Coating Removal Challenges & Solutions (Part 1)
If all you sell are hammers, everything looks like a nail.
What’s the best way to remove coatings? That depends. All too often a new “miracle method” is introduced, and touts itself as being a cure-all. When it comes to blasting, plastic media, baking soda, vacuum blasting, wet blasting (and more!) have all gone through this transition. In reality, each is fine for particular applications, but each has limitations.
Unfortunately, I’ve seen entrepreneurs set themselves up in business with a one trick pony and then struggle to make a living. My job is to offer an array of solutions, because real world problems challenge the singular approach. At Dawson-Macdonald we represent dozens of methods of approach, each with its own potential. We go in the field to see problems firsthand, and have the best test lab in the Northeast where we can test the mettle of each approach.
One recent example thrown at us was removal of adhesive-backed non-skid from armored trucks.
Traditional abrasive blasting would have left a gummy residue as a result of the heating of the surface, and contaminated media would have to be tossed after a single pass. Wet blasting would have worked, but at great expense. The customer tried ordinary auto body type sanding discs, but the grit of the non-skid tore them up and the non-skid’s adhesive backing quickly gummed them up.
I’ve found it best to start with the simplest and cheapest method. With this application, we simply used a grinding disc that we normally sell to concrete contractors from our Zec line of discs. The result: fast stripping, no gumming up, long abrasive life, and a happy customer.
Got a challenging application? Give us a shot at it. You can contact me directly, just click here.
