Scrape off, and blow away, stubborn debris with the Model 1244-48 Soft Grip Super Air Scraper.
EXAIR has designed a new type of nozzle called the Super Air Scraper. This nozzle combines a scraping blade with our 2” Flat Super Air Nozzle. Together, it creates a mechanical force with an air force to remove stubborn sticky material. This patent-pending nozzle can be added to the EXAIR Soft Grip Air Gun to create a powerful scraping tool.
Model 1144 Super Scraper Nozzle
Let’s breakdown the nozzle. The Super Air Scraper nozzle is a model 1144 which has a ¼” NPT female connection. The model 1144-A includes a ¾ – 32 UN adaptor for connecting to the Soft Grip Safety Air Gun extensions. The scraper can be changed when worn with a replacement blade; model 902007. To add flexibility to the Super Air Scraper, a shim set, model 1132SS, can be used to modify the blowing force. With these combinations, the nozzle complements the scraper as an effective way to clean with compressed air.
Soft Grip Super Air Scraper
To control the pressurized air to the nozzle, EXAIR attached the 1144-A Super Air Scraper to the Soft Grip Safety Air Gun, model 1244. This gives a comfortable and ergonomic way to use and operate this product. We offer different extensions for hard-to-reach applications ranging from 6” (152mm) to 72” (1,829mm) in length. With the extensions that are 36” (914mm) and longer, EXAIR installed an additional foam grip sleeve. This gives additional leverage for scraping material at a distance like at the floor level. Chip Shields are also offered to prevent blow-back onto the operator. You can view the details of the new product at this link on our website: Soft Grip Super Air Scraper.
To give some ideas for applications, the Soft Grip Super Air Scraper can be used for removing tape, gasket material, caulk, adhesive, paint, labels, and more. With the addition of air, the detached material is blown away during scraping, keeping the area clean to target the remaining “stuck” material. If gummy or flaky substances are a nuisance for workers, the Soft Grip Super Air Scraper can keep the machine or work station clean and operational.
Just like all cataloged items for EXAIR, we stock these parts for same day shipment with orders placed before 2 p.m. EST. For U.S. and Canadian customers, we offer a 30-day unconditional guarantee to see how great this product can work for your application. If you have sticky, flakey, or greasy substances that need to be removed, the Soft Grip Safety Air Scraper is up to the challenge. If you have any questions about the product or your “gummy” situation, you can contact an Application Engineer for help.
If you look at operating costs alone, compressed air can be just about the most inefficient method there is for cleaning parts. If you just look at the risks, it’s potentially very dangerous too. Don’t even get me started on the insufferable noise it can make.
For cleaning parts, most folks are familiar with the use of an air gun. You can find the simplest of these in many industrial settings: a valve (often in the form of a handheld trigger device) fitted with a nozzle of some sort (often in the form of an open ended tube, pipe, or fitting to focus or direct the air flow). These have all three of the “downsides” I opened this blog with. Of course, these concerns can be mitigated to a high degree by using the right tool for the job. That’s where engineered products like EXAIR Safety Air Guns come in. Let’s look at how we can address these three “downsides”:
Efficiency: This is all about compressed air consumption. In the simplest of air guns mentioned above, consumption is only limited by the passages in the valve (or trigger) and the discharge fitting…and those limits are usually negligible. Modifying the ends (see examples below) to focus the air flow usually has minimal effect, because you’re not appreciably changing the total cross sectional area of the discharge opening:
Here are a few modified thumb trigger air guns that were sent in for Efficiency Lab testing. Left to right, compressed air consumption at 80psig supply pressure was 34.2 SCFM, 30.9 SCFM, and 28.2 SCFM. For comparison (more on this later,) EXAIR Model 1210 Soft Grip Safety Air Gun uses only 14 SCFM and generates a very similar flow pattern.
Safety: Remember learning about kinetic and potential energy in grade school? Well, when you compress air to 100psig, fitting all that air into a much smaller space creates a TREMENDOUS amount of potential energy:
The block on the left represents a cubic foot of air at atmospheric pressure. The one on the right represents how much space the first one takes up when compressed to 100psig. The energy imparted by this process HAS to be handled with care.
