Tumble Blasting Guide
Tumble blasting removes hard-to-get-at flash and burrs. Finishing small parts with recesses or blind- or cross-holes can pose problems. Tumble blasting can do the job consistently and economically.
How can you remove flash and burrs located in part areas that are inaccessible to tumbling and vibratory media? Many jobs can be deflashed and deburred by sandblasting. Small particle size can penetrate restricted areas, but doing this in large volume has often been a problem in the past. Systems with conveyors are expensive to build and require many blast guns, consuming large volumes of compressed air. “Wheel machines,” which sling the grit at parts, are even more expensive to purchase and operate.
Kramer Industries has devised a tumble-blasting machine that can finish large volumes of small parts consistently and economically.
The Benefits of Tumble Blasting
- Random tumbling action provided by a slowly rotating screen basket presents all reachable part areas to a steady stream of media blasted by compressed air from a single gun.
- The basket rotates at only 2 RPM to avoid damaging delicate parts. Even die-cast parts with external threads can be finished without peening the threads.
- Variable blast pressure, blast media and cycle time provide consistent results for a wide range of jobs.
- Part finishing is thorough. Drill burrs from intersecting holes and flashed-over holes as small as .010 inch in diameter can be removed. In addition, surfaces can be easily texturized to produce a more appealing surface finish.
- While cycle times vary, experience has shown that most jobs can be done in about a 20-minute cycle. The addition of an extra blast gun can be provided for very stubborn flash.
Kramer Tumble Blasters
Presently, five tumble-blasting machine models are available:
Click on a tumble-blasting machine model number for more information
- A bench unit for lab work or miniature parts, 1 quart capacity for loads up to 8 lbs, the TB-1
- A 0.5 cubic foot capacity for loads up to 50 lbs, the TB-1412
- A 1.0 cubic foot capacity for loads up to 150 lbs, the TB-2424
- A 2 cubic foot capacity machine for loads up to 80 lbs, the TB-2
- A 3 cubic foot model that can handle 150 lb loads, the TB-3
Stated capacities are the actual volume of parts each unit can hold.