Prezioso Linjebygg

Testing of the RUST EX certified grinder at Kollsnes.

On Wednesday July 6th we were presented to, and received training in the use of the RUST grinder by Sapeg here at Kollsnes. As agreed, we were asked to test the RUST machine for various jobs with various operators and the commission is now completed. The result is as expected; everyone were sceptical to the new machine, but after having used it for a day, the feedback was very positive. They claim to be able to de certain jobs 50% faster with the RUST grinder compared to the Bristle Blaster and angle grinder with flap disc (3M).

In the end of July, we started a grinding job on the exterior of a tank at Kollsnes. For this job, we originally wanted to use sand blasting with covering, local masking as well as approval of covering/masking from Statoil's operator, a procedure we know from experience consumes a lot of time and that normally results in requirement for extra masking. In addition, there is a requirement for cleaning both before and after the job. For this job, we had estimated a a total number of hours in the area 25-30 hours.

This time, the corroded surfaces were subjected to the RUST machine and painted. When using the RUST machine, there was no need to spend time on covering and masking. The cleaning after the grinding job was completed in about an hour. This was admittedly a job that suited the machine well and this shows what is possible if you have this equipment available. The job took us in total 11 hours. We did not need to replace the grinding disk during the work and there was no visible wear on the disk after the job was done.

The tank is 3 meters in diameter and we were commissioned to grind about 1 meter from the bottom and up adding up to about 5 meters. There was also a silicone/rubber coating on the lower part of the tank (about 15 cm wide) that had to be removed before we were able to apply Stopag. This coating was too soft to be sand blasted or to use the Bristle Blaster. The operators used RUST to grind away the coating (see image on page 2). The operators said they were also very pleased with the tool even for this application.

My opinion with reference to RUST is that we can use this machine and that it will help us to carry out small and medium sized jobs in a quicker and better manner, and with better quality than with grinding and use of flap disk and Bristle Blaster.

Thor Inge Olsen
Construction Manager Kollsnes/Sture
Prezioso Linjebygg AS