NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2014

The Corrosion Control Professional’s Newsletter

ABRASIVE CLEANLINESS

DOES IT MATTER?

Q: Is your current abrasive guaranteed 100% usable material? Q: Have you ever thought about whether it may contain impurities that could damage your quality and your reputation? A: With GMA Garnet, purity is guaranteed.

ORDINARY GARNET

GMA AUSTRALIAN GARNET

WHY ABRASIVE CLEANLINESS MATTERS DUSTY ABRASIVE CAN REDUCE THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK Dust in abrasive blasting media tends to settle out of the air after blasting onto the blasted surface, as opposed to usable abrasive which has a tendency to ricochet away. This results in additional clean-down and coating quality is potentially compromised. Choosing GMA Garnet gives you peace of mind and helps you get off the job quicker.

ABRASIVE WITH HIGH LEVELS OF SOLUBLE CHLORIDE (SALT) CAN SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCE COATING LIFE In their natural form, many abrasive blasting materials have high levels of salt. GMA Garnet’s extensive processing helps bring this down to very low levels. The International Standard requires a maximum level of 25 parts per million (ppm), GMA Garnet guarantees a maximum of 15ppm.

DUSTY ABRASIVE COSTS MORE TO USE Which would you rather pay for, 1 tonne of garnet or 800kg garnet and 200kg of dust? Some imported garnet abrasives have been proven to contain up to 20% of non-garnet fines. GMA Garnet’s 21-stage washing and grading process ensures that every gram of abrasive is usable.

DUSTY ABRASIVE MAKES YOU AN UNWANTED NEIGHBOUR Dusty abrasive on site will either increase your risk of contamination to surrounding areas or require substantially more effort and expenditure to be put into containment. Make your life easier, choose GMA Garnet.

GMA Australian Garnet - guaranteed purity

SEE INSIDE FOR WATCH DAVO & MERV DISCUSS ABRASIVE CLEANLINESS IN THE LATEST EPISODE OF

‘ADVENTURES IN BLASTING’ GO TO: BLASTECH.COM.AU

Metallic Abrasive - Performance vs Life. The benefits of hiring your blast and coat fleet Upgrade your blastroom for better productivity. Great deals on brushes and rollers!

Freecall 1800 190 190 | Fax 07 3329 5066 | [email protected] | www.blastech.com.au

SUPER SUMMER PACKAGE DEALS!

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Upgrade & Save!

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An Enviromax Blastroom solution reduces power and increases productivity.

Phone 1800 190 190 to request a copy of our Enviromax solutions brochure.

USE MUCH LESS POWER Changing from pneumatic abrasive recovery and cleaning to mechanical can reduce power requirements by up to 56%. Mechanical recovery conveys material at a higher volume of material per kw of power which reduces total power use.

CLEANER ABRASIVE An Enviromax abrasive classifier uses a gentle vacuum pulling against a falling curtain of abrasive. This allows for much finer control of the separation of waste and reusable material. This provides two benefits, the ability to control the working mix according to your requirements (predominantly coarser or finer) and the ability to minimise re-usable material going to waste.

Accurately matching workload to power output reduces total power used. Conventional drive motors are 100% load on or off, but Enviromax blastroom solutions use variable speed drive motors, which accurately match power draw to workload and only use the exact amount of power required.

HAVE AN EXISTING FACILITY? Don’t need a replacement? Book a free assessment of your current facilities today. Our sales engineer will visit and provide you with a custom upgrade recommendation.

4 1

REASONS TO HIRE YOUR BLAST & COAT FLEET

NO EQUIPMENT LAYING IDLE

Only have occasional use for a specialised piece of dust collection or vacuum blast equipment? Don’t tie capital up with these occasional use items – hire them from Blastech. By only keeping in your fleet those items of equipment in constant use, you avoid having your capital tied up. This includes both mainstream and specialised equipment. If your regular workload requires 3 blast pots full time, don’t have a 4th pot that is only used in periods of peak demand – hire it from Blastech.

