Blasting Cabinet??? [Archive]

MonzaRacer

03-24-2007, 12:06 PM

Well for the most part I would buy the parts(hoses,gun(s) from suppiers.
A friend of mine was restoring bumpers ands he made his cabinet out of plywood/MDF sheeting, and simply bought heavy guage sheet metal and simply used threaded inserts and stainless screws to fasten it, if you make a mistake and burn through the sheet metal simply replace it. if you seal the wood with polyurethane it will live forever and you can also make a frame from appropriatly sized angle, maybe even aluminum or square tubing too.
If its able to be broke down then if you have to move it it makes things much simpler. Trust me we had a unit at head shop that was a bear to move.
You can also get the vacuum setups to fit old grease barrels(140lb barrels or 15 gallon barrels, old gear oil barrels).
Friend of mine made his sit about a foot above bottom of the v-bottom of blast cabinet and simply made a ring and let it set above the floor so he could drop the sand (glass) residue out the bottom. As for me I was going to do one and make the top and bottom just sit together with a flanged seam like your installing a quarter panel or patch panel.
From what i have seen you can even use a larger shop vac to remove the dust with proper dust controling device(ours had a heavy canvas bag, and a another filter could be inside for mor control) you could even make a vent box with movable piping to vent it out side even.
Simple heavy lexan, or safety glass window, avoid using the ovals as they can be a bitch to install and if its a large window you can move around some till it gets too pitted to use.
when I get my garage built I am going to build one into the side wall and maybe even have an outside opening door to put parts from truck or shipping inside and keep dirty stuff off the floor till its clean.
I have even thought of a double hopper so I can have 2 guns and use one or the other rather than fighting the suction hose. And I even thought of a trap door and another box setup with a water hose inside and say old pieces of shower fiberglass, lexan etc and a drain to a collection bucket/barrel (the waste from the blasting can be used in gardens and around bushes as certain bushes even change colors with different trace metals and the sand residue ,as I will use play sand for most of my stuff ,much cheaper than glass beading, but I have thought of having one hopper that can be removed and moved away and one with the glass bead loaded hopper into place. the dust collector will not care what it collects.
A simple design that make use of space and versatility and you can be creative where you install it, how big it is and the parts are not as expensive as the complete unit and you may even be able to pick up an older unit and rebuild one to your specs.
My sheet metal lined idea has been built by a Menonnite friend to use in media blasting old furniture for restoration/repair.
I have some plans Ill look for as I put them up till I get a garage built here at home.
The idea isnt hard and making it your self may seem unproductive but the versatility you want is there rather than making someone elses "idea" fit you.
And for a lot less than $3000 I can build something, it may be a little slower to get it done but my money isnt limitless but my time is my own!
I made a note to look for the plans anyway if interested pm me your email and Ill try to get them scanned soon.
You can also have the framing built by any welding shop and simply install the walls as they suit you. I even found one that used Lexan for all the walls with steel grating for protection and simple indistrial rollers in part of it then on to a smoother surface. If I had my druthers I would simply make rollers every 2 ft or so and then decide my floor surface.
Good Luck
Lee