Industrial finishing equipment manufacturer Guyson International has recently installed a second Formula 1600 blast cabinet, for surface finishing rapid prototypes, into Renishaw - one of the world’s leading ‘additive manufacturing technology’ manufacturers.

Both of these Guyson Formula blast finishing cabinets have been installed to enable their in-house R&D department to explore the potential that blast finishing can be used for to create desirable surface textures on their laser melted metallic prototypes. Prototypes created using a high powered ytterbium fibre laser to fuse fine metallic powders, together to form fully functional metal 3D parts. This state of the art additive manufacturing technology is widely employed in the manufacture of customised, high value components, such as medical implants and lightweight aerospace and motorsports parts.

The Guyson Formula blast cabinet range comprises four strong and durable steel cabinets, that are ideal for light industrial applications or when blasting is required on an intermittent basis. All use the industrial quality model 400 blast gun, which can be tailored to suit air supplies of between 8 and 16 CFM when blasting at 80 PSI.

Photo : Additive manufactured samples before (below) and after (above) blast finishing.

The Formula 1600 has a full height side opening door on the right hand side of the cabinet and has internal cabinet dimensions of W 1070mm x D 760mm x H 770mm; large enough to accommodate most prototypes. Blasting is controlled by foot pedal so leaving both hands free to manipulate part under the blast nozzle if it is held in the gun holder or with one hand to hold the gun and one hand to rotate the part if using the gun free hand. The F21 dust collector comes standard with this cabinet but if more regular or continuous blasting is required, then the optional F41 dust collector with a double size filtration area can be specified. All Formula blast cabinets have sealed gauntlet gloves, a protected toughened glass viewing window and a quick release media changeover facility; useful if a variety of different blast media is used.

Guyson’s range of Formula and Euroblast manual blast cabinets are used by many in the prototyping sector to deliver value adding surface profiles to the full range of metal and plastic prototypes. Blast finishing is used to remove surface striation lines; created during the SLS prototype building process, create a bright ‘as new’ surface finish for sintered products; typically associated with high quality metal goods and also provide a paint and coating receptive surface by removing the smooth shine off plastic prototypes and replacing it with a finely controlled textured surface that improves adhesion.

For further information about the range of Guyson blast cabinets available or to undertake free component trials on your prototypes please contact Guyson’s Customer Service Department on 01756 799911 or email info@guyson.co.uk