Of Audits and Artisans

Author:  Daryll McKinley
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 20 / Issue 3, Summer 2006
Doc ID:  2006023
Year of Publication:  2006
Abstract:  
This past February, I had the opportunity to present a lecture on shot peening audits at the Electronics, Incorporated Asian Workshop in Singapore. It was a wonderful workshop held in a beautiful city and I relish the experience. In Jack Champaigne's Parting Shot column in the previous issue of the Shot Peener, Jack mentioned the Asian Workshop and my participation. Upon showing the column to a friend of mine, the friend asked, "That's cool, but what is shot peening?" This is not an unusual question as I typically hear it from the majority of my acquaintances outside of the shot peening world. As I began to describe shot peening to him, he interjected with other questions like; "so, shot peening is like sand blasting?", "so shot peening is a way of cleaning the surface of the part?", "so, are you buying lunch today, Mr. Singapore?" My singular answer to all of his questions was, "no." It's really not very easy to describe the process and benefits of shot peening without getting a bit technical and scribbling on a napkin. But I finally was able to quench his thirst for a simple understanding of shot peening by saying something along the lines of "shot peening is a surface treatment process for metallic components typically used in aerospace or automotive applications that experience fatigue stresses or stress corrosion cracking. Proper shot peening can and will significantly extend the life of parts in these service environments."