Who has a media/sand blast cabinet?

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May 30, 2010
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North Carolina
What brand and size? I am interested in one for my garage for small items. A cabinet say 36 inches or less, on a stand.

Thanks
 
Harbor freight but down a little bit of extra cash on day one and order you a trinco gun and foot pedal.
Be careful spaz about the silica sand.
If you have a shop nearby with a water jet ask them if you can buy a couple bags of their garnet. Garnet doesn't turn to dust like silica or beads and lasts 10 times longer. Mine is made by RAM and I hate the dammed cabinet because the ledge at the bottom inside of the door traps a pile of garnet and then when you open the door a small pile falls on the floor. But I use the heck out of mine. It's just one of them must have tools.
 
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This is the ram that I have had for well ...25? Years now.
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And this is the good trinco gun. These can be had for 35 if you look around.
 
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The HF cabinets are decent for the money. We have some at work that were purchased for an emergency that turned into a 100% fix for a while.

The view window is plastic and is frosted over. Whoever ran it never added the protective film or they shot the plastic with the gun. I wonder if an actual glass substitute is available. Some hardened glass from a glass store maybe? Aside from that and leaky seals they're simple and look easy to repair with random hardware store parts.

I'm thinking about getting one myself, but I'd run it outside.
 
You can use glass, but have it protected with a layer of disposable plastic. The glass will get blasted in short order.
 
Originally Posted by dlundblad
The HF cabinets are decent for the money. We have some at work that were purchased for an emergency that turned into a 100% fix for a while.

The view window is plastic and is frosted over. Whoever ran it never added the protective film or they shot the plastic with the gun. I wonder if an actual glass substitute is available. Some hardened glass from a glass store maybe? Aside from that and leaky seals they're simple and look easy to repair with random hardware store parts.

I'm thinking about getting one myself, but I'd run it outside.

Yes you can change it out to glass. I have the local ace hdw cut 3 at a time. I don't use any plastic sheet on mine because it's more $than the glass around here.i specify double strength. Not sure but I'd guess that I probably change mine out once a year if even that often.
 
Whatever you get use a wall mount vac with one of these, it will keep the vac filter clean and saves a lot of money.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopp...th-2-5-in-Hose-36-in-Long-HD12/302643445

The vac, same as the one HF sells. Parts and filters for this one will fit the HF.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-dust-collection-system-for-blast-cabinets.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/blast-cabinet-reclaimer-kit-60739.html

Let me know if you need help setting this thing up with a cabinet, wall mount it not on the back as shown.
 
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Originally Posted by P10crew
Harbor freight but down a little bit of extra cash on day one and order you a trinco gun and foot pedal.
Be careful spaz about the silica sand.



Thanks, yes silica is not good for your lungs! I would like to use soda, fine walnut shells, glass, maybe some plastic media.
 
Originally Posted by Trav
Whatever you get use a wall mount vac with one of these, it will keep the vac filter clean and saves a lot of money.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Dustopp...th-2-5-in-Hose-36-in-Long-HD12/302643445

The vac, same as the one HF sells. Parts and filters for this one will fit the HF.

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-dust-collection-system-for-blast-cabinets.html

https://www.harborfreight.com/blast-cabinet-reclaimer-kit-60739.html

Let me know if you need help setting this thing up with a cabinet, wall mount it not on the back as shown.


Thanks!

How much vacuum do you need in a cabinet? I have a small shop vac i could hook to the bucket dust collector you posted, or would be just be better with the reclaimer units that fits on the back of the cabinet?
 
Do not fit it to the back of the cabinet on most units, I did that and lived with it for a long time but its not the best way. The expensive filter (over $45) gets clogged up fast and becomes less effective all the time.
You can use a shop vac, they don't do as good a job as the ones I linked to but they work, the separator makes a world of difference, after some hours of actual use there is still nothing in the new filter but the bucket is about 1/4 full so you just dump that back in and keep going.

