A solid carbide tap straight off the grinder carries burrs on its flanks and reliefs, grinding residue on its surface and an unprepared cutting edge. Coat it like that and the coating struggles to bond.
Wet blasting deals with all three. Aluminium oxide abrasive suspended in water deburrs flanks and reliefs uniformly and degreases the tap in the same operation. It also hones the cutting edges to a defined radius. Unlike dry blasting, it leaves no static charge or embedded particles, so the tap arrives at PVD coating clean and reactive. Published research confirms wet blasting achieves HF1 adhesion, the top rating in the Rockwell C indentation test.
Why the Puma+ Vertical with satellites suits taps
- Holds up to 42 tools, 3mm to 25.4mm diameter, up to 300mm long
- Each tap rotates on its satellite whilst two blast nozzles travel its length at a recipe-defined speed, for even treatment tip to shank
- Z-axis speed and stroke are stored as recipes on the HMI, so the blast cycle repeats batch after batch
- A compact footprint that fits close to a wall or in a corner, with S-Tank filtration recirculating rinse water to help cut running costs
Watch the Puma+ Vertical in action
For tap manufacturers and regrinders, the Puma+ is a significant automated step up from manual finishing.
Send us your taps for a sample trial and our applications engineers will show you measured results.
Lean more about the applications and advantages of wet blasting for solid round tools
Learn more about the Vapromatt Puma+ Vertical automatic wet blasting machine
