The Abrasive Blasting Resource Thread

[Nortonscustom]

Cant tell by the pictures, where on the "funnel" is it mounted? Near the top or bottom or in the middle? Same side as the pickup tube assembly or opposite? I picked up a 30W unit and looking to mount it to my HF cabinet i'm working on.

It's mounted about in the middle of the funnel on the left side. I don't think the location is real critical as long as its mounted ridged. It vibrates the whole cabinet. Even knocking the dust off the lights in the cab.

 

[gregs]

It's mounted about in the middle of the funnel on the left side. I don't think the location is real critical as long as its mounted ridged. It vibrates the whole cabinet. Even knocking the dust off the lights in the cab.

Thanks for the information. I played around holding it on the side and it didn't seem to make much of a difference where I held it. Though it did seem to "fluff" the media up the closer it got to the bottom. I made a couple of reinforcing plates that will be on both sides of the funnel as the HF is made out of light gauge sheet metal. Also thinking of adding some construction adhesive to the plates when I bolt it together to try and keep any cracks from forming. I have a similar timed switch that I am going to use so that it doesn't run all the time.

 

[gregs]

Yet another question. I will be replacing my gun/nozzle holder as I finish this project. Been testing different medias in it to try and land on the best size nozzle hole.

My question is regarding the life expectancy of nozzles. Currently I am using the pink ceramic ones but have been looking at the boron carbide ones as a replacement. Interested if anybody is using those. I have seen conflicting reports as to how long they last in comparison to the ceramic ones. Some places make it out that its 100 to 1 and some places say 5-10 times longer. The pink ceramic ones are pretty cheap if you buy them in bulk from the right place. I can probably buy 20 ceramic ones for the price of 1 boron carbide. Obviously efficiency drops as they wear out and if the boron lasts longer you would be staying more efficient then having to check and replace the worn ceramic ones. Thoughts?

 

[930dreamer]

How to Choose the Right Sandblasting Nozzle: Silicon Carbide vs. Tungsten Carbide

Nozzles are one of the most important pieces of sandblasting equipment, and an appropriate or inappropriate blast nozzle will affect your production. The taper and length of the blast nozzle’s inlet and outlet affects both the pattern and velocity of the abrasive blast media exiting the nozzle.

sandblastingmachines.com

 

[930dreamer]

What's up GJ, I need to purchase/install new airlines in my shop. Some of my old 1/2" black iron pipe stayed at the old shop. I have a 60" wide & 36" wide cabinet, a 5 hp Champion and a 100cfm V8 powered compressor. I'd like the blue straight air piping, so should I size all the piping to handle the V8 compressor or? The smaller compressor would have lengthy runs and drops throughout the shop whereas the larger compressor only to the two blast cabinets.

 

[dkmc]

What's up GJ, I need to purchase/install new airlines in my shop. Some of my old 1/2" black iron pipe stayed at the old shop. I have a 60" wide & 36" wide cabinet, a 5 hp Champion and a 100cfm V8 powered compressor. I'd like the blue straight air piping, so should I size all the piping to handle the V8 compressor or? The smaller compressor would have lengthy runs and drops throughout the shop whereas the larger compressor only to the two blast cabinets.

I don't get notifications for this thread unfortunately. I've been tossing this same problem around for awhile, since I shut down my PVC system several years ago after a 2" elbow blew out. Black pipe is very expensive now, and time consuming to install. I've looked at the blue pipe kits on EBAY and all things considered, they might be the smartest way to go. What size are you looking at? I don't think 1/2" would be way to small for 100 cfm depending on elbows. 1" for 100 cfm would be the best size. I have about 100ft of run to address.

Recent compressor purchase. 5hp Hydrovane. Seller told me it cost $15k new, I got it for $300. The cart it's on is stainless steel, built for a research lab.

 

[930dreamer]

Nice compressor find, I'm always searching but still have four that need some work. It's 97 inside and outside the shop so my energy level is low. Waiting for a lawsuit to settle so I can recharge the shop budget(hopefully).
Probably two completely separate air systems because my regulator/filter setup I have now is only 1/2" fittings.

