Sand Blast Cabinet Light

[denis4x4]

I have the generic Chinese sand blasting cabinet that has miserable lighting. Even with a shop vac hooked up, you see can't see squat. Walking through Ikea last month, I spotted an LED fixture with three pinpoint lights that can be adjusted for $39.95. Since it's designed for a ceiling or wall fixture, I had to wire a plug. A $10 magnet made it easy to install and as the guy said, "Let there be light".

 

[Shadowdog500]

Cool!!

Looks great!

My old dee-blast uses a 200w bulb in it. You can't have enough light in a blast cabinet.

Chris

 

[Beemer533]

Very stylish for a blasting cabinet!

I would highly recommend putting the splice in a junction box though..

 

[alan camby]

I would be surprised if that lasted for a long time.

I use Flood lights with the thick glass ends in a cheap cast aluminum flood light fixture. I seem to get 10 to 20 hours out of the bulbs. I can only get a minute or two out of a standard incandescent before the media eats though the thin glass and no I don't aim at the bulbs.

Good luck.

 

[Shadowdog500]

I would be surprised if that lasted for a long time.

I use Flood lights with the thick glass ends in a cheap cast aluminum flood light fixture. I seem to get 10 to 20 hours out of the bulbs. I can only get a minute or two out of a standard incandescent before the media eats though the thin glass and no I don't aim at the bulbs.

Good luck.

Where do you have your bulbs?

My dee-blast has a 200w bulb on the left rear lid and I don't have a problem. Trick is to not aim the blast gun in that general direction.

Chris

 

[alan camby]

Mine is on the top to the far left. My door is on the right.

I think the problem is the media bouncing off of the work piece. Like I mentioned, I don't aim at the light. I have never worn though the glass on a flood. The vibrations of using the cabinet takes its toll on the filament.

 

[toplessHO]

Ive had a 500W halogen(think portable work light) for years.
Yes its got a pretty frosty lens now,but I can see what Im doing

 

[Shadowdog500]

Ive had a 500W halogen(think portable work light) for years.
Yes its got a pretty frosty lens now,but I can see what Im doing

The new 500w halogen work lights would probably be great in a blast cabinet?

Chris

 

[Norcal]

Ive had a 500W halogen(think portable work light) for years.
Yes its got a pretty frosty lens now,but I can see what Im doing

Dual purpose bead blaster / oven? Halogens do put out a lot of light but heat is a undesired side effect.

 

[Cyberbear]

I used a simple 18" under kitchen wall cabinet light. Cheap and provides all the light I need, but a shop vacuum is a must, along with a suitable intake vent to keep from sucking out the blast media and only the dust.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

Has anyone tried any LED strip lighting?

 

[e36jon]

An unsolicited plug for Cree screw-in / Edison base LED bulbs from Home Depot: They have what feels like silicone coating the lens, for safety(?). I bought a couple for my back yard lights and was surprised when I unpacked them. Might be the hot tip for a blast cabinet. They were the high CRI versions and 100 watt equivalent (19W).

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

Well I just ordered 16.5 feet of LED and the transformer for~$20. It's worth it to me to see if this works in my sandblast cabinet.

 

[Falcon67]

Has anyone tried any LED strip lighting?

I would but I'm too cheap to pay that much for the blast cab. I'm thinking about a couple of old school bulb sockets and some LED bulbs from Sams that come in a 4 pack.

 

[Fishplate]

Has anyone tried any LED strip lighting?

I bought some flexible LED strips - the kind that come on a reel - and some 1/2" clear plastic tubing. The idea is to make lights that I can run all over the inside.

Haven't done it yet, though. Too many projects...and right now I have one of those GE Stick Lights (fluorescent) that is "good enough".

 

[metalmagpie]

Visibility is key in a small blasting cabinet. I currently use a small halogen but am considering fitting a row of LEDs along the top. I have an older small HF cabinet, the bench type. I just finished modifying its viewport. The old viewport was a crappy wavy piece of plastic. I took that off and threw it away, and cut a piece of 18 gauge sheet metal to go over the opening. I cut a rectangular hole in it and welded some retainer rails around it so I can slide a double-strength piece of glass in. To keep the glass from frosting up, I go to my neighborhood Tap Plastics store and have them shear me up some polycarbonate sheets. I tape a sheet to the inside of the piece of glass before I slide it in. The shop vac I hook to the back creates slight negative pressure which holds the glass firmly in place (I hope). Before I did this mod, the front panel (made of very thin sheet metal) was very wavy and distorted. Riveting this stiff plate all around flattened it out and made it feel solid. In the picture below you can clearly see the small halogen light hanging down.

metalmagpie

 

[PCO6]

I have tried various types of lights in my cabinet. I've settled on a pair of halogen flood lights and am quite happy with them.

View media item 38071

 

[James E]

LED strips are a good idea, I'll have to try that. Still, I think a fixture of some type is a must. I have an external box with a cheap swivel fixture in the upper left corner of my cabinet and I can aim the light somewhat for different jobs.

 

[RandyL]

I have tried various types of lights in my cabinet. I've settled on a pair of halogen flood lights and am quite happy with them.

View media item 38071

I like those...

I threw out the little light that came with my cabinet and bought a pair of Harbor Freight driving lights and mounted them much as yours are.

They are 55W H3 bulbs and light things up nicely. I got by for right at 10 bucks and got to stay with 12volt system. I didn't want high voltage in the cabinet...just me.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

LED lighting strips or 18" under cabinet lighting will work, but you will need to protect them. A simple acrylic or Plexiglas shield will do the job nicely. Don't worry about modifying your cabinet, it's yours! Make it what you want it to be.

For me, I need replacement gloves, and I'm tempted to just get a bigger unit as the bench top unit tends to have pickup problems for the media at the bottom of the unit.

 

[rburke65]

My blast cabinet from TP Tool came with a standard flood lamp and I have since added another in the opposite front corner.