Steelblasting

When blasting with steel, either steel grit or steel shot is being used. Steel shot is produced when molten carbon steel is quenched in water. The steel “grains” thus formed are more or less rounded off. By breaking the larger grains steel grit is produced, with sharp edges. This grit can be used for abrasive blasting.

When abrasively blasting a surface the grit is projected onto the surface under a angle of 45 degrees, while for non abrasive blasting with shot (hammering the surface) an angle of 90 degrees is maintained. See also shotpeening.

Obviously the composition of shot and grit must be as closely as possible to the composition of the treated surface to avoid galvanic corrosion as a result of adhering some left overs at the surface after the treatment. This is the main reason for using also stainless steel grit (Grittal®) and shot (Chronital®) in those cases where the substrate is stainless. The product sheets show a comparison made with other shot/grit material.