Over the past weekend, I had the honor of visiting a local MakerSpace. These types of places are what my dreams are made of. The one we toured had a full metal and woodworking shop as well as a separate area for 3D printing, sewing, standard printing, electronics, and even laser engraving/cutting. Every workstation has an electrical drop and a compressed air drop coming from the ceiling as the area can be used for any number of projects.
Handheld air guns are something that you can find in nearly any and all manufacturing facilities that have compressed air within them. Suppose they are not at every operator station because the machines don’t require compressed air. In that case, they are generally found at the very least within the maintenance department, where they continually keep the facility functioning and may be the only ones in the facility with compressed air.
Handheld blowguns like the one shown above are easily overlooked when it comes to operator safety and energy savings. Often, the cheapest gun possible is also the most costly regarding ownership and operation. These are just a few of the reasons EXAIR designed the VariBlast Precision Safety Air Gun.
The ergonomic design fits well in any sized hand and the long trigger makes for easy pull and variation in the amount of air being used. The integrated loop allows the tool to easily hang on a tether or hook near an operator station, while the optional Chip Shield adds additional protection for the operator and can be adjusted to any location along the extension. Effective chip guarding is a portion of the OSHA standard for dead-end pressure. Lastly, the extension pipe is offered in three different lengths: 6″, 12″, or 20″ overall length. Each one of these components is also field replaceable in the event one becomes damaged. That means it’s not disposable like the other guns on the market.
Three different Super Air Nozzle models are available at the end of the extension in two separate materials. You can purchase the Atto, Pico, or Nano Super Air Nozzle in either stainless steel or PEEK thermoplastic for more sensitive applications. These nozzles coupled with our engineered valve design permit the user to vary the amount of air coming out of the gun by pulling the trigger to a higher flow or pulling it slightly and letting less volume of air through.
If you want to discuss whether your current air gun meets or exceeds OSHA standards and how much air it may use versus what an EXAIR VariBlast Precision can do for you, please contact an Application Engineer today.
Brian Farno, MBA – CCASS Application Engineer
BrianFarno@EXAIR.com
@EXAIR_BF
