[TR] Media blasting?

[Randall]

> Does anyone know of any do it yourself media blasting equipment?  Has
> anyone
> done any DIY media blasting?

I also have one of the small cabinets from HF.  I wouldn't call it "fine",
but it does work more or less.  The gloves rotted out in a couple of years
and had to be replaced.  The replacements (also from HF) appear to be much
better quality, but I had to fashion a joint between them and the cuffs that
attach to the cabinet.  I had to add a light (18" fluorescent tube) in the
top as it didn't come with one.  The pressure hose to the gun also started
to rot and has been replaced.  The original gun was such a POS that I
replaced it as well, with one I got from JC Whitney some 30 years ago.

Takes a huge compressor to keep it running; my old single stage 20 gallon
"2.5hp" unit would only hold 90 psi for a minute or so, barely enough to get
started before I had to stop and wait for it to catch up.  I now use a
two-stage "7hp" compressor that lets me blast as long as I want.

When I finally get tired of nursing this little cabinet along, I'll probably
just build my own larger one from plywood.  Lots of plans on the Internet.
One pointer is to use some sort of cheap plastic sheet on the inside of the
window, so it can be easily replaced when it gets too cloudy.

Blasting without a cabinet makes a huge mess, I wouldn't recommend it inside
the city limits.  If you can hang up the parts and put a big sheet (plastic
or linen) underneath, you can capture some of the media for reuse, but
you'll still lose a lot, which will wind up on top of everything downwind.

-- Randall