Why use Aluminum Oxide for shot blasting and surface preparation?
Aluminum oxide has long been a popular abrasive choice for sandblast and surface preparation when it is desired to avoid contamination and corrosion of parts.
However, did you know that this medium has very few advantages and is an expensive solution compared to stainless steel abrasives?
If you have a shot blasting chamber with recovery capacity, the Stelux grit option is the right choice.
Here are 6 reasons why you should change:
Durability
it is true that Aluminum Oxide can be reused. However, its consumption is about 20 to 50 x greater than stainless steel. Stainless steel shot can therefore be reused dozens, even hundreds of times. Typically, we obtain a consumption of 0.1 to 0.2 lb/sq.ft. vs 3 to 4 lb/sq.ft. for Al2O3 in a typical airblast operation.
Dust
Due to the increased durability, the working environment is greatly improved and the visibility just as much. This has a very big influence on the productivity and the efficiency of your production team. Better visibility also reduces re-blasting and improves the cleanliness of the parts.
Wear
Less dust also means less wear and tear on tips, hoses and seals. Replacing these items becomes less frequent. Dust is very abrasive and harsh on equipment. No dust, less maintenance. In addition, with less dust, you also increase the life of your filters and reduce wear on the ducts and dust collector.
Cost of disposal
Product characteristics
Total cost of use
With much lower consumption, negligible costs of disposal and increased productivity, the total savings can reach 80%! Typically, it costs between $ 2.50 to $ 5/sq.ft for stainless steel shot blasting versus costs of $15 to $25/sq.ft. for aluminum oxide.
Finally, to improve your surface preparation processes on parts sensitive to corrosion, use stainless steel abrasives!