One problem with the thumb guns above is, if you were to jam into the palm of your hand and pull the trigger, a large component of that potential energy (pressure) turns into kinetic energy (force)…more than enough to break the skin and cause a potentially fatal condition known as an air embolism. In the United States, OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) regulates compressed air devices used for cleaning purposes. All EXAIR Safety Air Guns comply with Standard 1910.242(b) by providing a relief path to ensure that it cannot be dead ended, and thus never create over 30psi measurable at the outlet)
EXAIR Super Air Nozzles cannot be dead ended, ensuring the outlet pressure won’t reach OSHA limits, regardless of supply pressure.
Noise: Another problem is, another component is turned into sound pressure…discharging air from a direct opening is quite loud. OSHA standards address these with limitations on outlet pressure and sound level. All EXAIR Safety Air Guns comply with Standard 1910.242(b), which limits the outlet pressure (by providing a relief path to ensure that it cannot be dead ended, and thus never create over 30psi measurable at the outlet) and all but our largest Super Blast Safety Air Guns comply with Standard 1910.95(a) limits for continuous 8 hour sound level exposure.
Which brings us to the topic of this blog: How exactly did THEY (our customer who used to use the thumb guns above) select the right Safety Air Gun, and how can we apply that to getting the right Safety Air Gun for YOU?
These steps aren’t all-inclusive, and they don’t necessarily need to be followed in order, but if you call an EXAIR Application Engineer about selecting a Safety Air Gun, here’s what we’re gonna talk about:
Ergonomics: We offer five distinctive styles of Safety Air Guns:
From small part cleaning by hand, to wide area blowoff, and all points in between, EXAIR has a Safety Air Gun for most any application.
Our thumb gun user (as I alluded to above) chose the Model 1210 Soft Grip Safety Air Guns (top right). They had a number of typical industrial applications where the operators had the parts or surfaces to be blown off right in front of them. They liked the integral storage hook and rubberized hand grip, but the VariBlast Compact (top middle) or Heavy Duty Safety Air Guns (bottom left) were also considered. The VariBlast Precision (top left) and Super Blast Safety Air Guns (bottom right) were too focused or more powerful, respectively, than needed.
Airflow pattern: Honestly, I could make a good case for this being the first consideration. Selection of any blowoff product – be it an Air Nozzle, Air Amplifier, Air Knife, Air Wipe, etc., will largely depend on the size and shape of the airflow.
variety of airflow patterns…and effective distances…are available from EXAIR’s comprehensive line of Super Air Nozzle products.
For the most precise, focused blowoff, our Atto Super Air Nozzle (top left) is a great choice. It’s available on:
Super Air Nozzle Clusters (bottom left) create higher force & flow, and still keep it in a more concentrated, tighter pattern. They can be installed on:
When stubborn, heavy, and/or LOTS of debris needs to be absolutely, positively blown off RIGHT NOW, our High Force Super Air Nozzles may be just what you need. Our largest; Model 1120 1-1/4 NPT Super Air Nozzle, is shown (above right). The High Force Super Air Nozzles are offered on:
Soft Grip or Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun (up to 3.3 pounds of force over a 6.3″ wide area @12″ away)
Application specific concerns: Everything we’ve discussed so far has involved aiming the blow off stream away from the operator, in the direction the device is aimed. In addition to wide variety of engineered Air Nozzles, EXAIR offers a number of options for these products:
If you’re looking for a portable, hand-held compressed air blow off product that’s quiet, safe, and efficient, look no further than EXAIR Corporation’s extensive line of Safety Air Guns. If you’d like to find out more, give me a call.
Russ Bowman, CCASS
Application Engineer EXAIR Corporation Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
Compressed air has many different uses ranging from simple cooling and blow off applications all the way to operating machine cylinders and robotics. One of the most common uses is for simple cleaning; whether its cleaning off a work station or blowing off personnel it can’t be denied that air powered cleaning is very useful. But if the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) regulations are not followed it can also be unsafe.
Open-ended blow offs can inadvertently be dead ended (the airflow outlet can be completely blocked), when this happens if the pressure is to high an air embolism can form in an individuals bloodstream. Blowing something off with air can result in airborne particulate traveling at a high velocity that can become embedded into your skin or in your eye.
