Primary Maintenance Procedures for Sandcarving Equipment

Follow these procedures to keep your machine running at peak performance.

Cleaning the dust collection filter(s)

Most cabinets in this industry have attached dust collectors that use either bag filtration or cartridge filtration. Bags are usually cleaned manually, whereas cartridge filters can be cleaned with either pneumatic reverse pulse technology or pneumatic vibration (cleaned with the push of a button). The more frequent the filter is cleaned, the cleaner the cabinet.

Changing the nozzle when worn

Every sandcarving cabinet has a nozzle attached to a hose. Most production nozzles are made of either tungsten carbide or boron carbide. These nozzles start with a certain dimension hole, and as substrates are sandcarved, the hole will get larger over time. The larger the hole, the more frictional heat on the part that is being blasted. Frictional heat combined with the pressurized grit is what sandcarves the substrate. Too much frictional heat can cause a loss of detail during blasting. When the hole in the nozzle gets too large, it is time to change it.