The inexpensive HF cabinet can be actually quite good for small job if you do the mods to it right when you assemble it. More on if you are interested. A top opening unit is better if you do big parts but more expensive and totally unnecessary for smaller stuff.
 
Originally Posted by P10crew
Originally Posted by dlundblad
The HF cabinets are decent for the money. We have some at work that were purchased for an emergency that turned into a 100% fix for a while.

The view window is plastic and is frosted over. Whoever ran it never added the protective film or they shot the plastic with the gun. I wonder if an actual glass substitute is available. Some hardened glass from a glass store maybe? Aside from that and leaky seals they're simple and look easy to repair with random hardware store parts.

I'm thinking about getting one myself, but I'd run it outside.

Yes you can change it out to glass. I have the local ace hdw cut 3 at a time. I don't use any plastic sheet on mine because it's more $than the glass around here.i specify double strength. Not sure but I'd guess that I probably change mine out once a year if even that often.


Good to know. Thanks. So just normal glass holds up to the sand? (You don't buy anything special?)
 
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Thanks Trav!

I assume the mods to the cabinet , are caulking it and the bottom chute mod that eliminates the pickup tube and lets you load less media at once. And the exhaust port baffle ?

I also saw some supports for the screen.

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I didn't do those, the HF has supports for the screen IIRC and I run glass beads so no need to change media often in my case, it seems like a good mod if you want to change media types often though.
I did the pickup tube mod and silicone in every joint during assy and covered the dimples in the inside of the door with Nashua plastic tape so the media doesn't go all over the floor every time you open the door.

I used a plastic coffee filter on the rear intake port, sounds crazy but it works like a champ. Use a T inside so you can add a blow gun in there along with the blasting gun so you can blow the inside of the door and parts off before taking them out.
I loose very little media and never have media on the floor or in the air, the glass remains clear.
 
Spaz... Trav has some very good advise and I would like to add 1 mod that is very important.
On the cabinet inlet hole I made a plate to cover a 12"x2 " air filter element and installed it on the outside of the cabinet over top of the inlet hole.

Trav has some dammed good advise that he has given you and I can guarantee you that he and I have had many many hours standing in front of our cabinets and making improvemenst as they are obvious.

I have been using a 6.5 hp shop vac which will straighten the gloves right out when you turn it on. But that much hp is not necessary.

One thing that hasn't been covered yet is lighting.
We'll go over that next and that is very important to the usefulness of the cabinet.
 
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Lighting.... the factory interior light died very early and it was not much of a light to begin with.
I have a 4000 lumen 120 volt corded Channell lock trouble light that I just lay on top of the glass and it lights up the inside like noon in Dallas.

That's about all I have to offer and if I had to rank the Improvements by best bang for the buck the trinco gun is head and shoulders #1.
Good luck!
 
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Originally Posted by dlundblad
Originally Posted by P10crew
Originally Posted by dlundblad
The HF cabinets are decent for the money. We have some at work that were purchased for an emergency that turned into a 100% fix for a while.

The view window is plastic and is frosted over. Whoever ran it never added the protective film or they shot the plastic with the gun. I wonder if an actual glass substitute is available. Some hardened glass from a glass store maybe? Aside from that and leaky seals they're simple and look easy to repair with random hardware store parts.

I'm thinking about getting one myself, but I'd run it outside.

Yes you can change it out to glass. I have the local ace hdw cut 3 at a time. I don't use any plastic sheet on mine because it's more $than the glass around here.i specify double strength. Not sure but I'd guess that I probably change mine out once a year if even that often.


Good to know. Thanks. So just normal glass holds up to the sand? (You don't buy anything special?)

Yes sir just double strength is all I've ever used from day one..
When you are the one buying and replacing the glass and you are the one running the machine it's surprising how long things last. LOL
 
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Your lungs must be tops on every decision made in the shop. Be careful!
 
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Wow lots of good info here!
Thanks guys this helps me plan. It may be a few months before I do this. But I am excited.

This large vise will probably be my first project.

IMG_20200607_001754767.jpg
 
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