Long Answer: The three most popular materials used today for blast nozzles are Tungsten Carbide, Boron Carbide, and Silicon Carbide. Boron Carbide nozzles are the hardest of the three, followed by Silicon Carbide, and then by Tungsten Carbide. Hardness is necessary to order to withstand the wear and tear that the blast nozzle liner will be exposed to by the abrasive used.
However, the greater the hardness, the more brittle the material. This is why Boron Carbide nozzles need to be handled with care. When we ship B4C blast nozzles, we use a lot of packaging material to ensure safe transit. Never drop, throw, pound, or abuse a boron carbide nozzle or you will destroy it. (Just because boron carbide is the hardest material you can buy, does not mean it is not brittle.)
Schematic Drawing of a Venturi Nozzle
You see up until the mid 1950’s, all sandblasting nozzles were straight bore. They had a tapered converging entry, a parallel throat section, and a full length straight bore and straight exit. Over time, blast operators noticed that as the interior of these nozzles began to wear and erode away, a larger and more efficient blast pattern resulted. This observation led to the development of the venturi design.
A long venturi nozzle is characterized by having a long tapered converging entry, with a short flat straight section, followed by a long diverging end which widens as you reach the exit end of the nozzle. A long converging entry introduces the air and abrasive mix into the nozzle, then is constricted into a short flat straight section, and then forced out the flared exit end. Venturi nozzles can increase productivity by as much as 70% due to the larger abrasive pattern that results as well as due to the increase in velocity of the abrasive as it exits the nozzle. In fact, velocity (outlet speed) of the exiting abrasive can be nearly double that of a straight bore nozzle, and this is force that cleans a surface faster!
So if you are in the market looking to upgrade your operation, perhaps changing to a venturi nozzle might be a good place to start. More on that later…
Silicon Carbide Sandblasting Media
Having trouble finding a triple graded, Boron Carbide Sapphire Polishing Powder? Or a very coarse Brown Fused Aluminum Oxide for anti-skid applications? We offer the full line of ANSI & FEPA sandblasting media and powders, not just the most popular sizes!
Now offering a full line of Made-In-The-USA Sandblasting Nozzles, in both Boron Carbide and Tunsten Carbide.
If your order is 200 lbs or less, we encourage you to simply order online. For orders over 200 lbs, please use our Request A Quote form, so we can provide a custom freight quote as well as wholesale pricing.
Most of our abrasives can be ordered online in small quantities, or ordered offline via a wholesale account.