 

[dkmc]

Nice compressor find, I'm always searching but still have four that need some work. It's 97 inside and outside the shop so my energy level is low. Waiting for a lawsuit to settle so I can recharge the shop budget(hopefully).
Probably two completely separate air systems because my regulator/filter setup I have now is only 1/2" fittings.

Depending on the length of the run between cabinet and V8 compressor, you might want 1" ID pipe to flow near 100cfm.
The rapidair pipe isn't too costly, it's the end outlets that add up quick.....

 

[jjwithers]

I'm starting to bang my head against the wall trying to figure out a Snap On sand blast cabinet. It's a smaller cabinet (Similar to the YA435 but with a side door and a lid that opens vs the cabinet opening like a clam), hoses are not clogged yet I'm barely able to get media through the blast gun. Media is dry, Compressor is large enough (I'm at 100PSI 19CFM).

Air comes into the cabinet to a safety valve. Then out the valve to the gun. The media hose connected to the front of the gun goes down to a tube which is connected to a media regulator at the bottom (I think that's the device). On the regulator is where one tube ***** up the media, through the regulator and sends it up the rod to the fun. There is another hole on the regulator with a hose connected to it with an air compressor drain fitting on it (I assume for negative pressure). I tried with that drain fitting close, or open and it doesn't help. There's a ton of air blasting around. Just nothing sucking up the 80 grit glass beads. It has the same nozzle on the gun that my buddy used with similar media (Before I bought the cabinet from him).

Any ideas what to check next??

 

[dkmc]

I'm starting to bang my head against the wall trying to figure out a Snap On sand blast cabinet. It's a smaller cabinet (Similar to the YA435 but with a side door and a lid that opens vs the cabinet opening like a clam), hoses are not clogged yet I'm barely able to get media through the blast gun. Media is dry, Compressor is large enough (I'm at 100PSI 19CFM).

Air comes into the cabinet to a safety valve. Then out the valve to the gun. The media hose connected to the front of the gun goes down to a tube which is connected to a media regulator at the bottom (I think that's the device). On the regulator is where one tube ***** up the media, through the regulator and sends it up the rod to the fun. There is another hole on the regulator with a hose connected to it with an air compressor drain fitting on it (I assume for negative pressure). I tried with that drain fitting close, or open and it doesn't help. There's a ton of air blasting around. Just nothing sucking up the 80 grit glass beads. It has the same nozzle on the gun that my buddy used with similar media (Before I bought the cabinet from him).

Any ideas what to check next??

This time of year is very humid. Tell us about your filters and dryers

 

[930dreamer]

Wondering if this would be suitable for a receiver tank? $200, I asked if it was a propane tank and was told it was a water tank?

 

[dkmc]

Wondering if this would be suitable for a receiver tank? $200, I asked if it was a propane tank and was told it was a water tank?

No way I'd take a chance pressurizing that with air. Only if it was designed as an air tank

 

[atch]

No way I'd take a chance pressurizing that with air. Only if it was designed as an air tank

Or if it is a pressure vessel certified to an appropriate psi..

 

[tester19]

If it's not blasting good try to measure how much vacuum your gun is pulling. I was surprised but after rigging it all up I had a solid 15 in H2O of vacuum. Plenty good.
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[930dreamer]

Help id this compressor?

 

[jjwithers]

This time of year is very humid. Tell us about your filters and dryers

I am just seeing this reply. I have a Primefit 3/8"Desiccant Air Dryer and Oil Remover (80CFM) . However I'm in so-cal and it doesn't get that humid here.

If it's not blasting good try to measure how much vacuum your gun is pulling. I was surprised but after rigging it all up I had a solid 15 in H2O of vacuum. Plenty good.
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How do you measure the gun's vacuum? Part of me wonders if it is pulling too much air, or not enough.

 

[tester19]

I am not sure it's even possible to pull too much vacuum? I mean what would happen?
Here is a common gun and I have labeled where to measure the vacuum.



