Technical Vapor Blasting

This really does n,t apply so much for car parts. I never seen this done before till now .It,s called vapor blasting used mostly for aluminum.This blasting does not remove metal but mostly polishes and leaves a nice finish before assembly, much cleaner that if we do it ourselves. It,s water under pressure with a media done in a cabinet.
I,ve never seen this mentioned on the HAMB websight. Do any of you use this method and what do you think of it ? Gene

 

That all I use on my aluminum parts. This is a in and out box I did recently.

 

Vapor Blasting is used a lot in the Aerospace Industry. It is often used on machined pats to clean or gives uniform finish without removing material. It’s also used to clean used parts in preparation for rebuilding. Work’s equally well on aluminum and ferrous metals. Additives to the vapor blasting can inhibit rust or other corrosion. Vapor Blasting is sometimes used on a aluminum to give a uniform finish prior to anodizing and on ferrous metals before adding coatings such as paint, Teflon, etc.

 

It's also used on Snap-on screwdriver tips. They vapor blast the chrome blades at the tips to give it an even better texture and grip also helps keep the chrome from peeling off when you beat on them unlike the cheap junk.

 

I worked a job where the guys took old aluminum street signs and blasted them. They reused them after silk screening the new info on them. I was given free reign of the blast cabinet. It used spherical glass beads in water under pressure. I used it on everything from steel, cast iron to aluminum. Fantastic piece of equipment!

 

Rocky, with all due respect, that is not vapor blasting. True vapor blasting is carbon dioxide (dry ice) blasted onto a substrate. Usually for paint or coating removal on very delicate surfaces that the user does not want altered in any way. We used it to clean rubber seal molds of baked on elastomer.

 

The parts I saw done were beautiful. The aluminum parts after being blasted appeared like they were polished. I'm surprised this isn't more popular. Maybe there is a cost factor ? Every crevice and indented area were like new in appearance. What I saw were on old ( aluminum motorcycle heads)

 

Here are some carburetors I had vapor blasted prior to rebuilding them last year. Nice finish I thought.

 

Vapor honing, blasting, wetblasting.....lots of names for the same this....but yes with reference to what we are talking about its a slurry of glass beads and waterr mixed with high pressure air. Can substitute other media such as aluminium oxide for a coarser finish.

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I've just ordered a bunch of bits to convert my sand blasting cabinet to a Vapour blaster....can't wait to get blasting. Heaps of DIY info on YouTube.

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Used to a great extent on injection molds and die-casting dies.

 

Dry ice. eh? Have never heard of this. interesting.

 

Just saw this done on an OT grungy Ferrari out of storage. Pretty impressive

 

My last job did a lot of injection molding, and had a dry ice blaster to clean the molds. I used it a few times on some of my own stuff, it worked great!

 

We had one of our aircraft stripped with dry ice. Kinda cool. Everything that was left over evaporated.

 

It doesn’t evaporate, it sublimates.

 

Tomaters....... Tomaturs

 

Post a link of a good example.

 

They also use the dry ice blasting in building renovation. It's used in extreme mildew situations or after a fire. It literally makes the wood look new, with zero residue from the blasting.

 

A recent episode of the TV series This Old House used CO2 vapor blasting to remove the charred portions of wood damaged in a house fire. They said it was the only way to permanently remove the smoke odor.
Advantages included there was no need for clean-up as the CO2 sublimes. But that also meant the operator needed an outside air supply to prevent asphyxiation. Very interesting

 

It did a great job on my Carter 500 AFB (glass beads and water mixed with high pressure air)

 

If there are abrasives in the mix, it's not really vapor blasting, right? It's just (insert abrasive type here) blasting with a water vapor used for application.

I've seen the dry ice blasting used on a local building to remove mildew. I wonder what it does to rust? I could see it being used to remove paint, but rust is tougher.

 

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Vapor blasting uses an abrasive with water. Dry ice blasting does not have secondary water. It’s two different things. I seen the This sold House episode with dry ice on the burnt wood, the main concern for the user with dry ice is adequate ventilation so you don’t suffocate.


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