How Does a Shot Blaster Work?

Learning how a shot blaster works will help you get the most out of your A95, A96, and A97. The fundamentals of shot blasting are universal, but the operator experience is leagues above the rest with National Flooring Equipment’s Apex Series of Shot Blasters.

Shot blasters work off of two main principles – rebound and suction. The blast wheel propels the shot at the hard concrete. The shot then bounces (or rebounds) back up. This momentum carries the shot partially, but not fully, through the machine. This is where the suction part of the equation takes over.

Once the shot rebounds part way up the machine, your paired dust collector will pull the shot the rest of the way. It’s important that you pair an appropriately rated dust collector with your shot blaster. With too much suction, your dust collector will pull still-usable shot out of your machine. Too little suction and your shot blaster will drop shot because there isn’t enough force pulling it through.

When the shot is pulled to the top of the machine, dust and small pieces of shot are sucked into the dust collector. Any pieces of shot intact enough to be cycled through will cascade down into the shot hopper. The shot will pass through a screen at the top of the shot hopper. This screen filters out things you may have picked up (e.g. cotter pins, nails, other small pieces of metal) to prevent damaging your machine.

In the image below, the blue arrow shows the travel path of the shot and the yellow arrow shows the travel path of the air.

Pair your A95 with a DL2000.

Pair your A96 and A97 with a DL3000 or DL4000P.

Learn more about pairing a dust collector with your shot blaster here.