Media Blasting Cabinets - experience and lessons learned please

[cnc-me]

nope.... not if you also have the vacum system... and not just a shop vac either

+1 on that, shop vacs don't cut the mustard.

 

[cnc-me]

Here is my rebuilt 1940 Rueminlin.
Rockwell dust collector.


This sandblaster was sandblasted with my Brut pressure pot sandblaster.

 

[930dreamer]

Here is my rebuilt 1940 Rueminlin.
Rockwell dust collector.

That's a nice looking cabinet.

 

[cnc-me]

That's a nice looking cabinet.

Thanks, I really like the door set-up on this one.
Think I will start a new thread to show the whole rebuild.

 

[dude67]

I blasted My 67 Chevelle SS window belts with the sand blaster that J. Persons was talking about. Siphon feed out of a bucket of sand. The sand has to be super dry and it worked just fine. check the pics out.

 

[Ben Bob]

nope.... not if you also have the vacum system... and not just a shop vac either

I'm not sure a blanket statement like that works for me, due to the number of variables. There are many different vac systems and shop vacs out there, each with different capabilities. One vac system I looked up had a HEPA filter, but a reusable HEPA filter is available from W L Gore (makers of GorTex) called a Clean Stream that is available for many models of shop vacs. I ordered mine directly from W L Gore, and got free shipping. I installed a Rigid brand exhaust diffuser inside the cabinet, in the air exit hole on the left side of my HF cabinet (to pre-screen the exiting air). The air exits and then passes through an Onieda Dust Deputy, and into the Ridgid 16 gal, 6.5 hp (?), shop vac, which is equipped with the Clean Stream HEPA filter; and, another Rigid brand exhaust diffuser for the air leaving the system and into my garage. As a test, I wrapped the final shop vac diffuser with a white cotton wash cloth and blasted with Black Diamond (black coal slag material) for over two hours. The Dust Deputy collected about 1.5 inches of media into the 5 gal bucket, and the white wash cloth did not have ANY of the black colored media on it. I opened the shop vac and found no media in the bottom, and only a light dust covering the HEPA filter. This shop vac has a guage that will show when the filter requires cleaning. I consider the Dust Deputy and the Clean Stream reusable HEPA filter to be two of the best tool investments that I've ever made... hands down. I found the idea of the "bucket water bong" interesting and will build/install one if I ever see any media getting past the setup mentioned above.

 

[ozyborn]

Made my own. My advise. No matter what you go with. Add more light, check all the joints for leaks. Recheck all the joints for leaks.

 

[dirtybiker]

I am in the proses of making my own. The blasting area is 4ft x 8ft. I got the idea from the one I have seen someone build on the forums. So far I'm happy with it. I have used wooden sandblasters before. I am not sure what I am going to be using for dust-collection yet.

 

[HTGTS350]

Lesson learned: You will need far more compressor cfm and air storage than the manufacturer specifies to do any volume of work, you also need to have an air piping set up that would be way overkill in any other situation.

 

[OccupantRJ]

For those with side opening doors, install a ledge on the lower inside of the door that protrudes at a 45 degree angle into the cabinet. Along with this, pipe in a short air hose with blow nozzle inside the cabinet before the gun. When done blasting, use the air hose to blow off the inside of the door. These two modifications will all but eliminate grit falling on the floor when the door is opened.

 

[ibedayank]

http://www.eastwood.com/90-cfm-dual-filtration-dust-collection-system.html

we use one of these on 2 cabinets at work are times we use over 100# of media in a month and we have no dust on anything in the shop from running them

 

[Lou N]

All,

Here's a couple of shots of my setup. The cabinet is from TP tools and I set up the mini dust collector from examples I found on the web. I have a small water oil separator that does a decent job of pulling the water from the airline.

I do need a bigger compressor, but for now I just pause from time to time to let the air pressure build back up. I have tried both glass bead aluminum oxide and in the unit. The glass bead leaves a smoother finish, but takes longer; the aluminum oxide works faster but does seem to impart some significant tooth on softer material.

As you can see it has a tendency to become a table of sorts in between blast sessions.

