Protective film for your sandblast cabinet. What do you use?

[Tom2]

I bought the HF stand up blast cabinet last winter. I've finally used up all of the protective films that came with the unit. They don't last long, but are super easy to take off and apply when needed.

Tractor Supply sells protective film..but it's not the right size. Plus it's $10 for a 5 pack..Kinda pricey for as fast as I burn through them.


I ended up just ordering them through that Harbor Freight parts line. They were $1 a piece. At least we assumed you only got 1 for $1. The description didn't really say much, and the call center guy was no help. I went ahead and ordered 15 for the big glass, and 10 for the light (they tend to last longer).

That should last me for a while..Hopefully they come with more than 1 per $1. Then I'll end up with a zillion of them...


Anyways, it'll be a couple weeks before they arrive - so I need something temporary for the mean time.. I've got some saran wrap I may try..but it'll probably be a pain, and not stay in place, etc.. Of course I could pull the plexi glass out, then wrap it..but thats a lot of work for something that has to be reapplied constantly.

What works for you?

 

[rsanter]

I have the same piece if lexan as the window of my blast cabinet for the past 10 years or so.
I have it protected by a window screen.
I picked the window screen up as a trash pile pickup
and figured I would give it a shot.
I reduced the size of the screen to what I needed and installed it using 2'' bolts with spacers so it stands off from the lexan a bit

bob

 

[Tom2]

Surprised I didn't get more responses. Would like to do some blasting this week.

 

[rsanter]

how about clear shelf paper

bob

 

[Tom2]

Haven't seen the stuff.. Guess a trip to HD is in order.

What's frustrating - is that through this process I'll find a better, more effective way of doing this versus the HF stuff I just ordered. Although, maybe I can still cancel the order if I figure out something quickly enough.

Some fairly thick clear plastic, and double sided tape is all it should take. I can spend a couple hours every few months cutting out pieces to the right size and applying the tape. Then they'll all be ready to go when the time comes.

 

[dkroth]

I use these from Eastwood. They're a plastic sheet with two sided tape as you describe in your previous post. They're much more expensive than $1 per sheet, especially when you add in shipping. OTOH, I get hours and hours of blasting from each sheet (how fun is that?). Judicious use of the nozzle keeps the sand off the screen as well, prolonging life:

http://www.eastwood.com/abrasive-bl...-pack-of-4-1160.html?reltype=2&parent_id=1287

 

[bimmer1980]

why not upgrade the lexan to glass? That would last a lot longer, I would think......

Otherwise, I have just used saran wrap on the lens of my sandblasting helmet......

 

[Tom2]

Using glass bead, they last fairly long.
But, when using black diamond with my pressure blaster hooked into the cabinet - they go bad real fast. I get tired of squinting trying to see through it..Then when I repalce it, I'm amazed at how much better I can see! lol

Even using the protective film, I'll probably need to replace the plexi glass eventually. Maybe after another year or so depending how much blasting I do. Shouldnt be too expensive though.

I think I'll also put a layer of the protective film on the outside. Because dust still gets on the outside - and when it's wiped off, it likely lightly scratches the glass. At leas the outside protective film would outlast several inside pieces, so not something to change often.

 

[tcianci]

I have a **** Blat cabinet from TP tools I have been using the liners that they sell but I usually get them at Carlisle or Hershey so I don't pay the shipping. The dust on the outside certainly can scratch the plexi so I wipe it gently with a wet paper towel, seems to scratch less. I may try the window screen idea, maybe that and a piece of real glass will last a long time.

 

[69supercj]

Grainger also sells the window liners.

 

[Aberdale]

I also have the Skat Blast cabinet. After using up the protective liners that came with the cabinet, I just quit using them and use the glass only. I bought 10 pieces of 1/4" plate glass from a local glass shop, and just replace the glass when it gets too foggy to see. The plate glass was roughly the same price as the protective liners. It takes about 5 minutes to replace the glass, and I typically get around 50-60 hours of blast time using sand as a medium before the glass gets fogged up.

Dale

 

[DIC]

Same here ....Glass with a few spares, They last a long time........

 

[Nosferatu]

Grainger has them

 

[Tantara]

I use Plexiglas duct taped to the window seems to work I don't know I might be spending too much.

Brad

 

[Bender78]

Same here ....Glass with a few spares, They last a long time........

X3 here for me too. Takes me less than 5 minutes to change out the glass, replacement piece is about 5 bucks.