2

EXPAND YOUR CAPABILITIES

Would you like to be able to offer your customers a greater range of services than your current fleet allows? By utilising Blastech’s fleet, you can expand the range of services you can offer your customer without having to make an upfront investment.

3

EQUIPMENT WTHOUT CAPEX

4

ELIMINATE DOWNTIME

Having difficulty getting approval for capital expenditure from the finance department? You’re not alone – this has become commonplace since the GFC. By hiring from Blastech you can get the equipment you need without having to request Capex.

Each and every piece of Blastech hire equipment is dispatched with a performance guarantee that it will operate according to the specified production rate. As they are returned, they are assessed for performance and any rebuild or repair required carried out. This eliminates the need for you to carry out repairs on the equipment you are using. For long-term and high value items a periodic in-field maintenance program can be negotiated.

Freecall 1800 190 190 | Fax 07 3329 5066 | [email protected] | www.blastech.com.au

PERFORMANCE vs LIFE How to select the correct metallic abrasive for your application

METALLIC ABRASIVE SIZING CAST IRON GRIT STEEL GRIT

Some basic metallurgy

applications may demand the use of other metallic abrasives. See table below for further explanation.

Performance differences between steel and cast iron grit arise from the metallurgical differences between steel and iron. The iron into steel process involves blowing pure oxygen into molten iron. This reduces the carbon content of the iron to make the steel more flexible and malleable.

The quality of a metallic abrasive blasted surface begins in the foundry

This means that cast iron grit, with it’s hardness and brittleness, provides a sharper abrasive which gives superior productivity. However, it breaks down quicker. Steel, being more malleable, is slower to break down but ‘rounds up’ and loses sharpness, which in turn reduces productivity.

What’s the best abrasive? With the constant increase in labour costs and operating expenses, the productivity of cast iron grit normally makes it more cost effective to use rather than the longer lasting steel grit. However, some wheel blast

STEEL SHOT

Metallic abrasive is the product of a foundry just as much as any other cast iron or steel item. Steel or iron feedstock, plus any additional elements required to ensure quality metallurgy, are melted in a furnace before being processed to create shot, which can be then crushed to create grit. The Blastmax range of hematite cast iron grit from Blastech uses carefully selected iron feedstock with the addition of titanium to create a specialist grade that is both fast cutting and long lasting. Find out how you can cut costs with Blastmax, call our sales team today on 1800 190 190.

G05 Cast iron grit GL120 Steel grit

S170 Steel shot

G07 Cast iron grit GL80 Steel grit

S230 Steel shot

G12 Cast iron grit GL50 Steel grit

S280 Steel shot

G17 Cast iron grit GL40 Steel grit

S330 Steel shot

G24 Cast iron grit GL25 Steel grit

S390 Steel shot

G39 Cast iron grit GL18 Steel grit

S460 Steel shot

G47 Cast iron grit GL16 Steel grit

S550 Steel shot

G55 Cast iron grit GL14 Steel grit

S660 Steel shot

METALLIC ABRASIVE SELECTOR BLASTING TECHNOLOGY

CAST IRON GRIT

STEEL GRIT

STEEL SHOT

Airblast

Cast iron grit is the product of choice for compressed air blasting because it provides the highest productivity of all metallic abrasives.

Steel grit has longer life than cast iron grit, however it ‘rounds up’ reducing productivity.

Rarely used except for specialised shot peening applications.

Wheelblast surface preparation

Not recommended due to the aggressive nature of cast iron grit wearing equipment at an excessive rate. Occasionally used where a particularly sharp or high profile is required.

Used in wheel blast equipment where an angular profile is required.

Steel shot is the main type of abrasive used in this application. May be mixed with steel grit to provide profile.

Wheelblast foundry casting cleanup

Not used

Not used

Shot is used for casting clean up for two reasons:

It is normally only used for air blasting when the equipment cannot use cast iron grit.

