[Shop-talk] Blast cabinet, media

[Brad Kahler]

Like Eric, about 35 years ago I built one of the TP Tools blasting cabinet
kits made from 3/4" plywood and it's been working great all these years.
At the same time I also bought their vacuum kit and built a dedicated
vacuum from two 30 gallon drums.  The vacuum motor lasted all these years
but finally gave up the ghost this summer so I bought their replacement
motor and all is well again. I've probably replaced the window glass a
dozen times over the years.

 Mine is free standing and always ready to use.  It is used frequently and
every time I use it I'm reminded of the reason I originally built it, the
restoration of a 63 spitfire :)

I don't know what I'd do without it.

Brad
Merry Christmas everyone :)


On Sat, Dec 26, 2020 at 3:53 PM Eric Russell <ejrussell at mebtel.net> wrote:

> I built my blasting cabinet based on plans from TP Tools. I later built
> a closed box that latches onto the side for larger/longer items.
>
> Being set up & ready to go at all times means I use it often. It's as
> simple as hooking up the air line and flipping a switch for the light. I
> also added a cyclone separator between the cabinet & my shop vac. This
> helps keep the view from being obscured by the dust cloud and helps the
> shop vac's filter last longer.
>
> Aluminum Oxide is available in various grits and seems to be fairly long
> lasting (but all media eventually breaks down and needs replacement).
> Recycled ground glass (available from TP Tools and likely others) works
> well and seems to have less dust. It might be a good 'all purpose'
> media. Walnut shells is great for fine cleaning - like carburetors. Be
> sure to clean out the cabinet before changing media - especially when
> going from coarse to fine. BTW, be careful using glass beads - when (not
> if) they are spilled it's like walking on icy grease!
>
> An assortment of rubber plugs/corks will protect threaded holes. A layer
> or two of duct tape will protect machined surfaces. Cleaning rusty
> threaded parts is fun - after blasting they'll often turn by hand.
>
> --
> Eric Russell
> Mebane, NC
>
> On 12/26/2020 2:05 PM, Darrell Walker 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
> >
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