Bring your blasting in-house

When it comes to blasting work many people choose to either outsource their work or else do it themselves either outside or in a building with no media recovery. Most are unaware that thanks to technological advances in the surface preparation industry, it is now possible to have your own blast room which will ultimately save you time and money as well as being a much safer way of working.

Blast rooms come in many shapes and sizes but it’s not always necessary to specify a custom modular blast room. If you want to keep costs down, a containerized blast room provides a transportable and economical solution that allows you to bring your blasting in-house quickly and easily. As their name would suggest, containerized blast rooms are made from converted shipping containers which are rugged, weatherproof and available in a range of sizes, making it very simple to convert them into self-contained blast rooms.

Trade coater, Midland Paint & Powder, has recently taken advantage of this cost effective solution. The company serves a number of industry sectors including fabrications, machine manufacturing, transport, marine, stage rigging and industrial doors. They originally offered sub-contract paint and powder work, specialising in large products and structures, but as the business grew, their customers started looking for more complex paint systems requiring a shot-blasting elements. Instead of outsourcing the blasting work, Midland decided to bring the blasting work in-house by installing their own blast room.

After consultations with Airblast Eurospray, they determined that a containerized blast room would be the perfect solution for them as it is one of the most cost-effective ways of creating a mid-size blast room. This type of facility would also offer them a media recovery and reclamation system making it much more efficient and cost effective than blasting outside or in a non-purpose built room, as the abrasive is recovered ready to be re-used. Midland decided to go with a 40ft by 9.6ft x 8ft container comprising a blast pot with a deadman system and water separator, a Thompson II valve and abrasive shut down capability, a monorail loading systems, a media recovery and reclamation system, dust arrestor and breathing filter. Airblast also provided Midland with all the personal protection equipment that would be required for operators to use the booth safely and comfortably.

The containerized unit was delivered to Midland Paint & Powder in September and took approximately a week to complete. Airblast provided support to ensure that Midland operators were properly trained to use the equipment and were entirely comfortable with how everything worked. The facility is now up and running and Midland are reaping the benefits of having their own blasting facility which allows them to fulfil all their customer’s demands.

Airblast containerized blast rooms are now also available in North America from www.airblastafc.com – a joint venture between Airblast and AFC Finishing Systems.