General information

BLASTING BIG AND SMALL

(what you should know before spending your money) with us or anybody else,

Aggressive blast media.

Many Commercial companies want to get the work through as fast as possible, and have little or no care / regard or understanding for the product they are blasting, they will often blast with the wrong media for the job in hand, by this we mean a very aggressive media such as steel / iron shot, and they will often blast at a very high pressure, this will remove the paint and rust very fast but may damage anything but the thickest parts and leave a very rough pitted finish which can be hard to cover smoothly with paint,

If blasting a vehicle body shell this sort of blasting can be devastating, often leaving panels such as floor pans, roof skins, doors bonnets etc. warped and damaged beyond repair.

Often companies are only really used to blasting big solid structures where speed is the key factor and the components are so solid they can't damage them, this is not the case with a vehicle body shell, even older vehicles are made or relatively thin steel which will distort easily if the company doing the blasting doesn't understand what they are doing.

Soda or not.

An awful lot of companies use the word soda in their title and promote "soda blasting" on their websites, however many of them if asked will admit that they don't use soda at all, it's expensive, slow and struggles to remove rust or under seal, and it's not as environmentally sound as some would have us believe, (it is quiet good at removing paint) but only paint, (it's worth asking them if they really do use soda when you speak to them) as most will use crushed glass.

Blasting it all or just some.

It is possible to successfully blast just parts of a body shell or any other object come to that, often companies will say it's NOT, this is only because they don't want to spend the time or effort masking, however we have successfully blasted part jobs for years when it's been required.

Steel Shot V Glass.

If a vehicle or any other object with closed box sections is blasted with steel shot you will find that any shot trapped in a box section or cavity will very soon start to rust, this really is the worst scenario as you are introducing rust into some of the hardest to remove places of your vehicle, and even cavity wax may not get through the shot to protect the steel,

However Glass bead caught in box sections won't rust like steel shot and doesn't tend to solidify like steel shot if it gets damp, it’s also much lighter and so easier to get out using air pressure or a vacuum , which all means if any bead is trapped wax protectant has a much better chance of penetrating through to the steel around it,

What we use.

We use recycled glass, it’s not harmful to the environment, it is just crushed glass that is ground down small enough for blasting, when it's useful life is over for us it's simply bagged up and sent off to be recycled.

What we don't offer.

chemical stripping, it can work out very expensive and there have been cases where chemical streaks have appeared in paint work.

Sand, a common term for media blasting is sand blasting, and many years ago sand was used, but today sand is no longer used, it is not a great blast media and can have some very unpleasant side effects for the person doing the blasting.

Commercial Grit blasting, Yes we have all seen the pictures of the car that was blasted by the guy with the huge commercial blaster who normally blasts steel structures such as bridges and building structures,, this is just like playing Russian roulette.

WHAT WE CAN OFFER YOU.

A quality service offered by experienced knowledgeable staff with over 20 years’ experience who care about the work in hand,

An indoor blast room big enough to accommodate transit van sized items and a cabinet for smaller more delicate items, the option to etch prime parts as soon as they are blasted.

The knowledge to use the correct media for the project in question, both in our blast room or blast cabinet,

The option to mask off part of any piece for a customer if required whether that be a thread, a bearing surface or part of a vehicle body shell, we have the understanding, patience and correct masking equipment.

The option of collection and delivery for large items such as chassis or body shells.

The knowledge and experience to know how to blast Steel, stainless steel, aluminium, bronze, copper, brass, wood, glass, and most plastics,

Please contact us for information and pricing
01959 565773
Info@dsengineering.co.uk