[Shop-talk] Blast cabinet, media

[Mark Andy]

Howdy,

I used to have a smaller benchtop blast cabinet.  As someone else said,
mine had less slope on the sides under the grate, so media didn't feed as
well.  The pickup tube & gun also weren't great.  IIRC I modified the
pickup tube to work better, but it's been so long I have no idea what I did.

I've since replaced it with a TP Tools floor standing cabinet, which is
better in every way.  Mine is a top loader which I find better in terms of
shop packaging (you can have stuff right beside it), loading (easier for me
to lift stuff in there over the top edge vs. shoving it in the side), and
changing the plastic protector film (WAY nicer than my dad's side loader).

Invariably, your blast cabinet will be too small no matter how big it is.

In terms of how often I use it... Basically any time I want to paint
something metal that fits in it, any time I weld anything that fits in it,
any time I want to clean up rusty stuff that fits in it, etc.  In addition,
it's one of those tools where nothing else substitutes.  Nothing cleans
parts as well as a sandblaster, and nothing works as fast as a
sandblaster.  So if you're doing stuff where that kind of thing matters,
you'll love having it.

Mine is also ready to go at a flip of a valve & switch.  I wired my light &
vacuum / dust system to the same switch, so it's fast and easy to throw
something in there to get it cleaned up.

Media-wise I don't have any particular recommendations.  What's available
may be different based on your area as well.  I'm almost never doing
anything fine, so I lean toward the aggressive side and when I need media I
just hit my local supplier (TP Tools is local to me) and ask them what
everyone likes.

The tip of using masking tape under duct tape sounds like a great one for
protecting things.  I would say that generally I'm not too worried about
that.  I've never had any issues with the blaster eating threads or
anything.

Size your nozzles to your compressor.  When I used to have a smaller direct
drive setup I used either small or extra small nozzles and while it wasn't
as fast, I was able to use the blaster.  These days I use mediums with a 19
(??) or so CFM compressor.

Get plenty of plastic protector films.  Every single time I've changed it,
I've kicked myself for not doing it sooner when I look through the new
one.  :)

Mark

On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 2:06 PM Darrell Walker <darrellw360 at mac.com> wrote:

>
> I’m thinking of using some Christmas money on a bench top blast cabinet.
> I realize the small size will limit what I can blast, but that is about all
> the space I’m willing to allocate, and it should handle most of what I
> would be looking at blasting.
>
> So a some questions for the list:
>
> 1.  For those of you with blast cabinets, do you find yourself using it
> more than you expected?  My first project would be cleaning up some
> suspension parts (mostly paint removal).  I think enough projects come
> along that it would be worth having one, but I would love to be surprised
> to find additional uses.
>
> 2.  What is a good all purpose, reusable media to use?  I would mostly be
> removing paint, and some surface rust.
>
> 3.  The first parts I would be cleaning have some machined surfaces
> (threaded holes, tapers, etc).  How careful do you need to be to protect
> those areas?  And what if the best way to do that?  One of the parts will
> be a strut tube, which includes the stub axle.  I’m thinking that wrapping
> that area in duct tape might be a good idea.
>
> Thanks!
> -Darrell
>
> --
> Darrell Walker
> 66 TR4A IRS-SC CTC67956L
> 81 TR8 SATPZ458XBA406206
> Vancouver, WA, USA
>
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