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Sandblast stencil material options and opinions?

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Yes, it is a pressure-hold mixing valve. It works incredibly well and saves both time and media.

The main issue I ran into with other pressure-hold metering valves is that they are not suited for recycled media, which is usually fine and dusty. The Schmidt valves would bind up, and the Clemco valves were not really suited for precision flow control.

People usually joke about sandblasting not being rocket science, but it really is. It is 100% reliant upon fluid dynamics: from the moment a single grain of abrasive falls through the bottom of the pot, until it finally strikes a surface. Nozzle technology is a science all unto itself, as there are thousands of variations for every application under the sun.


JB
The military did a study with various mixing valves and settings and charted the media usage and productivity. If I ever run across it again, I'll send it. Proper media adjustment is a hard concept to teach employees and it really shouldnt be. They head straight for more is better. Same with painting, they crank the atomizing pressure way up like more noise equals better paint job.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
The military did a study with various mixing valves and settings and charted the media usage and productivity. If I ever run across it again, I'll send it. Proper media adjustment is a hard concept to teach employees and it really shouldnt be. They head straight for more is better. Same with painting, they crank the atomizing pressure way up like more noise equals better paint job.
Yes, there is a lot of really good scientific information out there. I especially like the article by Dr. Gary Settles and Stephen Geppert concerning nozzle geometry (link below). I can honestly say that I don't understand 99.9% of the math, but I definitely understand the concepts they're speaking of. I've adapted some of their theories to what I do, and I'm downright amazed by the results (hence, the cool-looking spider web stones in my prior post....they didn't just happen by accident).

In a prior article, Dr. Settles defines in no uncertain terms how rocket science directly applies to the physics of sandblasting. The article is heavy-laden with math, but he does such an excellent job of explaining the phenomena, that even a fifth-grader could understand.


JB


 
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Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
There is a blast forum on some contractor site. It's pretty dead and most everyone on there are idiots but you can run across some good info from time to time.
 

James Burke

Being a grandpa is more fun than working
There is a blast forum on some contractor site. It's pretty dead and most everyone on there are idiots but you can run across some good info from time to time.
Yep, I know the one you speak of. There are several on Facebook, but I've found those can be filled with unnecessary drama and posturing (they're more like an online pissing match).

Speaking of pissing contests, I was amazed by this article...and especially the accomplishments of the female record-holder!

JB

 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
Yep, I know the one you speak of. There are several on Facebook, but I've found those can be filled with unnecessary drama and posturing (they're more like an online pissing match).

Speaking of pissing contests, I was amazed by this article...and especially the accomplishments of the female record-holder!

JB

we had a customer in here the other day telling us about a beechnut tobacco spitting contest at a fair in W.Va. He said an older lady, 60-70s, stepped up at the end after all the guys were done, put a big wad of chew in her mouth and whooped them. He said she spit at least twice as far as anyone else. That there, is not marriage material.
 
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