I did have a small air filter mounted on the back air inlet (basically a paper carb air filter) but it seemed to impede the air flow too much. Once I added the dust separator that seemed to help with any dust that escapes.

I would be curious what others are doing with the air inlet on the back to prevent dust from escaping.

Lou

 

[ibedayank]

if there is a vacum in the cabinet when not pulling the gun there will be nothing to escape that is why there are air system that use motors... Be it a factory dust collector or one that is shop made that uses a shop vac to provide the needed vacum. Also makes it so your not looking through a cloud of dust.

 

[Cobra6]

It is good to see all the **** Blasters on here.

I bought a TP Tools **** Blast 960 cabinet, vacuum, and compressor off CL for $600 -
I put the cabinet and vacuum on wheels (from TP Tools) so I can move it around to the garage overhead door and run the vacuum exhaust outside and I have a floor fan at my back to push dust in the air outside. I have a Rapidair setup so I just made a little longer hose connection for the cabinet.

 

[John Timmins]

Doing it all over again I would buy a Barrel Blaster www.barrelblaster.com

Read this review: http://www.cncreport.com/product-review-barrel-blaster-is-a-winner/


+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I didn't know about them when I bought this so here's my improvements in this thread:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=82265

 

[SBOhio]

A couple of you guys have adapted your pressure pot blaster to your cabinet. Are you able to get rid of the extra dust? Did you have to do anything special to your setups to be able to see?

 

[9c1nova]

Echoing others, larger compressor, dry air are a must. Also check out the DIY plans from TP, built with plywood,just modify dimensions to suit your requirements.

Bruce

 

[coljar]

I love my TP 960. I've been to their place 120 miles away in Canfield, OH and I like buying from a place that knows their product. The Summit store was on the way too.

 

[htchevyii]

I have an old Dee Blast medium size top opening unit. I use it a lot for blasting aluminum Fiat Spider engine parts that I restore. For the aluminum, I usually blast with alum oxide and then glass beads. The glass beads kind of polish the surface and smooth it out. Eastwood's spray metal protectant keeps it looking new. I do have a problem with dust. I'm too cheap to buy a proper dust collector, so I might try out a Dust Deputy. Turning off the shop lights helps you see better. I had it in a shed at my last house with a fiberglass roof and you couldn't see inside the blast cabinet when the sun was out. My 5hp 60 gal compressor suits my needs, although I'm sure that I'm overworking it a bit.

 

[BajaScout]

Anybody add wheels or casters to their blasting cabinet? Appreciate any pics of what you did.

 

[mikegt4]

I have a small **** Blast cabinet that I mounted on a frame with casters. I made the frame out of 1"x2" rectangular tubing, added square corner plates for the casters and some angle iron tabs for mounting a plywood shelf. I used 2-1/2" casters with polyurethane tires that I got at Woodcraft. Swivels on one end and fixed on the other. I used the same casters on other projects and have been happy with them. They are usually on sale about 3-4 times a year.

https://www.woodcraft.com/categories/casters-wheels

 

[BajaScout]

That came out real nice. How stable does it feel?

 

[mikegt4]

That came out real nice. How stable does it feel?

I use the shelf to store my media supplies so it is very stable, they act like a lead keel on a sailboat.

 

[69supercj]

Has anybody else out there converted their cabinets to a positive pressure dust removal system?

 

[69supercj]

Was wondering how some of you guys have converted from siphon feed to pressure feed?

 

[CGT80]

Was wondering how some of you guys have converted from siphon feed to pressure feed?

Tag for the same info.


I have a HF cabinet that I rebuilt and sealed. It has a **** blast gun with a large tip, two led flood lights and I use my shop vac with a 5 gallon bucket separator (not a true cyclone unit) with a drywall dust bag in the vacuum. My compressor is an old westinghouse air brake company unit that is pressure lubed 5hp 17.3 cfm at 175, but averages 20 cfm with the pulley I have on it. It is more than enough air for siphon blasting, but I would not want any less.


