Anyone else have a home made sandblast cabinet?

[bobs409]

Here's one I made a few years ago. The nice thing is you can make them as big as you want/need.

A sheet of plywood, a few 2X4's and a pair of gloves from Eastwood Co. A cheap light on top and just hook up the shop vac.

I use a Craftsman siphon feed blaster (positioned on top so gravity helps feed it) which does ok but future plans are to upgrade to a pressure blaster.

[chevy_fatman]

How does that work? any dust escapes from it? I have been thinking about making one myself to install in the basement, hence the escaping dust question.

It looks good tugh.

[Mike Culpepper]

Great idea, do you have anything on the inside lining of the cabinet? How does the wood hold up to the blasting?
MIke

[Roberty]

TP Tools and Equipment Link
offers a kit to make your own sandblasting cabinet. I have one of their mig welders and sandblasters and they make quality equipment. Here is the link on the kit :
Sandblasting
Robert

[bobs409]

The wood is holding up great. It's 3/4" thick. Forgot to mention, the glass is just ordinary 1/8 inch window glass and when it gets etched, I simply slip in another piece. It does last quite a while. (frame around glass allows glass to slide in/out. (and with a brother that does carpentry, used glass is always available) Another nice thing is you build it to suit your personal height. I can stand at mine comfortably.

Dust...that is a problem with alot of sandblast cabinets. I have this one in a room above my garage and it's not air tight especially around the door area. Using the shop vac helps alot.

I always wear a respirator while using it and since the dust isn't a problem where I have mine, I never fixed the leaks. To do again, I would address that problem more thoroughly.

You could put in on wheels and use it outside if you have the proper access like in a garage. Then dust wouldn't be a concern. Still use a shop vac to keep vision clear inside the cabinet.

There are many improvements im sure that could be made but you can't beat the cost. Another nice thing is you can make changes anytime you want or need to.

I needed to do a long cowl panel for one of my cars so I cut a big square hole in the door. (notice the 1/4" plywood cover) I then made a square frame out of wood with a large bag attached. The long item gets put in and then the frame screwed to the door. When done, just screw on the plywood cover again.

[Roberty]

Originally posted by bobs409
The wood is holding up great. It's 3/4" thick. Forgot to mention, the glass is just ordinary 1/8 inch window glass and when it gets etched, I simply slip in another piece. It does last quite a while. (frame around glass allows glass to slide in/out. (and with a brother that does carpentry, used glass is always available)

Buy a thin sheet of clear plastic sheet over the glass on the inside of the cabinet for a lens cover for those of you without a good supply of glass. When it becomes etched just replace the sheet and the glass underneath is unharmed. The glass will last the life of the cabinet this way. I used to work at a place that used a blast cabinet alot everyday. We would replace the lens protector every morning but it would last the average home owner a while longer and costs next to nothing.
Robert

[70cst10_05]

We have one made out of a refridgerator, you open up the freezer and there is a piece of plexiglass, and open the bottom and stick your stuff in, it works pretty dang good, some dust escapes, ill try and get a picture soon

[country boy]

SAND BLASTER

I HAVE A NICE BLASTER COMMERCIAL GRADE FOR SALE CHEAP.PM ME

[Gordo]

bobs409
I was wondering how you connected the shop vac to the box, and how much, if any, blasting media gets sucked out in the process.

[Roberty]

Originally posted by Gordo
bobs409
I was wondering how you connected the shop vac to the box, and how much, if any, blasting media gets sucked out in the process.

I'm not Bobs409 but i'll answer your question. Some media will get sucked up by the shop vac - especially after it gets worn. It's not a big problem though.
Robert

[oldsub86]

Hey bobs409

That is a neat blast cabinet. I have a small metal commercially made one but have been wishing it was bigger. I'm inspired!

[minibike]

I built one out of wood with a angle iron frame... 5 years of service with minimal etching of the wood.

[minibike]

Here is the window...angle iron frame. You need to get the plastic liners and screen, so the plexiglass won't get pitted.

[minibike]

from the side...

[minibike]

And by the way, that was my son...I built it for my height, but as you can see, a stepladder will make it fit as needed.

