Vapour blasting is a non-destructive method of cleaning and is primarily used for polishing items commonly refurbished during car and motorcycle restoration and also industrial industries where items require peening or delicate items that could not withstand dry blasting (i.e we have completed items that require a light peen prior to specialist coatings).
If items are powder coated or have thick paint, this will have to be stripped prior to being vapour blasted, in order to prevent unnecessary time and labour required to remove coating in the unit.
Vapour blasting is suitable for Aluminium, bronze, magnesium, titanium, brass, copper etc. It gently cleans the surface without any damage to gasket faces etc. Like dry media blasting using a glass bead, vapour blasting will produce a satin finish, as the process involves gently peening the substrate surface, meaning that it helps to reduce the porosity.
Vapour blasting involves the media (glass bead/ceramics) being mixed with water to produce a slurry. The water offers a lubricant for the media and acts as a cushion, meaning that the items are not damaged whilst producing a high standard finish.
Steel items can also be vapour blasted, but a rust inhibitor must be applied/added into the slurry to ensure that there is no flash rust once removed from the unit.
All items can be degreased prior to being vapour blasted, but they should be stripped down to bare components before being blasted.
Note:
Although all items are cleaned out after blasting to remove as much media as possible, they should be cleaned again once they have fully dried off and prior to any assembly, to ensure all media/slurry is removed. Please note that this is the customer’s responsibility.
All items can be coated in ACF50 which was designed to protect aircraft from corrosion and will work for up to 12 months in the right environment if you do not plan on painting them.
