What material should blasting and jetting nozzles be made from?

Jeff: I manufacture a number of parts from silicon carbide, by reaction joining. Custom components are reaction bonded together. I have a number of carborundum nozzles that have ~3/8 choke point.

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Ed. note: Sorry, we discuss technical issues here, but this is a no-registration-required website, and we do not help with commercial sourcing for a bunch of reasons -- including the fact that we're drowning under spam, and in a number of cases suppliers have posted responses pretending to be satisfied customers :-)

A. Danny,

Let me introduce myself. My name is Joe and I am a process engineer in a company named UNISEM in Malaysia, and I work in metal finishing department (or you can call it plating). My line had a copper etching machine, or normally we call it "back etching machine" and the designation is same as you say about it.

Can I know what chemical you use to etch the copper?

A. Hello Danny,

I'm now student at British Malaysian Institute. I'm kind of interested about your etching machine project. Can you help me on how to design the machine because I'm planning to build it for my final year project. What material to use?
TQ

A. I CAN'T GIVE YOU SPECIFIC DETAILS, BUT IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT THE BEST SOURCE OF INFORMATION FOR YOUR PROBLEM IS TO START WITH THE NOZZLES. THE BEST INFORMATION I GOT WAS CONSULTING PEOPLE WHO DESIGN AND MANUFACTURE STAINLESS STEEL NOZZLES FOR THIS PURPOSE.

SINCE YOU KNOW THE PRESSURE YOU WANT TO USE AND BILLET SIZE YOU ARE DEALING WITH THEY CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE NUMBER AND SPACING OF NOZZLES NEEDED TO ACCOMPLISH THIS. THIS ALSO GIVES YOU THE BASIS FOR THE FLOW RATE OF WATER REQUIRED. YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SIZE YOUR WATER PUMPS AND WATER SOURCE. IF YOU ARE PUMPING HIGH PRESSURE WATER LONG DISTANCES BETWEEN THE PUMP AND DESCALING RING YOU WILL NEED TO LAYOUT YOUR PIPING RUNS TO MINIMIZE SHARP BENDS WHICH CAUSE YOUR PIPING TO VIBRATE SEVERELY. THERE ARE ANTI-HAMMERING DEVICES YOU CAN PUT IN LINE TO MINIMIZE THIS.

A. Hi Vishal. No metal will offer the abrasion resistance of ceramic nozzles or inserts, but nozzles can and are made of all metals including stainless steel. I don't think there is a best answer based on water pressure and flow; rather, I think you need to look at what kind of application you are speaking of and what track record various materials have in that application.

For example, do the nozzles periodically clog in this application and, if so, what is the cleaning method and chemistry? A first guess based on general experience in other applications is no match for years of specific experience in the actual application -- what material do your competitors make their nozzles from? Good luck.

Regards,