A Day in the Life of a Thermal Spray Technician
Many of the customers and people that we speak with have either a basic understanding of thermal spraying or have never heard about it. This dichotomy is most notable when speaking with potential new employees, so to help showcase the amazing work our thermal spray technicians do we want to take you through the typical day of our thermal spray technicians.
WHAT IS THERMAL SPRAYING
Before we show you what a typical day for our thermal spray technicians is like, it’s important to understand some of the basics of thermal spraying.
Thermal spraying is a term that we use to describe our repair processes at New Metal surfaces. Thermal spray coatings are created by accelerating small particles of heated metal or ceramic towards the work surface so that it mechanically deforms and bonds resulting in a dense coating.
Thermal spray coatings are used to improve or restore the surface of a component. Using thermal spray, we can apply coatings to a wide range of materials utilizing a wide range of material types. We can restore the dimensional accuracy of metallic parts and cost-effectively improve wear resistance, corrosion resistance, or thermal conductivity.
WHAT IS A THERMAL SPRAY TECHNICIAN?
A thermal spray technician is one of the people responsible for applying the thermal spray coatings that we so often talk about. They are one of the key pillars within our workshop, without them, we would simply be another highly skilled machine shop.
Thermal spray technicians are part of our spray shop. They work within a small team and operate our different thermal spray coating booths.
READING & INTERPRETING THE JOB CARD
To begin the day, our technicians read and interpret the job cards that they have for that day. The job card is the central document for our workshop – it contains all the information necessary to complete the job repairs to the customer's needs and satisfaction.
The job card will detail all the steps that are required for our workshop to complete the component repairs, from prep machining to spraying, to finish machining – everything is covered.
For the spray technicians, the job card details what thermal spray process is required, what part of the component is to be sprayed, what materials are required and, the amount of material needed to achieve the desired coating.
This step is vital to the thermal spray process, as it is the basis for understanding the needs of the customer, without this we will make mistakes and be required to begin the repair process from the beginning.
PREPPING THE COMPONENT
Once the spray technician understands the needs of the component repair, they will begin by prepping the component for grit blasting. Most of the components we spray are required to be grit blasted prior to the application of the thermal spray coating. This is to ensure that we are achieving the highest quality coating we can.
To prepare the component for grit blasting, our technicians will ‘mask’ the areas of the component not being sprayed to protect those areas from any damage. Once masked our technicians will grit blast the designated area, ready for it to be sprayed.
SETTING UP THE COMPONENT
Once the component has been grit-blasted, it is then ready for the technicians to prepare the component for spraying, this is done by painting the area that will not be sprayed with a specific paint that protects it from the thermal coating. They will then set the job up in the spray booth in either a lathe or on the rotator, depending on the type of component.
Once set up, the technician is then ready to program the robot to spray. Depending on the component, a program may already be available for use, or with the help of senior spray technicians a new program will be coded for the job.
APPLYING THE THERMAL SPRAY COATING
Now that the job is set up and the programming complete, the component is ready to be sprayed. Almost all our thermal spray coatings are completed robotically to create the safest working environment possible. This means that whilst the robot is spraying the component, the technicians will monitor the coating from outside the booth to ensure that the robot is applying the coating correctly.
After each program run, the spray technician will record different measurements to make sure that the spray process is progressing smoothly. This will usually be things like the component temperature, the coating thickness, and other important factors.
Once the coating is completed, the technician will do a final inspection and record the thickness of the coating on the job card, and input material data into our job management system.
The component is then ready to be moved through the workshop to the next step in its repair journey.
HOW TO BECOME A THERMAL SPRAY TECHNICIAN
Now that you know what a thermal spray technician does, how would someone become a thermal spray technician. Due to the relatively niche market, there are not many experienced thermal spray technicians, however for this reason they are extremely sought after by companies like us.
To start a career as a thermal spray technician there are no specific qualifications that are required. What we look for in our thermal spray technicians, are hard working individuals who can work well in a team, and who can apply critical thinking to solve any problem that may arise.
WE'RE READY
If becoming a thermal spray technician is something that interests you, or you would like to know more, get in touch with us – we would love to hear from you.
