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Bead blast cabinet dust extractor

Gizzy

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Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
159
Location
NW Ohio
My local Menards had 1.5 gal. Stanley shop vacs on sale for $9.99 after rebate.I grabbed one to use for removing dust outta my bead blast cabinet.I was wondering what some of you guys do to remove dust from yours on a budget... pics would be good.I'm not running a high end operation here,wifey says I'm a tighta$$.
 
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Bender78

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Mar 8, 2008
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Location
Northwest CT
Shop vacs don't last long when used as a dust collector on a media blast cabinet. You should think about tying the shop vac into some kind of a water trap to keep the grit out of the vacuum.

Do a search here and on the net; there are a couple of good designs out there that are cheap to make using a 5 gallon bucket and some PVC pipe.
 
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Gizzy

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Joined
Jan 18, 2009
Messages
159
Location
NW Ohio
I have heard of this...Thanks for reminding me.:thumbup:
Shop vacs don't last long when as a dust collector on a media blast cabinet. You should think about tying the shop vac into some kind of a water trap to keep the grit out of the vacuum.

Do a search here and on the net; there are a couple of good designs out there that are cheap to make using a 5 gallon bucket and some PVC pipe.
 

bmwpower

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Apr 24, 2005
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NJ
What about a legit dust collector as sold by many blast cabinet manufacturers? What's the difference between that and the water trap setup?
 

Mmfh

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Oct 8, 2011
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Location
Portland Oregon
My bead blast filter cabinet using 6' tall filter tubes, no moisture anywhere near the filter.

They do sell for about a grand though. High end for daily use.
 
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cams1021

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Joined
Aug 15, 2010
Messages
13
Location
Cape Cod, MA
I use my 6.5hp commercial shop vac with a 6' or 8' 2.5" hose. I have been using it this way for a few years, enough hours to replace the glass window three times now. Never had a problem.

I recently picked up a 5hp wall mount shop vac with a smaller 1.5" hose and it doesn't flow quite enough air to evacuate the dust as much as I am used to, so I have gone back to the 6.5hp unit
 

brownbagg

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Mar 20, 2006
Messages
5,208
i think a squirrel cage would last longer than a vac, turn slower, not as noisey.
 

spongerich

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Apr 17, 2010
Messages
2,339
Location
Monroe, NY
I buy the bags that fit inside my Ridgid shop vac. They're expensive, but they do last a while and keep most of the fine dust out of the filter and motor. I also have a water trap that I rigged up, but haven't hooked it back up again... I take it out during the winter since the water tends to freeze.
 

SGKent

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Joined
Feb 12, 2010
Messages
1,959
Location
Citrus Heights CA
we've had good luck with a shop vac that has an inner bag and hepa filter. You will replace them every few 20 to 50 hours but broken silica is highly carcinogenic in the lungs. We've found some blast cabinet makers sell a shop vac with bag and hepa filter as their inexpensive solution for cleaning blast air. An alternative is a high end bead separator system which can be expensive. If this is a hobby thing then you are fine with the inexpensive solution but if you will be beading 8 hours a day / 40 hours a week you need a commercial solution or bags, filters and beads will get expensive.
 

tcianci

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Feb 7, 2009
Messages
4,242
Location
Walpole, Ma
I built a small enclosure to house a shop vac-type HEPA filter and put it between the blast cabinet and the shop vac. So far it has lasted about 7 years of intermittent blasting and the vac is a HD cheapie, throw away type
 

splam

Member
Joined
Dec 22, 2011
Messages
17
I have tried several different ways to clear the dust from my blast cabinet. The best way I have found is a blower motor that I got at Granger. It is an inline duct motor that goes in a 4" exhaust. I mounted this on the side of my cabinet and I vent it through the wall with a dryer exhaust connection. It moves just the right volume of air, your blast glovers will not **** straight out yet it moves enough to clear the cabinet. I bought a wall mounter vaccuum from some vendor at the EAA convention a couple of years ago and still have it hanging on the shop wall but have only used it a couple of times because it is so much louder than my set up. I would sell it if you are interested.
 

Burl

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Joined
Sep 21, 2007
Messages
791
Location
Where Mountaineers are free
I use a typical small shop-vac with a 1 1/2" hose, and I stop and knock the dust out of the filter about every 1/2 hour of blasting, and its worked for about 2 years. I also wrap a ***** hose type of cloth around the outside of the filter, it catches lots of dust. I don't blast much, but I do take every precaution to help out my equipment.
 
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