My cabinet needs a cover over it, since it sits outside and rain still finds a way in. It is raining right now in sunny Komnifornia and I think I forgot to drain the glass into a bucket after I used it last, so not it will have to dry out. Normally, I empty the cabinet and leave the bottom open so the water runs out and it dries in a couple days.

 

[John in OH]

I have a TP Tools 960 cabinet with a #35 vacuum unit that I got well over ten years ago. It's really been a great tool that sees quite a bit of use. Couple of features/mods that I think have been worthwhile:

1) I built a simple 2x4 frame with casters and a 3/4" thick plywood deck. Nothing fancy, but the plywood deck is a nice place to store new grit and misc stuff in the queue for cleaning.

2) I use only glass bead grit from Tractor Supply. The "white" color of the glass beads helps with visibility, but it is slow on really crusty metal parts. Keep blast pressure below 80 psig to minimize glass bead grit fracture and dusting.

3) Added an additional internal spotlight and, recently, a LED tube lamp from TP. Ya can't have too much light!!!

4) When in use, grit accumulates on the ledge at the bottom of the side door. (My thumb is on this ledge in the attached pic). This accumulation messes up the door seal. As noted by OccupantRJ above, the addition of the angled sheet metal deflector at the inside bottom of the door (above my index finger) helps minimize this grit accumulation ... but doesn't eliminate it.

5) I purchased the foot valve for operating the gun. Not necessary but it helps relieve the strain of holding the gun trigger. Also, it allows you to twist, turn, and maneuver the gun around inside the cabinet to get the best shooting angle without regard to having to keep a finger on the trigger. A REALLY nice feature.

6) The discharge of the vacuum unit is vented out through the wall via a louvered clothes dryer vent. Definitely helps reduce fugitive dust.

7) Lastly, I always wear an N95 dust mask when using the unit. Probably not necessary, but I'm sure there is some fine dust that floats in the air and no doubt ends in the lungs ... and nobody needs that! Ear protection is also good idea as the vacuum is rather loud and high pitched.

 

[mikeinri]

I worked with an industrial blaster back in high school and college (summer/winter break job). That was a monster, would choke up often (media return hose), and dust got absolutely everywhere.

For a home garage, I'm surprised no one has mentioned repurposing a heating oil tank.

Mike

 

[BruceMc]

I have a TP Tools 960 cabinet with a #35 vacuum unit that I got well over ten years ago. It's really been a great tool that sees quite a bit of use. Couple of features/mods that I think have been worthwhile:

1) I built a simple 2x4 frame with casters and a 3/4" thick plywood deck. Nothing fancy, but the plywood deck is a nice place to store new grit and misc stuff in the queue for cleaning.

...

3) Added an additional internal spotlight and, recently, a LED tube lamp from TP. Ya can't have too much light!!!

4) When in use, grit accumulates on the ledge at the bottom of the side door. (My thumb is on this ledge in the attached pic). This accumulation messes up the door seal. As noted by OccupantRJ above, the addition of the angled sheet metal deflector at the inside bottom of the door (above my index finger) helps minimize this grit accumulation ... but doesn't eliminate it.

Same cabinet, with pretty much these same upgrades. My light came from HD. I also painted the inside of the cabinet and grill white and added both a regulator and ball valve to the front of the cabinet which makes it easier to fine tune, rather than having to run back and forth over to the wall.

I really like having it on casters. That's the cabinet on it's side in my avatar. The guy I bought it from had left it out in the weather all summer and full of old grit, so it was quite a chore just getting it cleaned up.

 

[BruceMc]

... and added both a regulator and ball valve to the front of the cabinet which makes it easier to fine tune, rather than having to run back and forth over to the wall.

It seems obvious, but it's made hookup a lot simpler on a mobile base.

 

[andyvh1959]

I have a 6.5hp upright air compressor, and I'd like to add a blast cabinet (bench mount) to do motorcycle parts. I don't really need a large cabinet. Harbor Freight or Northern Tool are the likely sources. HF, on sale, bench cabinet is $139. Northern Tool, with a $20 coupon, bench cabinet is $239. Is the Northern Tool cabinet worth the extra $100 for a bench top blast cabinet that will see light duty use (for now).