Buying a Vapor Blaster: How Much Does It Cost?
If you want a new vapor blaster but don’t have much money to spend, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll look into what factors come into play when deciding what vapor blaster to buy and whether your budget is big or small.
We’ll also look at how much it costs to buy a vapor blaster so you can make an informed decision about what’s best for your budget. Here’s our extensive guide to buying a vapor blaster and how much it costs.
What is Vapor Blasting?
Vapor blasting is a new method of cleaning surfaces developed in the 60’s specifically for the aerospace industry. When using a vapor blaster, the cleaning happens when mixing water and abrasive specifically for your application and propelling the mixture at the parts surface. This helps remove the dirt and grime from the surface and or preps the part for a coating.
The term “vapor blasting” describes the process of mixing water and abrasive together and shooting it at a part surface. The amazing and efficient process that’s created is a revolutionary and multifaceted one that eliminates dust and reduces the use of harmful chemicals.
Vapor Blasting Techniques
There are many different techniques that vapor blaster companies can use to clean a surface. The cleaning solution’s effectiveness is a crucial factor, as is the technique used to apply it. When the correct abrasive mixture is used, vapor blasting can remove dirt from a surface; de burr machined parts, and prep for the most exotic coating.
The machinery can damage different types of materials if the operator applied the wrong kind of cleaning agent. Materials prone to this include cement, brickwork, and vinyl siding. This makes it very important for homeowners to get their vapor blasting done by professionals in using vapor blasting techniques.
It is cheaper for businesses to buy a machine providing someone available to maintain and operate the device without outsourcing the work. Here are some examples of the different types of blasting.
Water Vapor Blasting
Suppose you want to remove grime and dirt from your surface without using any chemicals. In that case, a water vapor blaster is ideal. Businesses can use water vapor blasters for both commercial and domestic purposes because they’re so versatile. No matter whether you need a small machine or a large machine, make sure you have space for the vapor blasting system.
Vapor blasters are useful for cleaning an array of materials including plastics, rubber, metals etc. Most people have always cleaned parts with either a parts washing system or a sandblast cabinet.
Using a parts washer and cleaning detergents is still the most common cleaning method. Adding a vapor blaster speeds up the process. It uses pressurized water mixed with abrasive to get rid of the soil. It is faster than anything else on the market today, which isn’t surprising since the machines are so new.
Sodium Bicarbonate Blasting
Suppose you need to remove paint, rust, grease, or other oily substances from engine parts etc. without impacting the substrate.
In that case, sodium bicarbonate blasting has been one of the best methods to use. You’ll find that vapor blasting with sodium bicarbonate is particularly useful when the control of dust is necessary. Even the reuse of the blasting medium is also needed. Businesses can buy sodium bicarbonate in powder form specifically designed for blasting.
Vapor blasting with sodium bicarbonate removes dirt from a surface faster than anything else on the market today. Sodium bicarbonate allows cleaning on any textured surface, it’s mostly used in the automotive industry for grease and contamination removal.
Why Not Sandblasting?
Businesses often choose to sandblast due to the limited amounts of knowledge of other blasting processes. Sandblasting has been around for many years removing rust, grease, and coatings from surfaces.
Sandblasting is very dusty comparing to vapor blasting. It is also the oldest method of cleaning parts. Sandblasting is used in the construction industry to removes grime. Recent innovations have made the process cheaper and more productive than ever before. There’s one reason why we’d recommend hiring a pro for sandblasting rather than buying your own machine.
Sandblasting has more abrasive and if used in the wrong context, can cause damage as well as proving much costlier. Thus for budgeting purposes, it’s advised to stick to vapor blasting wherever possible to cut damage with a similar effect.
Factors That Affect the Price of a Vapor Blasting Machine
Aside from the unit’s price, there are also several other factors to consider when determining how much it will cost to buy a vapor blasting machine. These include the power available at your location; the air compressor needed for the machine and how big the machine needs to be to blast your parts.
Here are some of the main ones you should think about:
Number of Accessories
Machines come with the basic necessities to start blasting. But, if you’re planning on using the vapor blaster all the time or for extended periods, you may need more features. The more features you get with your vapor blasting system, the higher the price will be.
Downtime or Repair Cost
Even machines that are well maintained can break down early due to normal wear and tear. This factor is especially true if they operate often or for long periods.
Suppose you’re planning on using your vapor blasting machine often. In that case, you should think about any extra costs that may come up from repairs or replacing critical parts over time. When buying a machine from Vapor Honing Technologies all of your replacement parts will be covered under warranty with the exception of wear and tear items which we have listed for you on our warranty page.
Power Supply
You’ll need the correct power supply for your specific shop or plant location since these vary from location and even country. We are capable of building to suit your voltage needed just let us know how we need to fit your machine.
Light Duty VS. Industrial
Vapor blasting machines come in all shapes and sizes, you will need to determine what your specific use will be. Will your need be full production or hobby work?
Machines to fit your needs will be priced accordingly to your application and of course the various features they have. Normally higher production machines will be fitted with the max available features to offer a fully functional and capable machine.
Manual and Automatic Machines
One of the key factors in budgeting for the cost is using an automatic blaster or manual blaster. In both cases, the system will need an air compressor, but controlling them involves very different methods.
Manual Vapor Blaster
A manual vapor blasting system relies on the user controlling the variables, such as the temperature and air pressure for blasting. The stored water heats up using a unique heating device and transferred to the nozzle. Further, it requires the operator to be more proactive in making sure the machine works the most efficient.
This method reduces the machine’s price since the machine build is more straightforward and has fewer electrical parts to malfunction. Since the operator handles controlling the machine itself there is a bit of art. Still, it is much more effective than traditional methods such as parts washing or sandblasting.
Automatic Vapor Blaster
Automatic vapor blasting systems have grown in popularity due to the ease with which they operate. These systems are like that of a cnc machine. It relies on the user setting specific parameters before starting.
The machine will then control all the variables, which means that you can be doing other jobs while your cleaners blast onto any surface. The automatic system will run itself until you cancel the cleaning cycle or the cycle is complete.
Automatic systems come in a variety of setups and can be changed to fit your individual needs. For example one might need robotics to control the blasting guns while another might need a machine such as our gladiator or titan machine in which you load parts onto a rotating turntable and hit the cycle start button to blast the parts automatically.
Manual Vs. Automatic Vapor Blaster
Although automatic systems are more suited for larger cleaning projects, there’s no need for an expensive machine when it comes to manual vapor blasters for small jobs.
Using a simple approach with a manual system will get you where you need to be to effectively blast and prep your parts in a quick and easy manner.
Buying Your Own Vapor Blasting Machine
If you’re only going to need your machine once in a while (for example, if it’s one set of parts that need to be processed), then hiring someone could be a good idea. You can usually hire a machine from a local company, but if you want to save money, then you’ll find that buying your blaster is the best option.
A larger vapor machine is more appropriate if you are going to use your vapor blaster often. In general, the more powerful device is, the faster it works and the more capabilities you have.
You should also ensure that the machine comes with a good warranty so that if anything goes wrong, you won’t have to pay too much to fix or replace it. A warranty or lifetime warranty also indicates that the machine is well built and reliable.
Conclusions
You should have the information you need after reading this article to buy or hire an effective vapor blaster or company. With the right machine, and process in place cleaning will be easy for you without spending a lot of money or time.
