Sand/beadblast cabinet recommendations

[hennesse]

It's time for me to get a sandblast cabinet, and I need some recommendations. I don't need a professional cabinet, as I won't be using it all that much, but I don't want a total piece of junk either. Unfortunately, there are very few places to actually go and see one, and I hate relying on pictures on the Internet.

What are you using, and how do you like it?

Or should I just build myself one like this? http://www.customfighters.com/forums/sh ... hp?t=23694
Only problem I see with this one is there's no way to dump the abrasive.

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On another front, I actually did find something at Harbor Junk(R) that was worth buying - a motorcycle dolly for $64 - it works great for shifting motorcycles around my way-too-small garage.

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I added an eyebolt for a tie-down, put 2x4's in the kickstand wing, and The main channel could be a little narrower and taller, so I may add a piece of metal to keep the front wheel straighter. But heck, for $64, it's not bad. Everything else in that store is just cheap junk.

[EKHKHK56]

Northern Tool Co has a good one I have used for 20+ years. They have many made in USA tools and supplies. The ALC 41391 Northern #155658 36" Cabinet with ALC Dust collector is a great combination. Channelling large volumes of static electricity is a problem with glass beading cabinets. A wooden one would not help that! I run extra grounds to the cabinet and work shelf inside. If the piece is not on the grounded shelf or screen, it will eventually zap you. A rubber mat to stand on also helps. Proper rubber insulated blaves also help. Not cloth ones. A strong shop vac will work about half as well as a professional dust collector. Ok for small jobs, for volume work or alot of rust the 5 micron collector is best.

[Jim Garrett]

Dave,

I have 2 TIP cabinets that work fairly well, one is 48" the other 36" Bigger is better. The 48" is more practical for most of what I do. I keep coarse grit in the small cabinet and glass bead in the other. The vacuum is a big help to maintain good visibility. I found both of mine at different times, used. Keep your eyes on Craigs, etc and you might get lucky. Think I paid about $200 for the 48" and $150 for the 36". They are out there. jim

[hennesse]

Erik and Jim,

Thanks for the suggestions. Erik - does the ALC unit have a dump gate? Doesn't look like it in the photos.

Jim - I've been looking on CL, but the DC area is full of lawyers and politicians, who tend not to be big consumers of blasting cabinets. And down here in Fauquier County, there's lots of deals on good used hay tedders...

I found this quick-and-dirty dust trap idea: http://www.thegaragegazette.com/index.php?topic=65.0 which should obviate the need for an expensive dust collector system. For the small amount of work I'll be using the cabinet for, a dust collector is too much $$$, and I have limited space. Plastic 5-gal pails can be had at the bakery dept of the grocery store for FREE - cake icing comes in 'em - but the tops are not as sturdy as those used on drywall mud buckets.

Recent work on my other "K" project: http://www.highlandschapteramca.com/gallery/2015-02-22/index.html

Dave

[hennesse]

I have 2 TIP cabinets that work fairly well, one is 48" the other 36" Bigger is better. The 48" is more practical for most of what I do. I keep coarse grit in the small cabinet and glass bead in the other. The vacuum is a big help to maintain good visibility. I found both of mine at different times, used. Keep your eyes on Craigs, etc and you might get lucky. Think I paid about $200 for the 48" and $150 for the 36". They are out there. jim

I found a few candidates on Craigslist, but they had been beat to death, and would take a lot of time and money and trouble to rehab. So, I decided to pony up the bucks for a new cabinet, and went with the Skat Blast / TIP 960-DLX. A motorcycle fender fits inside with room to spare, and it's easy to blast all sides of the fender. There's a lot of headroom, so you could do car wheels standing up in this thing. The DLX model's wide window and extra light makes it easy to see large objects like fenders - I think it's worth the extra $100 for the DLX. For motorcycle restorers, this 48" cabinet is the right size cabinet - it's a joy to use.

Pallet forks come in useful

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I built a little house for the vacuum, so I could locate it outside behind my garage. This is because I have limited space, but a side benefit is that I don't have to listen to the vacuum's whine. 2" PVC electrical conduit run through the wall. Connecting the conduit to the oddball-sized vacuum hose connectors was a little problem, but the answer was donuts - 2" Donuts in the plumbing department of Home Cheapo.

Vacuum house

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I sprung for the accessory Bolt Bucket, which does come in handy, but it's hard to get all sides of a bolt blasted. I keep a pair of pliers in the cabinet. Perhaps a pair of small kitchen sieves (one to hold the bolts, one for a cover to keep the bolts from jumping out) would work just as well. I bought a "User Kit" as I will need these consumable parts down the road. For my limited space, I also got the wheel kit. I could have fabricated wheels, but for the price, I figured the time and trouble wasn't worth it.

All told, this thing set me back $1600. Pretty pricey, but my only regret is that I didn't do this 20 years ago...

[sportsterpaul]

Wow that is a beautiful cabinet. I don't have the room for that. I had to build my own, so it would slide under the wash-bench. I either kneel down to use it, or hoist it up onto a workbench for bigger jobs. I made it out of clear plastic so I could see what I was doing.

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I bought the gloves from Summit Air in San Jose, and cut the middle out of gallon paint can lids to mount them to. With hole in the cabinet sized right, the lids pop in and they have stayed in for 30 years.

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I got the gun from Summit as well:

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It really needs a 5 HP air compressor, my little Craftsman 3HP could not keep up. You can size the nozzle to give a certain air consumption. Note I put an old tiny shop vac on its side in the bottom, so that I thought it would be self-standing. But the air in was way more than the air evacuated by the shop vac. I still run the little shop vac inside the cabinet, but I hook that outlet to a giant shop vac that really keeps the pressure low inside. I would not put a bead blast cabinet in the same room, heck the same building with any machinery like lathes or mills, or any Harleys that were taken apart. The beads go everywhere, and get on your clothes as well. I don't think any amount of vacuum can keep the beads from going everywhere. After I was done blasting, I would take the part outside and blow myself and the part off. Cripes beads gets in your hair much less your shirt.

Another pro tip if you make it out of clear plastic. It will frost over from the beads, so you need a pane of glass on the inside top. Also, the top is subject to the full suction of the shop vac when the blast gun is not running. This will bow the plastic way down. I went to 3/8 polycarbonate before it was happy.

A general pro tip is to have dry shop air, almost as dry as a painter. I have one of those little white desiccant balls screwed into the bottom of the gun, but I still chased moisture all over my parts until I put a radiator on my shop air. It was not a refrigerated dryer, just a heat exchanger. I was still suffering with the moisture coming out of the gun staining parts and clumping the beads together when all of a sudden, the air in the lines got all dried out. It has been heaven since. And I did buy a refrigerated dryer I want to hook up as well.