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Sound technical content, curated with aloha by
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Pine Beach, NJ

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Abrasive blasting to prepare aluminum for powder coating

I paint large sign structures and would like to switch from steel with solvent paints to aluminum structures and powder coat. I don't want to set up enormous dipping tanks or deal with the chemicals, can I use abrasive blasting as a surface preparation for aluminum and steel and powder coat immediately after blasting?

Tony Fischli
sign manufacturer - Inverell, NSW, Australia
2005

"abrasive Blasting Operations"
by NIOSH

on AbeBooks

or eBay or
Amazon

(affil links)

The enormous tanks and chemicals, to which you refer, are pretreatments that are required to get good adhesion and long life from painted aluminum.

If you are not ready to invest in the proper treatments, it is better to stay in steel and solvents. The best thing to do would be to find out the paybacks for switching. It may be worth it to switch to save money, and secure your future business, but there will be a learning curve, and and and investment.

Tom Pullizzi
Falls Township, Pennsylvania
2005

Abrasive blasting of aluminum with media that has been used on steel will then imbed fine steel particles in the soft aluminum. As the media gets dirty you will be pounding organic trash into the soft aluminum also.

Call in you favorite cleaner salesman and buy a non-foaming combination cleaning and phosphating compound containing molybdenum salts. Apply this compound thru a steam cleaner ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon [affil links] or a hot water spray machine.

Rinse with a water hose. The run off from the steam cleaning apron may be neutralized with swimming pool soda ash (sodium carbonate ⇦ this on eBay or Amazon] ), and put on the grass.

Robert H Probert
Robert H Probert Technical Services

Garner, North Carolina

2005

A. Hi. Robert may be correct that it is ecologically safe to put the neutralized waste on the grass. Further, it might be legal for a sign painter to do so (I don't know). But readers are cautioned that the EPA imposes "categorical" discharge standards on various industries; for example if you are an aluminum anodizing jobshop you most certainly are not allowed to do this because anodizing jobshops have categorical standards whereby all of their wastes are regulated.

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

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