1. This work is normally done in wheel machines which reqiures the use of shot; 2. Cleaning only is required, not creation of a surface profile.

Shot peening

Not used

Not used

Shot peening uses the spherical shape of shot to improve the performance of metal components and as a metal shaping process. Performance improvements include better fatigue resistence.

Freecall 1800 190 190 | Fax 07 3329 5066 | [email protected] | www.blastech.com.au

TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF YOUR AIRLESS SPRAYER Look after your pump and it will look after you!

onto the job, place the pump pick up tube into clean compatible solvent and continue spraying until solvent starts to show, then turn the pump pressure down and release pressure through the gun into waste solvent. 2b: If the paint in the lines is not needed, place the pick up into first flush solvent. If this is not available simply use clean solvent. Turn pump pressure down, release pressure through the gun into waste paint container. Remove spray tip then pump through the gun until solvent starts to show.

Correct Cleaning is Critical! Correct cleaning ensures the longevity of your pump. Before you start cleaning, make sure you have the following on hand: A waste paint container Used to collect any surplus paint when finished painting, let it harden and then dispose of it as general industrial waste. A waste solvent container Used to collect heavily contaminated solvent When the container is full, recycle through a solvent recycling machine or arrange for collection by a licensed solvent disposer. A first flush container Used to collect the nearly clean solvent that is flushed from the pump towards the end of the cleaning procedure., and to collect the flushed out solvent that was stored in the pump when priming it with paint for next use.

Keep the throat seal liquid reservoir full. TSL is a specialised chemical that both lubricates and cleans the rod and top packing. Fill the reservoir up every time you spray. Do not substitute oil or other liquids for TSL.

3: Place the recirculation hose into the same drum of solvent as the pick up hose. Recirculate this solvent for 8 to 10 minutes to fully clean residue from the pump crevices. 4: Close the prime valve and recirculate the same solvent through the hose and gun for 1 to 2 minutes. 5: Pump the dirty solvent into the waste solvent container then place the pick up into clean solvent and repeat flush steps 4 and 5, pumping this slightly dirty solvent into the first flush container. 6: Remove the pump filter, tip and guard and clean using a brush and solvent. Then reinstall. 7: Pump clean solvent through the pump, hose, gun, tip and recirculation hose. For short term storage (less than a week), pump can be stored with solvent in it. For longer term storage, leave oil, diesel or a special pump storage solution in the pump.

Use this solvent for the first flush when cleaning the pump next time.

Important notes

Plenty of clean solvent Solvent is cheap compared to the cost of replacing packings and hoses.

The Cleaning Procedure:

• Solvent used for cleaning up must have a high flash point and be as aggressive as possible. Get advice from your paint rep as some gun wash thinners may lack the required cut for some coatings.

1: Clean the outside of pump and pump pick up using a rag and solvent.

• Never spray into a closed top drum or a plastic container.

2a: Pump the paint out of the pump and lines. If you need to spray the paint from the lines

• Spray into an open topped metal pail and

Got a copy of The Primer, Graco’s overview of Airless Sprayers? Call us on Freecall 1800 190 190 to get your free copy.

always contact the gun on the edge of the pail before pulling the trigger. • Always read the manufacturer’s instruction/safety manual that explains the safe use of each product before use. • Always beware of injection hazards. • Never open prime valve under full pressure.

Freecall 1800 190 190 | Fax 07 3329 5066 | [email protected] | www.blastech.com.au

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Did you know that Blastech stock a full range of sandpaper?

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Available in rolls, sheets and discs in grit sizes from 40 to 240.

Freecall 1800 190 190 | Fax 07 3329 5066 | [email protected] | www.blastech.com.au *All offers in catalogue are priced ex-Blastech store and available until 31/12/2014 or while stocks last. All prices shown are exclusive of GST or freight. Goods supplied on contract or special pricing are excluded from qualifying purchases for giveaways. Free goods must be redeemed at time of placing order.