[Roberty]

Sweet looking homebrewed cabinet, Minibike!! If you hadn't told, I would have thought it was a store bought one.
Robert

[jmanz69]

I built one a couple years ago, but haven't put gloves in it yet. I figure as long as I don't get sand in every orific of my body I'm happy. Mine isn't nearly as big as everyone elses, but it works great. Plus I have $40 worth of parts. I just made a foot switch ot turn the air on and off. My finger would get tired holding the trigger in. So I took a solenoid valve, foot switch and junction boax I had at work and made one. Now I just step on the switch and the air come on. even has an on/off switch in it. I don't have any recent pics of it right now, but heres one right after I built it. I have made improvments to it since then though.

[minibike]

Be sure to use a very good dust respirator, if you don't have a dust collector on it. This stuff (free silica, if you are using sand) will cause lung cancer.

I use a shop vac to collect dust, and then go one step further and exhaust the shop vac outside the garage.

[bobs409]

minibike; yours puts mine to shame! LOL Maybe it's time I make the new and improved 2003 version? Nice job!

I was going to use some type of clear plastic sheet for the window but found that the glass lasts a long time without it on mine. I can see much clearer this way. The glass only gets hit with sand that bounces back so it's not full force.

For the shop vac, I just drilled a hole in the upper right corner for the hose. It will suck some sand out over time but not much.

When you use brand new sand, there will be almost no dust but after it goes through 2-3 times, the dust gets bad.

I always use a respirator. Wouldn't use it without one.

Maybe we need a contest for who can design the best cabinet! (this way I can get more ideas for a new one) LOL

[minibike]

Bobs409, They do the same thing...mine just has grey paint on it! I restore Honda minibikes, so mine was built big enough for a minibike frame. This is my second one, so I learned what I didn't like about the first one and made it into the design of the second one.

I went to a sandblast supply and bought the gun (commercial with carbide tip that will never wear out with our use), and looked at the commercial units and copied what I could from them. The plexigalss windows and the plastic sheets are a standard size that they sell. I buy the plastic sheets in packs of 100, so I just replace it when it gets pitted. This stuff looks like the same stuff that a tear-away lense cover would be made of. The angle iron frame around the window is hinged at the top, so it's no big deal to change it out.

I use the same setup as you on the vacuum.

Dupont Starblast is my favorite blasting media. It seams to cut as good or better than sand, and doesn't break down much (recycles well). It also has 1 or 2% free silica, depending on which grade you get. This cuts down on the cancer risk right out of the bag.

[minibike]

Here are a few more better pics of it. There are things I would do differently, but it is decent.

http://www.classicplace.com/1.jpg
http://www.classicplace.com/2.jpg
http://www.classicplace.com/3.jpg
http://www.classicplace.com/4.jpg
http://www.classicplace.com/5.jpg
http://www.classicplace.com/6.jpg

[Gee_Emm]

I tried hooking a shop vac up to mine but found it was sucking out too much. Then I found that just merely running the shop vac hose outside works great. You have air coming into the sealed cabinet. It needs somewhere to go and if you have a completely sealed cabinet the dust will escape where ever it can. We are in the process of hooking the cabinet up to plumbed in dust collection system but havent tried it out yet.

[minibike]

You can get a motor speed control. Harbor Freight has them cheap. This will allow you to plug your shop vac into it and turn it down to a reasonable level. You can see mine in the 5th link above. Also, teh white triangular peices are filter cloth over a round hole to allow air in.

Your right, good airflow is important...otherwise you won't see too much inside. The variable speed on the shop vac allows you to crank it up if you are doing a dirty peice or leave it lower if the peice is cleaner. This keeps the noise level down and also makes less pull on the gloves.

[speesh]

hey I want to see some pictures of this one made out of a refrigerator!! I have a couple of fridges laying around the old double wide......

[BLAZERMAN]

Make it as big as you can the first time, I have a skat blast 1536 5" wide cabinet and would like to find a bigger one, I also need to go to a 2 stage compressor as my single stage 80 gallon just wants to run to much. This unit has a dust collector that uses 4" hose that ducts the air outside thru a dryer vent.