 

[T56 Impala]

I have the HF bench top cabinet. The one they don't sell anymore. After a few modifications (Vacuum port and a REAL light) it works great.

As mentioned, using glass beads, the sheets seem to last longer. I ran through 6 sheets when I used "sand" in mine. It simply tears the sheets up. I also ended up damaging the Lexan window and had to replace it. Not hard to do and not too expensive either, but I wouldn't want to do it many times a year.

I changed back over to Glass beads and bought the sheets from Northern Tools. Seems like they were around $10 for a sleeve of 10. I haven't changed it in months and can see just fine. (Their bench top is a plastic version of the "good" HF one I have.)

 

[Tom2]

I dont think we have a Northern Tool or Grainger around here (that I know of).

At least it looks like HF has shipped my order (which is pretty fast). So hopefully it'll get here in a few days. They used Fedex..which can be pretty slow sometimes.

 

[BillK]

Aim the nozzle away from the glass ?????? We have had the same glass in our glass bead cabinet at the shop for at least 3 years and it probably runs a good 3 hours each and every day. I have had the cabinet for the entire 23 years I have been in business and I bet the glass has been changed less than 5 times. We had a customer with a glass shop make us a few extras out of tempered glass, but they are still sitting behind the machine in a box.

 

[DGC15]

I use window screen over the lens in my sandblast helmet that I use with my pressure pot.
It saves the lens. It does make it darker ( like sun glasses), so I try to blast in the sun.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I bought my blast cabinet from Summit. I've changed the liner once, still have a few left.

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I get some thick clear flexable material at the store where my wife buy fabric. Joans cheap stuff sold by the yard. ED

 

[polo2k]

Apart from blasting away from the glass there might be another way to save the glass. Its been a while since I last used a blast cabinet but from what I remember, most of what hits the glass is ricochets. What about making an air curtain out of a piece of brake pipe, crimped at one end, 1/4" regulator on one end and a line of 1mm holes along its length. you could then tap into the air supply and regulate how much curtain you have with the regulator.
This would hopefully blow the media away from the glass before it impacted.

 

[Tom2]

Aim the nozzle away from the glass ?????? We have had the same glass in our glass bead cabinet at the shop for at least 3 years and it probably runs a good 3 hours each and every day. I have had the cabinet for the entire 23 years I have been in business and I bet the glass has been changed less than 5 times. We had a customer with a glass shop make us a few extras out of tempered glass, but they are still sitting behind the machine in a box.

Obviously, I'm not aiming at the glass. The glass itself may hold up well to the blasting debris..but the liners certainly do not. The dust just sticks to it like a magnet..If you try to wipe it off, it deteriorates the liner even worse.

With my pressure pot hooked to the cabinet, using something sooty like black diamond - much dirtier than glass bead (and having a vacuum hooked to the cabinet) - I would say a liner lasts less than an hour before it gets really tough to see through. With using a syphon gun and glass bead..It may last a few hours or so.
I guess I could just quit using the liners..And simply replace the glass each time it goes bad..but I'd be a little nervous to risk that.

 

[Boiler]

Try getting a piece of tempered glass to fit it and try it with the replacement. Just in case it messes it up you could test it with the replacement instead of the original. Most you'll be out is the cost of one piece of glass.

 

[fred_dot_u]

Even though this thread has been quiet for a while, I'd like to add something that may be of value. I don't own a sandblaster cabinet, but am lucky enough to use my friend's shop two-man box. He was lamenting the cost of the window liners and I simply accepted the fact as a cost of operating.

A few days later, I had a thought bubble explode inside my alleged mind. Gorilla Glass. Car and Driver magazine noted in a road test article that the manufacturer of a particularly exotic sports car had replaced the rear window with GG to save weight.

Gorilla Glass stick-ons are available for cell phones and tablets and are often a generic product, avoiding the big brand name fees in the process. It's easily located on eBay as 9H tempered glass for cell phones/tablets.

I found an iPhone 6 stick-on for less than five bucks on sale and gave it to my friend last week. He had applied a clean window film and then stuck this to the film. The first few days of use, three hours or so per day were unremarkable, other than the fact that he would have pulled the film two times by then. Just today, I stopped in and checked out the stick-on.

For being 1/4mm thick (0.001 inches), it's held up pretty well. The glass surface is lightly frosted and slightly pitted, but the transparency remains quite good. One focuses one's eyes beyond the pitting and it doesn't really interfere with seeing the workpiece.

