"Blast off" is not a new term to this modern day "spaceman" who operates this seed blast gun at the General Electric Company's jet engine plant at Evendale, near here. Instead of using a deadly ray as in fiction stories, this operator uses a seed-like combination of rice hulls and ground walnut shells to blast off any surface dirt which might be on parts of General Electric J47 jet engines returns for overhaul after finishing their prescribed number of operating hours. Rice hulls and ground walnut shells are used instead of sand because the rice walnuts combination does not have a harsh abrasive action. The walnut shells furnish the cleaning element while the rice hulls provide a polishing action. The seed-blast gun nearly falls into the stranger than fiction category as the mixture blasts out the front of the gun at nearly 1,000 miles an hour. Over two tons of the mixture is blasted from the gun each week and is recovered for reuse. The operator wears protective clothing and his head is enclosed in an "air-conditioned "helmet. Air is sprayed downward from the top of the helmet to keep the operator comfortable in his "space suit"

General Electric Company1954-08-11