Air Blasting: Sometimes It's Buy One, Get One Free!

Author:  Herb Tobben, Technical Services Department
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 19 / Issue 1, Winter 2005
Doc ID:  2005018
Year of Publication:  2005
Abstract:  
Clemco Industries Corp. Those of you who are regular readers of my column know that I believe there to be an infinite number of applications for air blasting and shot peening. Of course, I see many repeat applications because the same result is desired for many different types of parts. Fabricated metal parts have common needs: machined and stamped parts need deburring, forged parts need descaling, cast parts need investment removal, and heat-treated parts need an improved appearance. Occasionally there are parts with multiple problems that can be solved by blasting. To set the stage for this discussion, I will offer that many years ago (and I know this only from hear-say as it happened before I was born - although Jack Champaigne may have been there at the time!), J. O. Almen, a 1930s engineer for General Motors Buick Motor Division, discovered that when automotive valve springs were blasted to remove carbon to prevent oil contamination, the blasted springs began to have a much longer wear life than unblasted ones. Certainly this discovery was an exciting one for the industry as it proved that beyond improving the appearance of the blasted object, it added far greater value to the process.