[TxCajun]

Shop Improvements (continued)

I bought a Harbor Freight abrasive blast cabinet late last year on sale. I read a lot of articles and watched a lot of videos regarding improvements so I did the following:
1. Added polyurethane sealant to all joints while assembling the cabinet.
2. Reworked the screen floor to sit lower in the cabinet.
3. Added a dust baffle to the air inlet.
4. Replaced the supplied LED bar light with two flood lights. Added switches on the side of the cabinet for the lights and for switched receptacles for powering the shop vac.
5. Purchased a cyclone dust separator and grafted it to a 5 gallon bucket.
6. Built a plywood platform on casters to hold the cabinet and the cyclone dust collector. This also raises the cabinet for ergonomics since I'm 6'2". Casters will allow me to move it around the shop or to the outside covered work area.
7. Replaced the supplied material pick up tube with a vortex material feed valve so the gun will siphon media from the bottom of the cabinet.
8. Added an air pressure regulator for the abrasive gun.
9. Added an air line in to the cabinet for a blow gun for cleaning media off of parts.
10. Added permanently mounted screws and knurled thumb nuts to the top for ease of removing and replacing the window glass. And while I was at it, added a stiffener brace to the inside of the cabinet top.

A lot of the sources recommend adding a foot valve for controlling the air to the abrasive gun and upgrading the gun but I haven't done that yet. So far I've used it to clean up a few truck brackets and it is working pretty good.
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