Olivine

A natural mineral abrasive which contains no free silica, Olivine is particularly good for many light blasting applications.

Garnet

A hard, durable, low-dusting natural mineral abrasive which is capable of achieving high coverage rates. It has a superior cleaning rate – up to twice the performance of conventional expendable abrasives. Garnet is ideally suited for surface preparation in the fabrication industry.

Steel Shot

Steel shot is made from high carbon steel which is tempered to give durability and resistance to fracture. It is used to achieve a standard of SA 2½ – SA3 (white metal appearance) and is excellent in the removal of all millscale, rust and paint.

Expendable

An expendable synthetic mineral abrasive which is widely favoured for open nozzle blasting applications by virtue of its fast rates.

Glass Bead

Blasting with glass beads, as opposed to other abrasives, can be used safely for texturing or producing attractive cosmetic finishes, without damaging the base material.

We have utilised all these methods during 40 years of expertise.

Blast Cleaning

Shotblasting is a means of cleaning steel structures by blowing an abrasive media against the steel using compressed air, or mechanical means to propel the grit.

Some of the common materials used for blasting are, steel grit, steel shots, expendable, glass beads (bead blasting), olivine and garnet.

ISO 8501-1 is the standard that covers blast cleaning, hand flame and acid cleaning. The chart below represents some of the various grades.

Our expert Blasters are equipped to achieve any of these finishes.

STANDARD

Sa 1, SSPC-SP7

Sa 2, SSPC-SP6

Sa 2½, SSPC-SP10

Sa 3, SSPC – SP5

St 2, SSPC SP–2 SSPC SP-3

St 3, SSPC – SP2 SSPC – SP 3

F1 SSPC-SP42

SSPC-SP1

METHOD

Blast Cleaning

Hand or Powertool

Flame

Solvent Cleaning

Description of finish

Poorly adhering millscale, rust and old paint and foreign matter are removed. Well adhered contaminants remain

Most of the millscale rust and paint etc are removed and any remaining is very well adhered

Millscale, rust, paint and foreign matter is removed completely. Any remaining traces are visible only as slight stains or discolouration in the form of spots or stripes

All millscale, rust etc is removed and the surface has a uniform white metal appearance with no shading, stripes, spots of discoloration

Poorly adhering rust, millscale etc are removed, leaving surface contamination that is well adhered

As for St 2, but the surface now exhibits a metallic sheen arising from the metal substrate

Almost all millscale, rust and other surface contamination is removed leaving only a metallic sheen, but some discoloration due to shading left by remaining contaminants

Solvent cleaning is a method for removing all visible oil, grease, soil, drawing and cutting compounds, and other soluble contaminants from steel surfaces

“Davidson’s Blast Services (DBS) are supportive and provided an excellent service, with fast turnaround to enable JBS Group achieve customer deadlines.”
JBS GROUP (SCOTLAND LTD)