eliminate costly compressed air usage.
Robotic blasting is making inroads nowadays. The robot can hold the nozzle or the workpiece - and may also do the pick and place.
To investigate any of these, just click contact.
Consider automating your blasting process. Sometimes it can be simple – provide a spindle and a moving nozzle (much like a lathe), and other times it can be more involved. Like tumble baskets, a robot arm holding the nozzle or workpiece, a pass-through blaster with multiple guns …well, you get the idea. Contact us for more info!
Multiple Guns Whirlybird Style
This array of productive MH-3 blast guns spins above workpieces of complex shapes; they pass below on a heavy duty powered turntable in batch mode. This is a classic method of fast finishing a large quantity of parts ranging from discs to turbine blades.
A note of caution: I've witnessed customers purchase used automation only to find they don't have the utilities, or the process was not a good fit - and a total waste of money, time, and effort.
One example: a New Hampshire customer purchased a multi-gun indexing turntable on the cheap, only to find he needed much more compressed air. Worse still, with his parts' complexity, it was impossible for the blast streams to access all of the facets of his parts' geometry, anyway.
We replaced the automatic with a simple direct-pressure cabinet and his utility costs dropped as his production actually rose dramatically - with more consistent quality - even with manual blast!
Rarely do you get assurances of a good "fit" when you buy someone else's used automatic blaster.
Seven-axis Robotics
One of many ways to employ a robot.
Prove a New & Better Method - On Us!
Would you like to compare process speed before you invest in a direct-pressure conversion kit for your blast cabinet? We can do that at our blast lab in Massachusetts.
How about automating blasting using a Rotary Head "whirlybird" blaster, or tumblaster? Factories in PA and IN can assure your investment will meet your desires, and determine ROI, before you budget new equipment for your next fiscal year (just allow plenty of time for evaluation & testing!).
Want to see for yourself how your parts are improved with Wet Tech slurry blasting? We can do that in Massachusetts or New York.
Our test labs are open & available for our regular customers so we can improve their blasting operations. Not able to visit these labs in person? Let us video your parts as they are processed in our highly productive systems. Never buy these kinds of upgrades without knowing what to expect.
To investigate any of these, just click contact.
Labwork is essential to getting the blasting process 'right."
Other Ways We Can Help Worker Health.
Ventilating your blasting area can be done! While "source capture" of dusts is always superior, your blasting workroom can be put under "negative air" and the dirty air filtered & cleaned, and recirculated back into your plant for energy savings. Incoming air currents induced by this method help keep dust from migrating to more sensitive areas of the shop.
Tip: Return the air up high to mix and break up stratified, stale, hot air.
Tip #2: Install a "Floor Sweep" in our Easy Duct system and quickly vacuum away the swept up dust and grit.
Respirators: Bullard manufacturers all kinds and they're available from Dawson-Macdonald.
One of our manufacturers makes hand sanitizer, available in sizes from 1-gallon jugs to 300-gallon totes!
To investigate any of these, just click contact.
Did you know:
Dawson-Macdonald is Donaldson-Torit’s premier representative in New England, offering the most extensive line of industrial air filtration solutions in the world.
See more about Dust Collection for Your Shop.
Did you know:
We’re available via teleconference. Talk to us about improving the safety of your blast prep operations.
Do you have additional blasting safety tips to share?
Wish to inquire about details of items of interest on this page? Click: Contact us. Thanks!
Caution: The features and steps outlined on this page are individual actions you may opt to take to make your workplace safer, as a part of a more comprehensive overall approach in infection prevention and general worker health & safety. None have been tested specifically with coronavirus in mind. They are simply intended to inform you of available solutions, and NOT as a guarantee of safety. Check with your EHS department, local regulators, OSHA, the CDC, and WHO.