Note this is a foot operated gun and you must have the air valve open 100% to get a valid reading. As I posted I was a bit surprised my setup would pull 15" of vacuum but it did answer whether I had any suction problems or not

I got this idea from this thread and it's really the only way to find out exactly how well you siphon blast system is working.
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[jjwithers]

I'm wondering what kind of gauge you'd put to measure the suction, or how it's measured. Some sort of manometer?

I did have some progress though. I think my gun did have too much pressure. I remembered that my buddy who had the cabinet before me had a smaller compressor. All this time I've been feeding the cabinet 90-110 PSI off my compressor.
I dialed back the PSI to about 40 and the gun started working. I brought the PSI up to 60 and that seems to be the sweet spot.

I could get a different gun/nozzle set up to match my compressor's 18CFM at 90PSI.
Or just keep it as-is for now.

-JJ

 

[dkmc]

I'm wondering what kind of gauge you'd put to measure the suction, or how it's measured. Some sort of manometer?


-JJ

I use the automotive vacumn/ fuel pressure gauge from Harbor freight

 

[MongoTA]

Just picked up a Skat Blast Cabinet at auction.
Media blasting is all new to me, so it appears I have a bit or reading to do...

 

[MongoTA]

NEWBIE to blasting question #1:
I understand the blast media particles that remain large enough fall into the hopper and get recycled through the gun. So anything that gets taken away and collected by the vacuum, that gets tossed? The vacuum is essentially there to clear the fine dust from the cabinet air?
The Skat cabinet I picked up had about 15lbs of debris in the vacuum. I tossed that. Should I have put it through a sieve to try to reclaim any larger pieces of media? Or is that just waste of time silly talk?
Thanks.

 

[dkmc]

The vacuum is essentially there to clear the fine dust from the cabinet air?

Yes, dust, rust, paint particles, dirt, etc. Media is cheap enough, toss out the old and start fresh.

 

[Doubled33]

Read through this thread and have a question I did not see answered. I usually use glass beads, and notice that a lot of good beads get sent to the powder tray as rejects. I usually empty the tray, skim the powder off the top and reload the beads. When I use heavier media such as speedblast, this is less of a problem. I have attached 3 sheets from the owner’s manual of my cabinet. Note 4 on the last sheets says the separator can be adjusted and to call the factory to discuss. If it were the 1980’s I would call, but they seem to be out of business. Does anyone know what they would have done to adjust the amount of good media from going to the powder bin?



It should be noted that item “B” labeled as the Cyclo Sift Separator is a removable piece that is about 4” thick with some metal baffles and cut outs in it.

Also attached a diagram of the Sift Separator. The parts catalog does not list multiple options for this piece which makes me think there is a modification to this piece that can be done

 

[dkmc]

Read through this thread and have a question I did not see answered. I usually use glass beads, and notice that a lot of good beads get sent to the powder tray as rejects. I usually empty the tray, skim the powder off the top and reload the beads. When I use heavier media such as speedblast, this is less of a problem. I have attached 3 sheets from the owner’s manual of my cabinet. Note 4 on the last sheets says the separator can be adjusted and to call the factory to discuss. If it were the 1980’s I would call, but they seem to be out of business. Does anyone know what they would have done to adjust the amount of good media from going to the powder bin?



It should be noted that item “B” labeled as the Cyclo Sift Separator is a removable piece that is about 4” thick with some metal baffles and cut outs in it.

Also attached a diagram of the Sift Separator. The parts catalog does not list multiple options for this piece which makes me think there is a modification to this piece that can be done

Wow, that's a cool setup, never saw such a cabinet before. It's the same general principal as a grain separator, the grain and chaff is sent thru a curtain of air. The grain is heavier than the chaff, so it falls into a 'good' bin while the lighter chaff is carried away by the air flow velocity. Good abrasive media is heavier than dust, rust, paint chips/ powder, etc. Someplace in that mechanism, the combined mixture is sent thru an air current where the heavy 'good' abrasive falls out, and the lighter dust, etc is carried into the filter. It's hard to tell in the cartoon diagram where that happens exactly, but it does.

