Keep in mind you can only blast what you can reach with the nozzle, so even though something might fit in the box, if you can't reach it, it might as well not be in there at all.
That's a good point. They have gloves available up to 32" long ... which should cover my arms, but might make it worth considering not making the cabinet not quite as deep.
We had a pair of blast cabinets at the auto parts stores (two locations) ... they were painted green, maybe Petersen brand. They were 4' or 5' long x probably a little over 2' deep ... clamshell design ... top opened up and rolled back to a 45 degree angle. They had an additional tall cabinet (6' ?) with six inverted filter socks in it to filter the air and remove the dust.
You can get around that by installing more glove ports, more than two along each side is a possibility, but that means more viewing ports as well. $$$
I was considering a 12" x 45" window ... largest one TP offers.
Take some time to figure out what you want to blast, then tailor the box size accordingly.
Most of it would be fairly small I'd guess ... but I know I have some larger stuff as well ...
You can temporarily tape a plastic garbage bag over the door to contain the dust when doing things that won't fit in the box, but it's a PITA to break the tape seal to flip whatever you're blasting around to do the other side. But doing so expands the capability of your setup for almost no money.
Good tip ... :thumbsup:
Give some thought to putting a door on each end for additional flexibility. Mine has that, and I do use the other door with a garbage bag to blast larger items.
Yeah ... I wouldn't think that it would be all that hard to incorporate a second door on the other end. Real question will be whether I'll have the room to have access.
You also need a very good recirculating filter or you won't be able to see a darn thing inside while you're blasting. I'd be very surprised if your shop-vac filter could keep up.
I dunno ... it's a larger stainless Shop Vac ... maybe 15 gallons or so ... and it's noisy enough that I usually don't run it without wearing ear muffs ... moves quite a bit of air. There are HEPA filters available for it.
TP does offer what appears to be a fairly nice vacuum unit with HEPA filter that is supposed to be fairly quiet ... but it's pricey ($300)
USA VAC-50 HEPA Vacuum
You also want to trap out only the dust, and send the reuseable media back to the hopper.
Right ... probably intake high (and shielded) ... mebbe with the return lower.
I got lucky and found a blast cabinet, recirc fan, and filter cabinet cheap on CL. Took some work to get it going again, but it works REALLY well and I use the heck out of it.
Someone has a Snap-On unit up on Craigs here right now ... unfortunately they are very proud of it ($2500) ... no way I'm paying for the name.
I'm sure I would use it a lot.
Also note that you're gonna need a LOT of compressed air to run the thing. The compressor here is an ancient two stage SpeedAir with a 7.5 HP motor, the biggest I can run on the 200 Amp single phase 220V service in the garage. It runs almost continuously when I'm using the blaster, and that's with the smallest nozzle available.
Yeah ... the 5HP 60G Harbor Freight two-stage compressor I have will supposedly deliver 15.8 CFM @ 90 psi ... could always use more I'm sure, but I'd imagine that it would be be a whole lot better than the 5HP 30G single-stage Coleman I used to use with the Sears siphon sandblaster. There was a lot of waiting for air pressure with that set up ...
Today I was blasting a motorcycle wheel, mostly focusing on the hub and spokes. My box is about 4'Wx3'D with a sloping top that was just barely high enough to let me flip the wheel without taking it outside the box. At that depth, I can't reach the far wall, which means if I can't hook it with a tool or by throwing the nozzle and pulling it back, I have to pull my hands out, open the box, and move the object closer to the glove ports. It's a PITA to have to stop and pull your arms out of the gloves because going back in the sleeves are so long you can't really reach to the end and the gloves are stiff enough that grabbing the sleeve with one hand while you push your hand into the other glove isn't easy.
I'm of fairly slender build ... so it may not be a problem for me. Don't recall getting my hands out of the gloves ever being a problem with the old boxes ... in any event, some blast cabinet is better than no blast cabinet, despite whatever obstacles I'll have to deal with on a regular basis.
TP also has two grades of gloves ... the "Super-Pro" gloves are supposed to be very flexible and last longer ... but again, pricey:
Sandblasting Gloves for Abrasive Blasting Cabinets
The window was broken when I got my box, so instead of buying an expensive replacement, I made up a frame from some angle iron and used rubber to make a gasket for a piece of safety glass. Works great, but after 7 years of use, it's become pitted enough that I should order a replacement, available from any glass cutter.
Do you use the plastic protection sheets on the glass ?
I know TP offers them ... but I have no idea as to whether they are worth it.
You're also gonna need a light to see what you're doing. Mine sits on top of the viewing port, and shines into the box from the outside. That keeps dust and junk out of the light and greatly simplifies wiring. The light fixture is mounted on a hinge so I easily swing it up for maintenance or to clean the glass port on the outside.
Yeah ... that's the same set up as the ones we had ... I didn't care for it as there was no seal between the fixture and glass view port ... so the viewport glass would pick up glare from the light. Would be easy enough to fix though, with some foam gasketing.
I'm thinking about several different options ... maybe hanging one of those stick trouble lights inside the cabinet. They're sealed (to some degree) ... so they might work well. Dunno.
There's also a grate on the inside of the box to support the work being blasted. The one that came with the box was all rusted out, so I tossed it and made a new one with a band iron frame and expanded metal floor. Works great, and I've yet to cut through any of the expanded metal.
I figured I use angle iron cross pieces to support the larger stuff and I have some scraps of heavy expanded metal I can use for smaller items.
If I get a chance tomorrow I'll try to post some pictures of my setup. No sense reinventing the wheel...
Would appreciate it.
Thanks.
