After two years of development and testing A W Bell Machinery is proud to announce that their Water Blast Systems are now available for sale. The systems replace the need for knock off and at times other after cast processes such as shot blast and sand blast due to the high amount of shell removal during the water blasting process.
The Water Blast System comes in two model variants:- Manual (WBS500) and fully automatic and manual combination (WBS1000).
The WBS1000 is the “all in one” water blast system. The cabinet is has been designed with two compartments – automatic and manual. The automatic compartment needs only for the tree parameters to be programmed in, the start button pressed and the machine does the rest. All the motion is PLC controlled. Once this cycle is completed the tree can then be automatically transferred to the manual cabinet for the finishing touches. The manual motion is controlled by joystick, and whilst still providing amazing flexibility, the operator no longer needs to withstand the forces from the blast nozzle, greatly enhancing the ergonomics. Both blast chambers come complete with large viewing windows and rinse systems to allow for maximum visibility. Designed to run on one pump, the system allows for the manual and automatic cabinets to be run either simultaneously or individually. This means that while the automatic cycle is running, the manual chamber can be used to provide any finishing touches to clean more detailed areas of the casting, thereby reducing cycle times.
The WBS500 is a manual blast system only, essentially the WBS1000 minus the automatic chamber. This machine is well suited for job shop foundries, with the operator having complete control of the entire shell removal process.
Implementation of the WBS1000 in the A W Bell Pty Ltd foundry has seen a marked improvement in product flow with a more effective cleaning of castings before cutoff operations, at times completely eliminating further cleaning operations once the part is in piece form. The cleaning on one particular part has been reduced from 30 minutes in a sandblast cabinet to just 6 minutes in the manual chamber of the WBS1000. While the automatic chamber cleans the vast majority of production castings, the manual chamber has also been greatly utilised in the efficient cleaning of an increasing number of rapid prototype castings of irregular shape and size.
Improved safety has also been achieved, with the elimination of a knockoff cabinet and its associated dust as well as the replacement of an old waterblast system, previously providing the operator with little protection from the blast nozzle or its associated forces.
A W Bell Machinery also offers a range of ancillary equipment to complement the blast cabinets:-
- The drag type debris conveyor will transfer all the waste shell up into waste receptacle and can be designed to suit individual requirements for different types of waste bins.
- A W Bell Machinery’s pump of choice is a Gardner Denver 90Hp Pump. This is capable of pressures of up to 10,000 psi and 13 GPM. It provides fast loading and unloading of blast pressure which help keep the cycle times to a minimum. Unloading of the pump when not required can greatly reduce wear and energy costs associated with high pressure pumps.
- For Investment Casting facilities who are short of water resources the integration of a water filtration system provides an excellent solution to the reuse of the water after it has gone through the blast cabinets. After significant development with Ebbco Inc. A W Bell Machinery has been able to recycle 90% of the water used at their own installation.
One, two or all of these ancillary components can be supplied with the blast cabinets depending on customer requirements. In any case, the WBS500 and WBS1000 master control cabinets are equipped to provide a central control to all components, localising the safety circuits and ensuring any faults are immediately brought to the operator’s attention.
Learn more about the new range of Water Blast Systems and contact the sales distributors located in your region.
