Along with our primary metal finishing services, Reid Metal Finishing also offers bead blasting. Bead blasting specifically utilizes glass, ceramic, or other beads of similar material, chosen by what best suits your component’s requirements, and creates a smooth, clean surface for further treatment.
A quick overview of bead blasting
Bead blasting is a lot like shot-blasting: both finishing services involve accelerating a jet of small particles at a prepared metal surface. As mentioned above, this usually involves small glass or ceramic beads, though other materials can be used. These particles impact the surface, leaving the substrate smoother, shinier, and cleaner. Depending on the particles chosen for the shot-blasting, the process can result in a smooth, satin finish, or a uniform ‘rough’ finish that can mask any minor surface imperfections. Also, bead blasting doesn’t affect the base color of the component, leaving it with a much brighter finish than other types of shot blasting.
The metals best served by bead blast include aluminum, steel, and similar metals that can be found in a variety of industries. Automotive and aerospace components benefit from bead blasting prior to painting. Medical components also benefit from the clean, contaminant-free finish given by bead blasting.
Benefits
Bead blasting is often an excellent initial treatment to electroplating, painting, and anodizing, offering a consistent, matte finish that simplifies all of these services and makes them more efficient. Bead blasting also promotes a component’s lifetime and improves its performance.
Precise application of bead blasting also serves as an excellent way to remove contaminants from components before further treatment. Using this particular process, we can remove various pollutants from the component’s surface, even rust, and we can do so without affecting the geometry. Even detailed designs and delicate parts will not be affected by bead blasting.
Contact Us
Reid Metal Finishing has always been ready to tackle challenges related to metal treatment that improves performance and reduces cost and risk for our clients. Bead blasting is among the many different metal treatment services we offer. Contact Reid Metal Finishing today and inquire about bead blasting or our other services!