Shot or sand blasting is a method used to clean, strengthen (peening), de-scaling, de-burring, de-rusting, de-sanding or cleaning and paint removal in any form that uses metal, including aerospace, automotive, construction, foundry, shipbuilding, railways and many others.

Shot blast machines are self-destructive. Though, they are designed to prevent wear, the same high energy blast wheel that propels the steel shot to clean parts, is unfortunately, also the same high energy that wears out the equipment. Most of its components such as, bearings, gear reducers, pulleys, sprockets, etc. are the same parts used in most industrial machinery and require the same maintenance.

The constant internal bombardment of steel shot and dusting created during the process differs a shot blaster from other industrial machines. This aggressive environment can become very detrimental to the machine without a meticulous and diligent operator and maintenance attention.

Technologies
Wheel blasting
Wheel blasting directly converts electric motor energy into kinetic abrasive energy by rotating turbine wheel. The capacity of each wheel goes from approximately 60 kg per minutes up to 1,200 kg per minute. With these scales of accelerated abrasive, wheel blast machines are used where big parts or large area of parts have to be cleaned.

Air blasting
Air blasting machines can take form of a blast room or a blast cabinet, the blast media is pneumatically accelerated by compressed air and projects by nozzles onto the component.

A special application, a media-water mix can be used; this is called wet-blasting. The blasting task determines the choice of the abrasive media; in most cases any type of dry or free running abrasive media can be used.

Air blast media include abrasive sand, various slag abrasives, glass bead, green diamond, aluminium oxide, agricultural grits, and soda.

Challenges faced by OEMs
•  Operation related issues:
•  High maintenance cost
•  Frequent machine break-downs
•  Reduced capacities with passing time
•  Increased operating cost
•  Quality oriented issues:
•  Poor quality control
•  Improper blast patterns
•  Improper jigs or hanger designs
•  Poor media selection
•  Poor control or blast-intensity
•  Safety hazards:
•  Poor dust collector maintenance: fire hazards
•  Un-skilled labour: negligence towards safety precautions
•  Business:
•  Financial losses: high cost of operations
•  Man hour losses: increased man-hours apportion for maintenance and operations
•  Energy losses: power wastage
•  Deviation from core competency.

Shop services
VJ Meta Shiners job work shop is equipped with:
•  Shot blast chamber: 7m * 7m *5m
•  Shot blast chamber: 5m * 6m * 5m
•  Sand blast room: 15m * 15m * 5m
•  Compressors: 40 hp  – 5
•  Compressors: 60 hp – 3
•  Over head crane: 15 tonnes
•  Over head crane: 10 tonnes
•  Paint booth: 15m * 15m * 5m
•  Powder coating booth: 5m*5m*5m.

With an experience of more than two decades in the industry, VJ Meta Shiners has developed its expertise in the field of surface preparation and finishing through both the models of mobile work shop for turnkey projects, job-work stations or shops and on-site process handling for production units. It has well equipped and trained teams, supporting the value chains of its clients. Through its modular approach to undertake the processes at the production units and project sites, it has helped its clients achieve seamless and efficient work processes.