Previous to any designs being sandblasted onto a monument, the front and back of a monument are typically polished. There are some limitations to this, such as when the back of a monument is rock pitched or not smooth. It is not necessary to Sand Blast sides of the monuments; it may or may not be polished, depending on the required effect. However, it is compulsory for any area on which a design or lettering is to be placed must first be polished. Polishing the granite gives a dark and shiny effect. The areas which are polished look much darker and shiny when compared to the area which is not polished. The granite being polished allows for a much higher contrast once designs and lettering are sandblasted into the surface.
The process used in engraving in granite removes the polished layer of the granite to reveal the unpolished granite below the polished surface. When sand blasting, the lettering and designs are firstly blasted to the same depth by a machine used. To sand blast a monument, it must be designed by a graphic designer firstly. The artist will use vector software such as Monucad to create a file containing the lettering and designs that will be sandblasted onto the headstone. Only simple lettering and designs often referred to as Line Art, can be sandblasted, as it is not possible to create small details using this method. Photos cannot be sandblasted.
In order to achieve the design and lettering required, they are first to cut into a rubber foil. This process can be done by hand or by machine (vector cutting). The design and lettering must then be picked from the back of the stencil so that sand can cut it in the sandblaster. The headstone is placed on the workbench and stencil filler is applied to the front surface. The mat is then placed on the front of the headstone and is held in place by the stencil filler. Then the granite stone which has to be engraved is then placed into the sand blasting cabinet, which will then fire the sand against all surfaces of the granite which are exposed and not covered by the rubber foil.
Once all the designs and lettering are at the same depth, the monument is removed from the cabinet. Now, a specialist shapes using abrasives air to give a smoother look to the lettering and to add additional detail to which the machine is not capable of doing it. Then the stencil is removed and the stone is cleaned to get the desired finished headstone. If an even higher level of contrast is desired, color can be added to the deepest areas of the designs and lettering.
We can sand blast any color of granite. Since, when sand blasting Cabinet white pearl granite that is the extremely light color of granite, it is necessary to add color to it in order to provide the design and lettering visible. This is because the polished and unpolished surfaces of such light color granite are so similar that’s why additional contrast color is required.
In this method of engraving on granite blasting on the granite stone is done in a closed chamber known as cabinet. Sand Blasting cabinet is beneficial as there is no freely moving dust that can harm the operator in any breathing disease. Even we can use the abrasive media (sand) by collecting it from the floor of the cabinet, thus it proves to be cost-efficient.
A portable sand blasting machine is used where blasting is done on different sites. Due to its portable nature, it is convenient to move from one place to another. In this, the operator needs to take all the safety measures while sand blasting on the granite stone to engrave on it.
Vacuum blasting machine is a portable type machine that suctions the dust particles and abrasive media for reuse of abrasives material. The dust particles and abrasive media are separated through a cyclonic process. It can sandblast and engrave on big granite stone also as it is portable in nature. It is a cost-efficient machine.
At first, a rubber foil must be created with the desired subject. This is placed on a clean stone and pressed on to it with slight moisture. Then the vacuum blasting is carried out with the vacuum blasting machine until all areas have reached the desired depth. After the blasting is done rubber foil is removed and the contrast is increased by using white paint.
It has many advantages, to create a photo engraving on granite with the vacuum blast machine. It is not necessary to place the object inside or outside a sand blasting cabinet. The area to be vacuum blasted can be of varying size and the rubber foil is not damaged during long and intense vacuum blasting.
With the help of the vacuum-blast machine, company logos can be engraved well on granite. That especially works directly on-site on a facade outdoors as well as inside. The company logo can be blasted at any size without barriers.
Letter engraving on granite can be achieved by all the methods. It can be used by companies, industries, in temples, in home decor, etc.
Shot Blaster is the leading manufacturer, supplier, and exporter of different types of sand blasting machine which is used for a variety of metals for cleaning, finishing, and smoothing. Also provide air blast equipment for precision surface finishing of all shapes and sizes.