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Choosing the Right Grade of Abrasives Can be the Difference Towards an Effective Blasting Job

HELPFUL TIPS

  1. To choose the grade of abrasive to use remember, the finest abrasive particle size that can achieve the profile you need, should be used. Finer abrasive means more particles to make contact with the surface being blasted.
  2. With the contact on the surface being increased by finer abrasives, the speed for blasting will increase along with the consistency of the blast profile.
  3. The operator can move much faster with the blast nozzle when he is getting more hits with the fine abrasive.
  4. You would use much less abrasive when the grit is fine, and it also allows for a more exact abrasive metering, being able to cut back on your abrasive metering valve (your Grit Valve or your Abrasive Valve). In the end, you are also cutting back on the overall consumption of abrasives, time spent on blasting, and time spent on recycling or disposing of used abrasives.

With a finer grit abrasive, the profits will multiply with the increased speed of blasting and decreased use of abrasive. You will also have to refill your blast pot fewer times, meaning less work.

To get a consistent and uniform profile, use the finest abrasive possible so that you won’t have to use excessive amounts of paint to cover the profile. Scouring rust and corrosion from deep pits is much more achievable with a fine abrasive because a coarse abrasive will not be able to access the pockets or pits of rust.

To get the profile that is right for your project, you will want to get the abrasive that is as fine as possible to do what you need and stick with it. The finer the abrasive, the better it will get into pits and clear them out.

REMEMBER

Remember this, use the same abrasive grain size as the coating is thick. Think about removing a coating that is 500 microns (20 mils) thick. You will want to keep that in mind when choosing an abrasive grain. Use a grain that’s about 0.5 millimetre (20 thou). Or maybe you are removing a thicker coating. A coating that’s 1,000 microns (40 mils) thick. Use an abrasive that’s 1.0 millimetre (40 thou).