Plywood Sand Blasting Cabinet

I made mine earlier this year. Modeled it in Solid-Works and made prints for all the pieces. I used 1/2" plywood with 2x2 ribs and a foot pedal kit from TP Tools. Inside is about 46x28 Wide x25 tall. Every rib was glued and screwed then all the seams were caulked twice. No leaks at all. I lined the back panel with 20ga, and after some use, I added some to the back of the hopper and the door. I'm about $600 into it.

I tried some over center latches for the door, but they didn't work. I looked at garage door type handles, but would have had to make a caming type catch, so I used angle iron and close the door with C-clamps. Works for me and haven't hit my head on the angle iron yet.

There are more pictures and comments in my album here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/album.php?albumid=3533

Nice build. Mine is very similar in size. I wish I had built my hopper drain as big as the one you built.

Very nice job and great pictures. Im always to rushed and forget to take pics during the process. It takes allot of time to do so.

I had some questions. Was it cost or ease of building to go wood box rather then steel? I guess it depends on what tools you have and materials you an get. Just curious if you had a preference. The flange around the window that holds the glass on, is that just two small frames from a harbor freight unit, or? And whats the scoop on the bucket with 2 ports attached to the vacuum? Im guessing some sort of water trap? How does it work? Could you take some pics of that too? Like how far the pipes stick down, and pipe size, 1 1/2" 2"?

Sorry for all the questions, Im just been pondering building one and gathering ideas and what not.

Now that's just plain cool.

Thanks guys. I wish I'd made the drain a little smaller. If the 5 gallon bucket isn't very close it will spill beyond it. The 2 pc window frame was included in the TP Tools kit. Nice things about the kit are ease of replacement parts and not having to hunt all over for things.

I choose wood based on the tools I have. I couldn't see welding or riveting all the seams from steel panels and I don't have a brake to bend it either.

The water trap works well. It had a layer of sludge in it after 5 or 10 hours of blasting. I'll have to take some pictures of it, but in the mean time below are links to ones I copied.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135236

http://www.toolsandgarages.com/index.php?topic=1780.msg7296#msg7296

Beautiful job, I love Solidworks. I draw everything with it prior to manufacturing. Its great for calcs too.