Blast cleaning, also known as abrasive blasting or shot blasting, is a surface preparation technique that uses high-velocity streams of abrasive media to remove contaminants and create a textured "key" for new coatings.
1. Structural Steelwork
Purpose: Primarily used to remove mill scale (a flaky oxide layer from manufacturing) and heavy rust.
Media: Hard, angular materials like steel grit are preferred to create a coarse "anchor profile" for high-build industrial paints and powder coatings.
Methods: Often performed in large blast rooms using compressed air or via centrifugal blast wheels in automated facilities for beams and pipes.
Standards: Cleanliness is typically measured against ISO 8501-1, ranging from Sa 1 (light) to Sa 3 (visually clean "white metal")
Vintage Cars
Purpose: Strips decades of old paint, body filler, and rust while reaching intricate crevices inaccessible to manual sanding.
Sandblasting contractors plant refers to the specialised heavy machinery and supporting systems used by professional contractors to perform abrasive blasting—a high-velocity cleaning and surface preparation technique. This "plant" typically ranges from portable mobile units for on-site work to permanent industrial facilities.