The first and second photos show the contrast between through-the-stick-on and the week-old film, while photo three is directly through the film and photo four is through the stick-on only. The item inside the cabinet is an inverted storage box with the grid of reinforcement mostly loaded with collected blasting sand. The pitting is clear in photos one through three, but photo four has the camera focused on the work area and the pitting "vanishes." The result in real life is identical.

I'd expect the stick-on would not have to be replaced for a couple of weeks total use, three hours blasting per day. Tablet sized stick-ons are available at a bit higher price, ten to eleven dollars, if a larger view-port is needed. The film is effectively useless around the stick-on and I suggested to my friend to clean the stick-on, peel it off and apply it to new film to see how much life it has remaining.

 

[senlow]

No film or liners for me. I have had the same piece of tempered glass in my blaster for a few years. It's quick and easy to replace when needed. The local glass shop cuts them out for just a few dollars. I use glass beads almost exclusively. If I were using aluminum oxide or other aggressive media, I would consider a liner.

 

[Jeff Ivers]

I go to the local craft supply house and buy a very thick clear vinyl sold by the yard that is used to protect tablecloths. A yard of this stuff goes for like $6 and provides enough material to keep me in business for about a year.

 

[flyingw]

I had a piece of glass cut for my pressure cabinet window. So far so good. I need to do that for my little syphon cabinet.

 

[fred_dot_u]

No film or liners for me. I have had the same piece of tempered glass in my blaster for a few years. It's quick and easy to replace when needed. The local glass shop cuts them out for just a few dollars. I use glass beads almost exclusively. If I were using aluminum oxide or other aggressive media, I would consider a liner.

Tempered glass will explode when cut with standard methods. Do they use a special process to cut the pieces you purchase? The local glass shop to me says they won't touch tempered unless it can be ordered in exactly the size I request.

 

[senlow]

Tempered glass will explode when cut with standard methods. Do they use a special process to cut the pieces you purchase? The local glass shop to me says they won't touch tempered unless it can be ordered in exactly the size I request.

I have no idea how they do it. I just place an order, and pick it up a few days later.

 

[rpcraft]

Kind of reviving an old thread here but seeing as its been 5 years maybe someone has stumbled on a new way and not thought to post up. I was thinking of trying some of the 3m Ventureshield, which is the clear vinyl they use for the clear bra cutouts on high end cars (and for those that want to add it to any car too I guess). Just a thought. Fishing for idea's. I'm using the black diamond media and tired of the sticky shields which last about 10 minutes until they get static cling from the dust....

 

[22george]

bought a roll of clear vinyl table cloth, cut to size and duct taped on. Then covered that with screen wire. has worked well so far.

 

[rpcraft]

bought a roll of clear vinyl table cloth, cut to size and duct taped on. Then covered that with screen wire. has worked well so far.

Do you know what the mesh on the screen wire was or was it just generic metal screen for doors and windows?

 

[runner1]

I use clear acetate purchased by the roll from a craft store. I stick the edges down with duct tape.

 

[rpcraft]

I use clear acetate purchased by the roll from a craft store. I stick the edges down with duct tape.

Just curious how long it lasts (like as in hours of blasting)?

 

[Falcon67]

I still have the crappy lexan window in my HF blast cab, never used any of the protectors. That's maybe 7 years? It needs replacement - but only because the OUTSIDE got scuffed up somehow. Go figure.

 

[22george]

Do you know what the mesh on the screen wire was or was it just generic metal screen for doors and windows?

Generic for windows and screen doors

 

[txvwnut]

I get mine from TP Tools, they are also a member of the GJ.

 

[isb cornbinder]

I have a MODUBLAST 24-28. I buy the protective covers at https://www.manusabrasive.com/ This where I bought the cabinet.
MADE IN CANADA

 

[rpcraft]

I did some research in other areas and was able to figure out the mesh #40 of the stainless screen barrier is what is recomended. My solution is going to be a bit home brew based on that info but when I get it installed and tested I'll post some feedback. I don't blast every day but when I do it's usually a lot at one time because I am away for work on the weekdays and blasting and coating stuff on the weekends in the home shop I am going to use a combo of tempered glass and the stainless #40 mesh screen as a barrier about 1/4 to 3/8 from the glass and from what I have been told that should do a good job of protecting the glass and doing away with the stupid mylar tear away protectors. The only other thing I am going to do is add a couple of bright LED's in each forward corner of the box and one at chest height right between the gloves because the screen will dim the view some and make it hard to tell shadows from unblasted areas. Hopefully I get good results. Thanks for some of the info!!