Got a question for the sandblasting experts...
I've never sandblasted before, but I always assumed it'd be a quick way to thoroughly cleanup rust/paint/dirt/grime on parts... as in "put object in cabinet, turn on compressor, give object one or two passes, and we're done". In other words, I expected that a cabinet would save me significant amounts of time over the wire wheel method and do a better job to boot. So when I saw one of these pop up on craigslist, I bought it: https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-24-x-37-blast-cabinet/g0707
For context, I'm a desk jockey who likes DIY'ing stuff, and I don't mind working on cars, but I'm not a car guy. I do what's required to keep the family cars going, but that's about it. And the really time-consuming jobs such as timing belt changes I send off to the shop because I have five young kids, a demanding job, and always short on time. My projects tend to range from household plumbing/wiring/whatever to fixing ol 'arn for the wood shop. For example, my current backlog of stuff to fixup includes an old Fobco 20" drill press, a Walker Turner jointer, a rusty Hein Warner WS jack, and a bunch of things on our travel trailer. Those projects all involve parts I'd like to sandblast.
However, after reading and watching videos, it seems these siphon feed cabinets are pretty slow, even after doing Tacoma company-style mods. Stuff I was expecting to take 5-10 minutes looks like it might take an hour or two... and that's after investing a couple of days into the cabinet mods. Space is a little tight in the shop and the cabinet is one of the larger items so it needs to earn its keep. So I'm starting to rethink things...
Would it make more sense to sell this cabinet and just buy the 40lb HF pressure-pot blaster?
Sounds like pressure pots work significantly faster and take up far less storage space, but are tedious to refill and require some way to manage the blast media. I've got plenty of backyard space to rig up a tarp + respirator setup. And given the small size of the parts I'd be blasting, even if the pressure pot loses twice as much media from an inefficient tarp system, it still won't cost much.
If I go the pressure pot route, I'd probably spend a month or two taking multiple projects apart and then spend half of Saturday blasting everything. It's certainly less convenient than a ready-to-go cabinet, but if the actual blasting is 2x-3x as fast, then as long as I have enough stuff to blast, would it actually be faster to use a pressure pot over a cabinet, even after accounting for setup/refill/cleanup time? Or is the hassle such that a pressure pot only makes sense for stuff that's too big to fit into a blast cabinet?
I guess what I'm wondering is how much faster is a pressure pot over a cabinet? And for non-car projects, how often will I appreciate the convenience of a ready-to-go cabinet whenever one thing needs blasting vs saving stuff up for the pressure pot, and using a wire wheel the rest of the time?
Having never had a cabinet before, I'm unsure how useful it'd be for projects other than car / machine fixup, and I expect once I get through my current backlog I won't have as many machines to fixup down the road. Alternatively, I guess I could use the cabinet to get me through all my current projects, then sell it and if I find myself needing a cabinet again down the road, I could buy another one.
Thoughts from those who've used both cabinets and pressure-pot systems?
I've never sandblasted before, but I always assumed it'd be a quick way to thoroughly cleanup rust/paint/dirt/grime on parts... as in "put object in cabinet, turn on compressor, give object one or two passes, and we're done". In other words, I expected that a cabinet would save me significant amounts of time over the wire wheel method and do a better job to boot. So when I saw one of these pop up on craigslist, I bought it: https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-24-x-37-blast-cabinet/g0707
For context, I'm a desk jockey who likes DIY'ing stuff, and I don't mind working on cars, but I'm not a car guy. I do what's required to keep the family cars going, but that's about it. And the really time-consuming jobs such as timing belt changes I send off to the shop because I have five young kids, a demanding job, and always short on time. My projects tend to range from household plumbing/wiring/whatever to fixing ol 'arn for the wood shop. For example, my current backlog of stuff to fixup includes an old Fobco 20" drill press, a Walker Turner jointer, a rusty Hein Warner WS jack, and a bunch of things on our travel trailer. Those projects all involve parts I'd like to sandblast.
However, after reading and watching videos, it seems these siphon feed cabinets are pretty slow, even after doing Tacoma company-style mods. Stuff I was expecting to take 5-10 minutes looks like it might take an hour or two... and that's after investing a couple of days into the cabinet mods. Space is a little tight in the shop and the cabinet is one of the larger items so it needs to earn its keep. So I'm starting to rethink things...
Would it make more sense to sell this cabinet and just buy the 40lb HF pressure-pot blaster?
Sounds like pressure pots work significantly faster and take up far less storage space, but are tedious to refill and require some way to manage the blast media. I've got plenty of backyard space to rig up a tarp + respirator setup. And given the small size of the parts I'd be blasting, even if the pressure pot loses twice as much media from an inefficient tarp system, it still won't cost much.
If I go the pressure pot route, I'd probably spend a month or two taking multiple projects apart and then spend half of Saturday blasting everything. It's certainly less convenient than a ready-to-go cabinet, but if the actual blasting is 2x-3x as fast, then as long as I have enough stuff to blast, would it actually be faster to use a pressure pot over a cabinet, even after accounting for setup/refill/cleanup time? Or is the hassle such that a pressure pot only makes sense for stuff that's too big to fit into a blast cabinet?
I guess what I'm wondering is how much faster is a pressure pot over a cabinet? And for non-car projects, how often will I appreciate the convenience of a ready-to-go cabinet whenever one thing needs blasting vs saving stuff up for the pressure pot, and using a wire wheel the rest of the time?
Having never had a cabinet before, I'm unsure how useful it'd be for projects other than car / machine fixup, and I expect once I get through my current backlog I won't have as many machines to fixup down the road. Alternatively, I guess I could use the cabinet to get me through all my current projects, then sell it and if I find myself needing a cabinet again down the road, I could buy another one.
Thoughts from those who've used both cabinets and pressure-pot systems?