 

[Doubled33]

Wow, that's a cool setup, never saw such a cabinet before. It's the same general principal as a grain separator, the grain and chaff is sent thru a curtain of air. The grain is heavier than the chaff, so it falls into a 'good' bin while the lighter chaff is carried away by the air flow velocity. Good abrasive media is heavier than dust, rust, paint chips/ powder, etc. Someplace in that mechanism, the combined mixture is sent thru an air current where the heavy 'good' abrasive falls out, and the lighter dust, etc is carried into the filter. It's hard to tell in the cartoon diagram where that happens exactly, but it does.

This machine is the cats meow. It works very well.

I have used a Pauli and Griffin cabinet that also worked well which is a more traditional set up.

I have not used any of the newer cabinets.

You have given me something to think on. The parts diagram lists 2 parts that are not pictured on the back cover which make me believe they may have something to do with this. I think my cover was remade or heavily repaired at some time in life.

The manual I found online is missing a section that talks about how to adjust one of the air vents but alludes to it in another section that is available.

 

[dkmc]

This machine is the cats meow. It works very well.

I have used a Pauli and Griffin cabinet that also worked well which is a more traditional set up.

I have not used any of the newer cabinets.

You have given me something to think on. The parts diagram lists 2 parts that are not pictured on the back cover which make me believe they may have something to do with this. I think my cover was remade or heavily repaired at some time in life.

The manual I found online is missing a section that talks about how to adjust one of the air vents but alludes to it in another section that is available.

Real pictures of the innards of that machine would be interesting to see.
I would be surprised and suspicious if there isn't an adjustable 'rudder' or 'fin' in the works to tune the system so that it's keeping media and shedding dust, etc to the collector. I have a chip separator used in the machine shop that also works very similar to a grain separator.
Chips and small parts come off the automatic machines as a mix, dump them into the separator, adjust air flow, and the chips go in the scrap barrel, parts go out the outlet chute. It's almost magic to see it work, and work very well.

 

[Doubled33]

Real pictures of the innards of that machine would be interesting to see.
I would be surprised and suspicious if there isn't an adjustable 'rudder' or 'fin' in the works to tune the system so that it's keeping media and shedding dust, etc to the collector. I have a chip separator used in the machine shop that also works very similar to a grain separator.
Chips and small parts come off the automatic machines as a mix, dump them into the separator, adjust air flow, and the chips go in the scrap barrel, parts go out the outlet chute. It's almost magic to see it work, and work very well.

Here are a few pictures of the inside.

The big round hole at the top is where the reclaimer hose is connected.

 

[rpcraft]

NEWBIE to blasting question #1:
I understand the blast media particles that remain large enough fall into the hopper and get recycled through the gun. So anything that gets taken away and collected by the vacuum, that gets tossed? The vacuum is essentially there to clear the fine dust from the cabinet air?
The Skat cabinet I picked up had about 15lbs of debris in the vacuum. I tossed that. Should I have put it through a sieve to try to reclaim any larger pieces of media? Or is that just waste of time silly talk?
Thanks.

Repleace with new fresh media and start anew. I stick with Aluminun Oxide but it is the most aggressive and more expensive (which is fine for my uses). It has a long lasting life and has an added benefit that when i leave parts in the blast cabinet it tends to prolong not having to worry about any flash rusting. Don't buy media at places like Tractor supply and in general I avoid coal slag. I used it once and hated the cleanup and it left everything coated in fine powder that was a nuisance to clean. Also TS has an issue where their media is often mislabeled for size and their staff don't know jack squat about how to pay attention to what is paid for vs what is marked on the bag to know better.

IN the grand scheme also make sure and get an appropriately sized compressor for your gun tip size. I would stick with anything over 5 HP and use that as a bare minimum until you can find larger or figure out if you need larger. 7.5 will probably be theupper limit in a home shop because anything larger starts turning into 3 phase motors.

 

[dkmc]

Here are a few pictures of the inside.

The big round hole at the top is where the reclaimer hose is connected.

