Occasional usage Sand blaster

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

A little something I knocked up to make sand blasting the odd brass fabrication easier. Given the high air supply demands of commercial cabinets, I decided to make something a little less bulky and that would work off my shop compressor.

Regards

Gray,

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Graham, have you got a few more details of teh actual "gun" part that looks like it is powered by a standard blower nozzle?

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Looks seriously handy

Tell us more Graham, thx

[Dave HalfordParticipant @davehalford22513]

You covering the screen with plastic, like you get from cracker boxes?

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Nicely done..! Great for small parts..

Let us know how well it works..please?

What abrasive are you using? I use garnet or aluminium oxide, of course depends on what is being cleaned..

[VicParticipant @vic]

Nice job. When I made my first sand blaster all the recommendations I could see said you need a massive compressor to run a blasting cabinet. I took a chance anyway and bought a small 2.5 hp 25 litre compressor and found it worked fine for doing small stuff at home. I got rid of my Heath Robinson "cabinet" when I moved house but luckily someone gave me one of the small Clarke blasting cabinets and that works fine. It does say in the instructions that you need a compressor at least double the size that I've got but for what I do the one I've got is ok. Machine Mart sell Aluminium Oxide abrasive in medium and coarse. I normally use the medium stuff in my cabinet.

[VicParticipant @vic]

The Tangential Tool in my album has been sand blasted.

[Grindstone CowboyParticipant @grindstonecowboy]

What a great idea! Would love to know more, particularly about the 'gun' part.

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Here are a couple of examples of the work done with the unit.

The nozzle is the heart of the matter and if Neil would like a write-up on how I went about making this unit I will oblige.

Regards

Gray,

[Matt HarringtonParticipant @mattharrington87221]

What a clever idea!

Matt

[VicParticipant @vic]

There is a drawing of the commercial gun here:

**LINK**

Both the Air nozzle (brass) and Abrasive nozzle (ceramic) are replaceable as they wear away with use.

This is the grit I use, they also do several others.

**LINK**

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Very neat!

Is the viewing panel sheet acrylic?

Food for a lot of thought there. (And "Where do I store it"? )

A write up would be good.

Howard

[duncan webster 1Participant @duncanwebster1]

Definitely write up required, I want one!

My compressor is not 3hp, Not sure what it is, it came from the tip. Can it work in short bursts from a smaller one with a reservoir

[VicParticipant @vic]

It may be worth pointing out that if you have the space (or need for bigger capacity) that there are bench top blasting cabinets on the auction site for under £70.

[I.M. OUTAHEREParticipant @i-m-outahere]

X 1000 for that idea ! I never thought a rubbish bin could be used for a blasting cabinet !

If memory serves me correctly ( usually doesn't ) you can turn the other glove ( R/H one in the set ) inside out and it becomes a left hand glove .

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

This is the size of compressor that I use. Okay if you use it sensibly.

Regards

Gray,

[Les Jones 1Participant @lesjones1]

Hi Graham,
It's nice to see you back on this forum. Hope you are well and enjoying retirement.

Les.

[John PParticipant @johnp77052]

I built one of these sandblast cabinets 20 + years ago from
a kit of hardware parts and the drawings for the cabinet
made from plywood,it will run all day on the same size
of compressor.

It looks as if the vent on the back of the bin blaster has a
filter in it these are worse than useless as they block up very
quickly so the dust finds the next easy route out.I doubt
that it would be wise to use this inside the workshop you
would find out why the next time you use your lathe.

My own cabinet is sealed and vented externally.

Rubber gloves 24 inch in length are avalable from J&L
Pt no GLV-90082E.

John

[Graham MeekParticipant @grahammeek88282]

Posted by Les Jones 1 on 16/01/2019 11:00:12:

Hi Graham,
It's nice to see you back on this forum. Hope you are well and enjoying retirement.

Les.

Hi Les,

Thanks for the welcome back, sometimes I wonder if I did the right thing, but we shall see.

Regards

Gray,

I keep my unit in an annex, it does not take up any real-estate in the workshop proper, (I cannot afford to waste the space) and is used mainly in this location. As regards costs, this unit cost no more than £20. Some of the items were ex-stores stock, others were salvage items.

My first lash-up for the "blast box", a wooden box with a perspex lid, had no ventilation to the outside as such, but instead had a connection to the shop vacuum. In this design the need for the vacuum was felt unnecessary, but builders can fit one if they wish, using many of the domestic waste fittings. Two years on of occasional usage the filter is still clean. No doubt my internal baffle allows the heavier particles to fall before the air exits the filter.

Regards

Gray,

[VicParticipant @vic]

I use a shop vac hooked up to mine. It means the air in the workshop is cleaner and you can see what's going on in the cabinet better.

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Better with a cyclone seperator…..the grit can be recycled..

[Involute CurveParticipant @involutecurve]

Looks useful for occasional stuff as stated.

I have been toying with a small Vapour blaster idea for a while and have most of the drawings done, in essence they are quite simple machines and by default recycle the media, also they don't require as much air as normal blasters, we have four at work that are 1.5m x 1.2m internally, two are used for general cleaning of various mainly automotive components, but two we exclusively use for our race engine prep before rebuild, depending on media the finish is fantastic, I'm unsure why but after vapour blasting, aluminium seems to hold its finish for ages, even so most of our race engine crank cases now get Xylan coated.

[Raymond AndersonParticipant @raymondanderson34407]

Superb work [ as usual ] and welcome back to the forum, it will certainly be all the better with you back.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Posted by John Rudd on 16/01/2019 16:28:27:

Better with a cyclone seperator…..the grit can be recycled..

No need, the grit isn't sucked up in the first place. A pleated paper filter keeps the grit in the cabinet only allowing the very fine dust to be removed.

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