With all that being said this is where the safety air guns step into the spotlight! It’s pretty easy to make a safety air gun that complies with the dead-end pressure regulation; just give the air another path to take when the outlet is blocked. The most common solution found is a cross drilled nozzle which allows the air to escape when the end is blocked. Generally the problem with this design is that the nozzles can be very loud and inefficient. In most cases these nozzles have paid attention to the dead end problem but ignored the noise level exposure safety issue and completely ignored compressed air efficiency.
With EXAIR’s Super Air Nozzles you get both the added benefit of being safe, quiet and efficient. Our engineered designed air nozzles are commonly installed onto a Soft Grip Safety Air Gun to make an ergonomic, safe, and quiet Safety Air Gun. These can also have a Chip Shield added to help prevent particles from flying back and hitting the user. The Soft Grip Safety Air Gun can also be coupled with a pipe extension from 6” to 72”; you can also add one of our Stay Set Hoses 6” in length to 36”.
Soft Grip Safety Air Gun with Stay Set Hose. eg. 1210-6SSH
Here are a few examples of the Soft Grip Safety Air Guns in our product line:
Cleaning out the inside diameters of tube, pipe, channel, blind holes, etc., has never been easier than the Soft Grip Back Blow Safety Air Guns. You can get it with the 1004SS or the 1006SS Back Blow Nozzles.
Cody Biehle Application Engineer EXAIR Corporation Visit us on the Web Follow me on Twitter Like us on Facebook
Safety is a key part of our culture at EXAIR Corporation. We have regularly scheduled, all-hands required, safety training on a number of topics. Our Order Entry team can likely tell you as much about our lockout/tagout procedures as our Machinists can. Nobody even thinks about entering The Shop without safety glasses, and it’s not just because of the signs.
We pay attention to these…
…so we don’t ever have to use this.
OSHA 1910.242(b) states that “Compressed air shall not be used for cleaning purposes except where reduced to less than 30 p.s.i. and then only with effective chip guardingand personal protective equipment.“ (emphasis mine) All EXAIR Intelligent Compressed Air Products are engineered to meet the requirements of the first part (30psi outlet pressure to prevent dead ending…we’ve written about that numerous times, including here, here, and here) and we can also provide pre-installed devices to satisfy the second part: the EXAIR Chip Shield.
Any EXAIR VariBlast or Heavy Duty Safety Air Gun can come fitted with a Chip Shield, and any Soft Grip Safety Air Gun, except for those with Stay Set Hoses, can as well. Safety Air Guns with Back Blow Nozzles automatically come with a Chip Shield. The principle is simple: a clear polycarbonate (so you can still see what you’re doing) round disc slips over a short (or long if you want) pipe extension between the gun & the nozzle. It’s fitted with a rubber grommet so you can position it to where it’s most effective – sometimes that might be closer to the part being blown off; sometimes it may be back a little closer to the operator.
EXAIR Safety Air Guns are available, from stock, with Chip Shields.
If you already have an air gun that’s doing the job, you can easily add an EXAIR Chip Shield to it. They’re made to fit a wide range of extension diameters, and can even come with the extension if you need it. We also stock a number of adapter fittings; if you know what threads your air gun has (or if you can send us some photos) we can quickly & easily spec those out for you.
Convenient and inexpensive “thumb guns” with cross drilled nozzles (left) are compliant with the first part of OSHA 1910.242(b). Fitting one with an EXAIR Chip Shield (center) makes it compliant with the second part. A Model 1102 Mini Super Air Nozzle (right) makes it quiet & efficient.
We can provide a Chip Shield for most any device with a threaded fitting. I couldn’t find a way to re-use the non-OSHA-compliant nozzle that came with this gun (thank goodness.)
Another example of a larger air gun fitted with a more powerful cross drill nozzle (left) that can be made totally OSHA compliant with an EXAIR Chip Shield (center.) An EXAIR High Force Super Air Nozzle (right) keeps the power, while reducing noise level and compressed air consumption (right.)
Since 1983, EXAIR Corporation has been manufacturing quiet, safe, and efficient compressed air products for industry (emphasis mine.) If you have concerns or questions about safety in regard to your compressed air use, call me.
Russ Bowman
Application Engineer
EXAIR Corporation
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