What is the brand name of the cabinet? Any company information on it? How about an overall pic of it?
EDIT: I looked at the PDF again and I see the name, Blast-Hone....

 

[Doubled33]

What is the brand name of the cabinet? Any company information on it? How about an overall pic of it?
EDIT: I looked at the PDF again and I see the name, Blast-Hone....

Actually it says Uni Hone on the plate. I suspect one is the manufacturer and the other is the model. When I lived in LA I drove by an address I had for them and they are for sure no longer there.

I will get some better pictures this weekend and annotate them with some things I see as your comments have brought a few things to light.

 

[dkmc]

Google found this which might be helpful........

Sign in - Google Accounts

 

[Doubled33]

Google found this which might be helpful........

Sign in - Google Accounts

I added some arrows to match up the parts. Hope this is of interest. Thanks

 

[OccupantRJ]

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you have all been having a blast! (Pun intended!)

 

[dkmc]

Happy Holidays to you as well RJ!

 

[nitroracer20]

Hey - what do you all recommend for weatherstripping on blast cabinet doors / lights?

ORJ - great thread, im slowly catching up on this in addition to your great sub support posts.

 

[930dreamer]

I'd start with a weatherstripping from the big box store and see how it goes. Warm the metal up for the best stick.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I use rubber seal material from McMaster Carr. It is available in various widths and thicknesses.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[vtx531]

Read through this thread and have a question I did not see answered. I usually use glass beads, and notice that a lot of good beads get sent to the powder tray as rejects. I usually empty the tray, skim the powder off the top and reload the beads. When I use heavier media such as speedblast, this is less of a problem. I have attached 3 sheets from the owner’s manual of my cabinet. Note 4 on the last sheets says the separator can be adjusted and to call the factory to discuss. If it were the 1980’s I would call, but they seem to be out of business. Does anyone know what they would have done to adjust the amount of good media from going to the powder bin?



It should be noted that item “B” labeled as the Cyclo Sift Separator is a removable piece that is about 4” thick with some metal baffles and cut outs in it.

Also attached a diagram of the Sift Separator. The parts catalog does not list multiple options for this piece which makes me think there is a modification to this piece that can be done

You must have a really nice cabinet. What most blast cabinet mfgs call a reclaimer is nothing more than a vacuum with a bottom dump hopper. Yours is an actual reclaimer that precisely separates the particles.

There should be a damper that you need to adjust. Looks like maybe at the top of part #6 in your second attachment. It may be an optional part so yours might not have that. Further open would decrease suction in the cyclone and less heavier particles would get sucked into the "fines comp't". There should also be a damper on your cabinet that you would need to adjust too. So what you need to do - First adjust the separator damper more open, then adjust the cabinet damper more closed to keep the suction in the cabinet the same as it was before you adjusted the first damper. A good rule of thumb is to have it set so the gloves are inflated but not lifting off the grate.

It is critical to have BOTH of these dampers set right and in the right order. You want the right negative pressure in your cabinet and separator and they are not the same pressures.

 

[Doubled33]

You must have a really nice cabinet. What most blast cabinet mfgs call a reclaimer is nothing more than a vacuum with a bottom dump hopper. Yours is an actual reclaimer that precisely separates the particles.

There should be a damper that you need to adjust. Looks like maybe at the top of part #6 in your second attachment. It may be an optional part so yours might not have that. Further open would decrease suction in the cyclone and less heavier particles would get sucked into the "fines comp't". There should also be a damper on your cabinet that you would need to adjust too. So what you need to do - First adjust the separator damper more open, then adjust the cabinet damper more closed to keep the suction in the cabinet the same as it was before you adjusted the first damper. A good rule of thumb is to have it set so the gloves are inflated but not lifting off the grate.

It is critical to have BOTH of these dampers set right and in the right order. You want the right negative pressure in your cabinet and separator and they are not the same pressures.

Some good information. Thank you. I have not used it since the move and hope to pick up here very soon as my power upgrade is getting completed this week.

 

[tester19]

I have been using crushed glass from Northern Tool. Fairly cheap and I like the surface finish a bit better than glass beads.
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