Sand blasting cabinet

[plane_crazzy]

After spending better part of a day using a wire wheel grinder to remove surface scale from some recent work, I have been thinking about building an abrassive blasting cabinet. I looked at some basic ideas online and at one in store at harbour freight. even at HF on sale it was still over two hundred dollars. I believe I have enough sheet metal experience to build a box. I am just hoping for some helpful pointers. some guides recommended using plywood instead of sheet metal, any thoughts on this? I would also need to purchase the blaster unit itself, any recommendations or advice? My compressor is fairly small. 5hp motor with 22 gallon tank. I wouldnt need to be running high preasure as I am just wanting to remove surface scale. I was looking at the 20 or 40lb units. Thank you for any incite anyone can offer.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have seen them made from a 55 gallon drum with the one piece lid used as the door. Put a window, and some glove holes in, and that is pretty much it.

The handpiece can be made from pipe fittings, or you can buy an inexpensive suction unit at a lot of different vendors.

[Farmall]

If you search on Google "how to make a sandblasting cabinet", a bunch of different ones show up. Here's one made out of wood.

http://www.smecca.com/2011/02/how-to-build-a-homemade-sandblasting-cabinet/

[plane_crazzy]

Yeah I found several designs was just curious if anyone had first hand experience with any of them.

[iron woodrow]

at my work i regularly use a blaster made from an old fridge. window and glove holes in the door, a sheet rivetted in place where the crisper would be, to stop the garnet escaping when the door is opened. and a latch to keep the door shut. works well

[Dick L.]

We use them (commercial units ) at my work and the issues we deal with that require constant attention are :
1 door leaks
2 airborne dust when you open the door ( we have dust collectors on them )
3 Static charge
4 when humidity is present ,blockage in the line ( venturi /suction units)
5 accidental frosting of the window
They can pull down a home shop compressor pretty fast, and regardless what you do there will be abrasive on the floor and everything else inclose proximity to it. We have them in their own room with air filtration and sticky mats at the door to help with the containment of the mess.
That said they have thier place and work well. You will be left with anything from a coarse abraded surface to a satin finish depending on your abrasive selection.
Walnut shells wil polish metal.
I haven't ever seen a wooden one but expect it would be fine as long as you don't hit the surface directly for long periods. You might even find a display case / china cabinet you can modify with the window/door in place.

Dick

[HWHII]

I had a blast cabinet for some time. When I bought it I thought them same as you.

As time passed I did use it but it too was time consuming and a lot of parts would not fit so I sold it.

Then I finally got a media tumbler. I love it. I just throw my parts in and in 20 min. there done, and while it is tumbling I go and do something else.

However I did buy a 150 lb sand blasting pot which I now use on some larger parts that will not fit in the tumbler.

[Arbalist]

I made my first one out of wood scraps with a clear plastic window, hardest part to find at the time were gloves that were long enough. I was given a small metal blast cabinet a while back which works well enough. It has a shop vac connection (filtered) on the side that reduces interior air pressure to help prevent leaks.

[Bentiron1946]

One of my buddies built a sandblaster cabinet out of an old dishwasher that was dumped in the alley behind his house. He cut three holes in the back, one for a window and two for his hands. He bought a scrap of plexiglass for the window and some long rubber gloves for his hands, added a sealed light fixture, hooked up his shop vac to get rid of the dust and puts his castings in and out through the door. Seems to work fine with his 5HP compressor. It is dry out here in AZ most of the time so no humidity problems. If I remember rightly his cost was under $40 for the entire build. There are always old dishwasher out on the curb for bulk trash pickuup so usually there is no cost for one of those and you may luck out and get one with a plastic tub.

[ianinsa]

if you line a metal box with rubber sheeting(even old vinyl flooring) it just lasts and lasts, to protect the glass put fine metal mesh over it on the inside( frying pan splatter screen works well and is cheap as chips) put incandecent globes in jam jars as a light and heat scource in the cabinet this helps reduce 'clumping of the media, fitting a shop-vac will add serious quality to life whilst using your toy.
Ian

[Bentiron1946]

Yeah, a shop vac sure helps. Another friend of mine purchased a HF unit and complains all the time about not being able to see what he is blasting and yet he wont hook up his shop vac to the unit. Sometimes I wonder where he was when brains were passed out. kThen he waits an hour or more for the internal dust to settle to see what he missed and then starts all over again without cleaning the unit out. Then he complains about the inferrior HF product.

[a62rambler]

I made one out of a rubbermaid tub that was 40" x 24" x 30". I planned to just use it for a couple of quick jobs as I knew it wouldn't last. Turns out the thin walled plastic has held up to repeated use. It gives with the blast and hasn't abraided at all. I use aluminum oxide blasting medea in the 100 grit range. Bought a Harbor Freight blaster that had been returned. Total investment is less than $50.