Blasting Nylon 12GF

General Discussion
1

Greetings braintrust.

We have been using a Normfinish Solid Clean to tumbleblast our SLS printer Nylon 12GF parts.

However, some parts are difficult to blast due to the parts not tumbling properly so the blasting medium don´t reach everywhere.

So i need some inspiration on how to fix this issue.

How do you go about solving parts that don´t rotate in the tumbleblaster?

Thanks in advance.

/Andy

1 Like
2

Hi @Andreasemilsson - I can’t speak to your specific blaster, but from my experience with the Fuse Blast there are a few things you can try. It really depends on what the problem is with your part, but here’s some thoughts:

  1. Consider adding more parts to the tumbler. Challenging geometries can do better when there’s a few extra parts in the mix, to help them tumble properly, especially if you have some diverse geometries. Could even be worth it to keep a few spare parts on hand to throw in when needed.
  2. Conversely, if your tumbler is already full, consider reducing the # of parts and the build in batches.
  3. If the above doesn’t work, try adjusting the basket RPM. Changing the speed can expose the parts to the blast stream if they’re riding up in the basket.
  4. Worst case, adding part cages can help by making sure the part geometry doesn’t drive the tumbling behavior.

Like I mentioned, it really depends on what the current problem is, but give those a shot. I’m not 100% sure if the Solid Clean is a basket or belt architecture - if it’s a belt, the above unfortunately won’t be much help.

Good luck!

3

We have a two-man blaster and a Novastar Tumble blaster. for all the smaller PA12, PA12GB and tpu parts print on our HP 4200 MJf printers we will tumble them unless they can be damaged the bigger parts we blast by hand. An example is in this video we made of our process.

1 Like
4

it is indeed a basket tumbler. I´ll try your tips. very much appreciated. Thank you.

5

Anytime let me know if you ever need any other suggestions

1 Like