engraving & Sandblasting

[Noah Grant]

I am doing sandblasting and now with my new laser, will be doing engraving. It is recommended to have the laser away from the sandblasting process due to it affecting the lens motherboards etc. Univesal recommends that its nowhere near this type of application. Those that have both, how far do you have them separated? In different rooms? I have a commercial spot and need to decide if I should build a separate room for the laser? I have printing equip etc so space is limited so I need some opinions??

[Dave Sheldrake]

Dust + Laser = not good if you can possibly avoid it, do so.

My cutting rooms and spindle moulders are in a different part of the building (mostly due to Uk legal requirements) but having anything that throws abrasive dust around near a machine with precision bearings is never a good idea.

cheers

Dave

[Mike Null]

I wouldn't have a sandblaster anywhere close to my laser or printing equipment. I would have a separate room for the sandblaster.

[Joe Pelonio]

When I was in this situation, before buying the laser I moved to a space with part warehouse where I could do the sandblasting and also wood cutting. Since I had a sign business it was also handy for vehicle lettering on the rainy days.

[Nicolas Silva]

It's good advise all the way around - but I don't buy it.
Many of us are engraving Delrin, stone, Corian - all of which create a very fine abrasive dust. It is not a problem.
Why? Because the air exhaust draws it out. So even if dust sources on the outside somehow make it in it gets drawn out.
The tubes are sealed so that's not a worry either. My machine went 12 years before I finally replaced the belt and bearings
and of that the last 6 years was a 9-5 engraving situation.

I would still follow the advise because while I think it would be fine I also don't believe in taking chances. Cheers!

[Mike Null]

Nicolas

Not intending to be argumentative but if you haven't worked with 180 grit silicone carbide or even worse aluminum oxide it is messy stuff and can destroy bearings, belts etc plus contaminate toner cartridges, rollers etc. What you are exhausting is the residue from laser engraving and within a sealed system. Unless you have a fairly high priced sandblasting system the dust collection is not that great, not to mention all the dust remaining on the blasted objects when removed from the cabinet.

In my case I have discontinued sand blasting and will either sell or give away my equipment--either way it is going.

[Joe Pelonio]

Nicolas

Not intending to be argumentative but if you haven't worked with 180 grit silicone carbide or even worse aluminum oxide it is messy stuff and can destroy bearings, belts etc plus contaminate toner cartridges, rollers etc. What you are exhausting is the residue from laser engraving and within a sealed system. Unless you have a fairly high priced sandblasting system the dust collection is not that great, not to mention all the dust remaining on the blasted objects when removed from the cabinet.

In my case I have discontinued sand blasting and will either sell or give away my equipment--either way it is going.
Agreed, and will add the problem of what abrasives can do to glass mirrors and lenses. In lasers like mine, the cooling/exhaust fans are sucking room air through the electronics as well as the moving parts and optics.

[John Bion]

I have this problem; I have two lasers in the same workshop as my sandblasting unit. The sandblaster has a large extraction unit mounted outside which is very efficient, however as other posters have mentioned, there is always dust left on the product when you take it out of the cabinet and (especially with wood) requires blowing off. There is also the matter of filling/re-filling the pressure pot and the dust created at this point. You cannot believe how that fine (fine) dust escapes and settles over everything and over a wide area. I am having to re-think my machine layout (not simple).
Corian does indeed produce a fine dust that appears to be abrasive on the machine rails of the lasers, (the colour change of the grease is testimony enough) however this is contained within the lasers and either extracted or removed physicaly off the machine bed, however, that said, there is no way that the corian dust is anywhere near as abrasive as the sandblast dust. The sandblast dust is not contained and is therefore sucked into the laser’s systems. If you were to try wipe mirrors etc with sandblast dust on them, there is no doubt they will be scratched, not forgetting that the sandblast dust is very fine and you would hardly notice the potential scratch danger.
If you can, think this issue through before you have installed your new sandblast system - I did not anticipate just how fine that dust was and that even a good extraction facility would not cover all bases.
Kind Regards, John

[Brian Leavitt]

At our shop, the blasting cabinet is in a room by itself, to keep the dust contained. Ours has a good dust extractor on it as well, but there is still dust escaping when the pieces are taken out (as others have said) and when we have to empty the media from the bottom of the cabinet to put back in the pressure pot. The room is a good 100 feet away from where the lasers are.