Traditional methods of removing moulding deposits from precision mould tools often involve chemical soaking and brushing or dry blasting; however, both of these methods have problems.
Chemical soaking has operator safety, disposal and environmental considerations to address, it can also be a very time consuming process.
Dry blasting can be aggressive in its’ cleaning action, raising the possibility of damage to the mould tool - grease or oil on parts requiring dry blasting needs to be degreased or washed prior to blasting; dry blasting also creates environmental considerations due to dust created by the process.
The Vapormatt "Liquid Lapping" wet blasting process addresses the problems often encountered with traditional methods.
The environmentally friendly process is faster, the possibility of damage to the mould tool is removed; washing, scrubbing and debris removal is achieved in one process and heat can be retained in the mould, this will show benefits in decreased tooling downtime and increased tool life.
The process utilizes soft plastic granules, hot water and detergent, when mixed as a slurry, pumped to process nozzles, and accelerated with compressed air, an extremely effective cleaning action is achieved. By adjustment of the particle acceleration the cleaning action can be varied to cope with different levels of contamination.
The process has a wide range of options and may be as simple as a manually operated machine for low volume smaller mould tools or increase in size to a fully automated machine with multiple process nozzles manipulated by computer controlled oscillation for large mould tools.
For low quantity and capacity a number of manual machines can be used such as the Vapormatt Lynx wet blasting cabinet fitted with a load end, and a turntable mounted on a trolley, this enables loading of mould tools outside of the machine using the swing hoist, the loading capacity of the turntable on this machine is 600 kg UDL.
However, increasingly more companies are looking at automated and semi-automated wet blasting machines as a way to process larger mould tools, such companies include those in the medical and automotive industries.
To discuss your application or any questions feel free to contact us today.
